Nokia Announces latest Asha 205

By Eric Akasa

 Nokia has announced that the Nokia Asha 205 Dual SIM, is now available for purchase in East Africa. Nokia’s most affordable QWERTY phone is the newest addition to the Asha range and is the only Nokia device to feature a dedicated Facebook button, making it perfect for highly social consumers who want the fastest access to their Facebook profile. Combined with eBuddy Chat, Twitter and support for popular email accounts such as Gmail, the Nokia Asha 205 Dual SIM is designed to ensure that people are never more than a few clicks away from their social networks.

This latest addition to the Asha range is available in a range of eye-catching colours such as Orange, Cyan and Magenta* at selected retail outlets across Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Estimated retail prices: Kenya – KSH 5, 499, Uganda – UGX 215,000, and Tanzania – TSH 120,000

The Nokia Asha 205 Dual SIM is also one of the first devices to feature Nokia’s exclusive Slam feature. Slam allows consumers to share multimedia content like photos and videos with nearby friends almost instantly. Slam works with most Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones without the need to pair devices, and without the recipient needing to also have Slam. In just a few clicks, people can ‘Slam’ their content to another device faster than with Bluetooth alone and without consuming Internet data.

“The Nokia Asha 205 with QWERTY keyboard and dedicated Facebook button is perfect for the vibrant youth market in East Africa,” says Bruce Howe, General Manager for Nokia East Africa. “Recent reports from Social Bakers indicate that there are now almost 3.3 Million Facebook users in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, and the majority of these are between the ages of 18-24. In Kenya alone, Facebook users grew by over 30% in the last 6 months, highlighting the importance of making Facebook access seamless”.Other key features of the Nokia Asha 205 Dual SIM include: eBuddy screen notifications that keep users up-to-the-minute on new conversations, a comprehensive mobile entertainment package, including 40 free EA Games available for download, along with tens of thousands of other apps available from the Nokia Store, Nokia’s exclusive Easy Swap technology that enables consumers to change SIM cards without having to turn off the device, the Nokia Asha 205 Dual SIM phone remembers the settings of up to five SIM cards making it easy to switch between making calls or using the Internet, and great standby time: up to 25 days

The new device takes full advantage of the Nokia Xpress Internet platform, which uses Nokia's cloud technology to reduce data consumption by up to 90%, helping consumers enjoy more affordable Internet access. It also features Nokia Nearby, a web app that helps consumers discover points of interest such as restaurants, shopping and ATM close to their location.