Nokia launches new devices

Farrell with Anil Mahajan, COO of Consolidated Gulf Company, distributors of Nokia in Qatar, and other officials at a press conference yesterday

Global mobile phone manufacturer Nokia has launched in Qatar its “Asha” range devices, which includes four new “affordable” smartphones.
The Asha series feature a stylish design and a rich social experience for people who want to work, play and connect. The Asha mobile phone family, which comprises Nokia Asha 200, 202, 302 and 303, are being offered at prices point starting from QR286.
Asha - derived from the Hindi word which means hope - will allow consumers to have access to a smartphone by being able to download apps, surf the web, check e-mail, play games and chat.
“Nokia continues its mission to deliver high-quality, stylish devices that provide web connectivity, access to social networks, and also offer a great overall experience and value proposition to the next billion mobile phone users,” Nokia Middle East vice president Tom Farrell (pictured) told reporters.
The company also showcased its “Nokia 808 PureView”, which combines a large, high-resolution 41-megapixel sensor, Carl Zeiss optics and Nokia developed pixel over-sampling technology.
Nokia, the biggest global vendor of Windows 7 phones (WP7), also introduced four Lumia devices at various price points, including the Lumia 900,800,710 and 610. To date, Nokia Lumia range is being sold in over 31 markets. The Windows platform has also witnessed an 800% growth in terms of apps offered for Nokia Lumia devices (from 7000 to 65,000 apps).
On the application side, Nokia said it was committed to delivering local apps in local languages which has further reinforced brand loyalty within the region.
The download growth from the Nokia Store witnessed an unprecedented 280% growth in 2011 with over 3.5mn downloads a week in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) region and key to this success was Nokia’s ability to offer local consumers over 2,500 local apps with Arabic language support they require.