Nokia has announced another handset in its Series 40-based Asha portfolio of low end mobiles which compete with the budget end of Android and cheap BlackBerrys. The 2G-plus-Wi-Fi Asha 210, due to ship before the end of Q2, packs a physical Qwerty keyboard and comes painted in Nokia’s now trademark eye-popping colours (yellow, cyan, magenta), plus black and white. But the most notable addition to this BlackBerry-esque device is a hardware key on the front that short-cuts to messaging app WhatsApp — which, extending the BlackBerry comparison, is the phone’s BBM replacement.
As well as the ability to fire up WhatsApp by long pressing on this dedicated key, Nokia said Asha 210 buyers will get a free subscription to the messaging service for the lifetime of the device. On the Series 40 platform, WhatsApp normally charges a $ 0.99 annual fee after a first year of free use. Last week the messaging service said it now has north of 200 million monthly active users (this compares to BBM’s more modest 60 million). Tapping into the hugely popular social messaging craze is clearly Nokia’s aim here.
Nokia describes the Asha 210′s WhatsApp hardware key as a “world first”, although we’ve seen the mobile maker (and others) stick a Facebook button on a phone before. But before you start wondering how displeased Facebook is going to be with Nokia for two-timing it with a deadly messaging rival, the handset actually comes in two social messaging flavours, with a second variant having a dedicated Facebook key (shown below, on the black handset) instead of a WhatsApp button.
The two Asha 210 social flavours — which also each come in single SIM/dual SIM variants – won’t be offered together in the same market but will rather be region specific, presumably corresponding to where the respective services are most popular. Neil Broadley, marketing director for Nokia’s mobile phones division, told TechCrunch the WhatsApp device will generally target Asia-Pac and Middle East & Africa, while the Facebook flavour will mostly be heading to Europe and Latin America. He also confirmed that neither device will be sold in North American.
Both of our partners are hugely successful around the world.“On a market by market basis we will have either WhatsApp or Facebook,” said Broadley. “Both of our partners are hugely successful around the world and as we go on a market by market basis, some of our market teams would like to have the WhatsApp variant, some would like to have the Facebook variant. And of course we already have the Nokia Asha 205 on a global basis with the Facebook hard key there as well.”
Broadley added that Nokia is looking at the possibility of making a third variant of the Asha 210 — specifically targeting the Chinese market — with another, as yet undetermined social service loaded on the hard key (China has a variety of homegrown social services that outstrip the popularity of global offerings, such as microblogging service Sina Weibo vs Twitter). Nokia certainly has work to do to win back buyers in China. In its Q1 results last week, China saw the biggest drop of any of Nokia’s regions in terms of sales by value and volume, with $ 334 million in sales in Greater China, down 56% on the year ago quarter.
Low end hardware + social softwareAside from differing social shortcuts, the Asha 210 variants have identical hardware and software, with a sub-1Ghz chip; 2 megapixel rear camera plus a dedicated camera key on the front of the device (in addition to the WhatsApp/Facebook key plus standard nav/call keys); Nokia’s Slam Bluetooth-sharing data transfer tech and its hot-swap SIM system; plus a rubberised full Qwerty keyboard which recycles the pillowed keys of 2008′s Nokia E71. The keyboard also includes shortcut keys for turning on/off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
On the software front, the device comes with Whatsapp, Facebook and Twitter preloaded; support for YouTube streaming and web apps; a ‘Games Gift’ of 15 free downloadable “premium” games & apps from the Nokia Store; plus Nokia’s neat voice-guided self-portrait feature, which gets around the lack of a front-facing lens by helping users align a self-portrait when they can’t see the screen.
Nokia’s earlier Facebook-button-packing phone, the full Qwerty Asha 205, was announced in November last year. At the time, the company’s decision to introduce a phone with a dedicated Fb button revived a 2011 trend which, for the majority of last year, appeared to have run its course — without, apparently, covering any of the device maker particpants (including HTC, Orange and Vodafone) in huge heaps of gold.
Asked about sales of the Asha 205, Nokia said it has not broken out any numbers for the model but added that the number of Facebook activations for the device is “significantly higher” than for the average Asha family device. Whatever the sales figures, Nokia clearly believes there is more gold to be mined from low end mobiles by associating its hardware with the biggest brands of the social messaging space.
Asha vs Android: Show me the moneyThe Asha 210 — along with the entire Nokia Asha range — targets developing markets and cost-conscious consumers, which explains its focus on seeking ways to reduce not just the initial outlay but also the total cost of ownership, while simultaneously amping up its core social offering by making sure it can provide access to big name apps and allow for easy social photo-sharing, as Android does.
The Asha 210 will have a $ 72 price-tag (before taxes and subsidies). The price-tag puts it in touching distance of budget Androids and while the S40 platform is not as user friendly, flexible or as app-rich as Android, Nokia has been working to strength its competitiveness against Android’s low end with additions such as its cloud-based data-compressing Xpress Browser, which ekes out up to three times as much data as non-compression browsers to help keep the user’s data costs down, plus offers such as ‘Games Gift’ and the free Whatsapp subscription.
As with other Asha devices, the 210 also boasts a long battery life — of up to 46 days on standby, and around 12 hours talk time. Nokia noted that it is using push notification technology to reduce battery drain caused by the Asha 210 checking for Whatsapp/Facebook updates. Update checking is done by Nokia in the cloud, with any new info pushed out to the user’s phone when it arrives.
One more thing…
Nokia and WhatsApp are about to hold an online Q&A about the launch of the Asha 2010 so we’ll be checking for any interesting tidbits that come out of the discussion to add as an update below. Currently, around the world, there is still plenty of regional diversity across messaging and social services – messaging apps are especially fragmented. Many of these apps inevitably compete with and come into conflict with social networking giant Facebook, which wants to own all the world’s chatter. And with Facebook having just launched its app-sidelining Android skin, social challengers such as WhatsApp are likely to be keen to find ways to increase their own visibility on mobile. Having your brand stamped on the outside of a phone sounds like a great place to start.
Updates from the Q&A, with Nokia’s Broadley and Neeraj Arora, business development, at WhatsApp:
On whose idea the WhatsApp hard key was, Nokia’s or Whatsapp’s… Broadley: “We have an ongoing relationship with WhatsApp that spans a range of Nokia Asha and other Nokia products. We are both really excited about this opportunity.”
On whether the WhatsApp hard key will be exclusive to Nokia devices… Arora & Broadley: “We are very excited to bring a dedicated WhatsApp button to Asha 210 and we will take consumer feedback for future consideration.”
On the differences between the Asha 210 and Nokia’s earlier Facebook button phone, the Asha 205… Arora & Broadley: “There is WhatsApp deep linking into social share gallery and there is more to come.”
On Nokia’s approach to phone design… Broadley: ”Starting with the Nokia 206 announced just before Christmas we’ve been progressively uniting the Nokia portfolio under a single, coherent design language… We have one stunning design approach across the Nokia range.”
On whether Nokia could introduce a Lumia product with a physical Qwerty to differentiate its smartphones from rivals… Broadley: “We don’t comment on future plans.”
- QWERTY|Tech Meets Blog
[ See post to watch video ]
I’ll admit it: I still use a BlackBerry. I also use an iPhone and an Android phone, but I don’t mind being teased by friends when I need to crank out a long email in seconds, because the BlackBerry keyboard is still the best. My thumbs can speed along on its tactile keys without forcing me to look down as I walk, and it never makes an embarrassing word change using autocorrect.
But really, typing on glass keyboards—like those found on iPhones, Android phones and Windows Phones—should be much easier by now. This week I took a look at a few technologies that gave me hope.
I tested two apps for Android phones that use very different approaches: the $ 3.99 SwiftKey 3 by TouchType Ltd., which is available now, and Snapkeys Si by Snapkeys Ltd., which will be available free in the Google Play Store Jan. 16. (Apple doesn’t allow third-party companies to take over core features, like the keyboard, on devices running its iOS mobile operating system.) I also got to briefly try out the smart predictive keyboard technology on Research In Motion’s upcoming BlackBerry 10.
Of the two new apps, I had an easier time adjusting to SwiftKey 3, which uses a traditional on-screen keyboard and guesses what you’ll type next by using a predictive language algorithm. It also incorporates touch gestures, like a right-to-left swipe across the keyboard to delete the last word and left-to-right swipe from the period button to insert a question mark.
Snapkeys Si was a tougher adjustment: It abandons the traditional keyboard altogether, forcing users to type on just four squares that hold 12 letters; all other letters are produced by tapping in the blank space between these four squares. Like SwiftKey 3, it uses some swipe gestures, like a right-side diagonal swipe down to create a period. Snapkeys Si aims to solve fat-finger syndrome, giving people’s fingers bigger targets and guessing the words they mean to type.
The BlackBerry 10 is scheduled to be launched on Jan. 30. I got some hands-on time with its on-screen keyboard, and was impressed by its suggested words, which users can swipe up to throw into sentences. This is designed to make the device easy to use with one hand. The BlackBerry 10 keyboard also reads and learns exactly where a user taps each key to better predict which letter to type, so clumsy fingers make fewer mistakes.
SwiftKey 3 for Android is an app that has a healthy understanding of how language is used in everyday conversation, and supports 54 languages, including variations like American, British and Australian English. Creator TouchType scraped Internet language data from around the world to understand how people speak in real-life situations—not by studying a dictionary. It then used this knowledge to create a predictive algorithm that guesses what you’re likely to type next, suggesting three options above the keyboard as you go.
This app can also detect where you meant to add a space, automatically adding it in for you. I found this feature to be a handy time saver as I typed since I could just keep going rather than stopping to tap the space key after each word.
During setup, SwiftKey 3 users can opt to give the app access to their Gmail, Facebook Twitter and SMS interactions so that it can study a user’s language to further understand how the person talks. For example, if someone always preferred to spell “thanks” as “thx,” SwiftKey 3 would learn this behavior and add “thx” in as a word rather than continuously trying to correct it. A TouchType spokesman says later this year the company may add a feature allowing users to customize the app to write out complete words when they type abbreviations, like typing “abt” to get “about.”
For privacy purposes, the app only stores this data locally on your phone rather than sending it back to the company for making improvements. And you can erase the app’s personalized data at any time in Settings, Personalization, Clear Language Data.
SwiftKey 3 is free for the first month, and then costs $ 3.99 to continue using it. The app will remember all of your custom language settings when you upgrade, so you don’t have to reteach it.
Snapkeys Si, made by Israeli startup Snapkeys, lets you see more of your smartphone screen while you’re typing by using just four squares containing 12 letters instead of the traditional keyboard. Although these bigger finger targets made it so I never accidentally typed the wrong square, it took me a while to get used to knowing where each letter was and which letters weren’t in squares at all.
Typing words with letters that aren’t in squares requires using the blank space in the middle of these squares. So to type the word “wish,” I’d find the first three letters in squares, selecting each of them. But the “h” isn’t in a square, so I’d tap the blank space between these squares. In the case of “wish,” Snapkeys Si got it right, but other words were more challenging to type, which frustrated me. Suggested words appear on the right side of the four squares, and tapping one of them adds it to a sentence. Once a new word is added to Snapkeys Si dictionary, it will be suggested from then on.
Like SwiftKey 3, Snapkeys Si only saves your personalized language settings on the phone.
The space key is to the right side of these four squares, and the backspace key is to the left. I added periods to the end of sentences by swiping diagonally down from right to left, and added commas by swiping diagonally down left to right.
Snapkeys Si is worth a try if you’re looking for a fresh alternative to traditional keyboards. But I found that it was a lot of work to learn after years of using the traditional QWERTY keyboard layout. The app is still in its beta, or first version, and the company says it will continue to improve.
Smart keyboard apps like SwiftKey 3, Snapkeys Si and others make typing on glass less painful and more intuitive. Just beware of the steep learning curve you may have to climb to start using them.
Email Katie.Boehret@wsj.com
Related Posts: Samsung Galaxy S2 d710 white Sprint bad ESN
$100.01 (5 Bids)End Date: Wednesday May-22-2013 16:57:02 PDTBid now | Add to watch list
New 4.0" Multi-touch Android 4.0 Dual Sim WIFI Smartphone AT&T T-Mobile Unlocked
$63.95End Date: Monday May-27-2013 19:22:44 PDTBuy It Now for only: $63.95Buy It Now | Add to watch list
HTC Droid Incredible Verizon Wireless Wifi 8.0 MP Camera 8GB Android Cell Phone
$64.95End Date: Wednesday Jun-19-2013 10:07:32 PDTBuy It Now for only: $64.95Buy It Now | Add to watch list
January 30th, 2013 marks the beginning of a new era for RIM. It will put to rest those doubters who questioned whether the company could survive long enough to complete its painful transition away from BlackBerrys past and onto BlackBerry 10. The question then becomes what the market will do with this wholly new OS — whether RIM can be more successful at regaining its former smartphone stature than Microsoft has thus far proven to be with its own mobile OS reboot. If there’s one person who has put more thought into that situation than any other its RIM President and CEO Thorsten Heins, a man who will be celebrating something else in January: his first anniversary at the top. How has culture changed at RIM over that year and what can we expect from the company in the weeks and months to come? Answers to those questions and more in our full interview below.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, RIM
The Engadget Interview: RIM CEO Thorsten Heins on BlackBerry 10, QWERTY keyboards and changing cultures (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Nov 2012 14:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | Comments
Related Posts: Samsung Galaxy S2 d710 white Sprint bad ESN
$100.01 (5 Bids)End Date: Wednesday May-22-2013 16:57:02 PDTBid now | Add to watch list
New 4.0" Multi-touch Android 4.0 Dual Sim WIFI Smartphone AT&T T-Mobile Unlocked
$63.95End Date: Monday May-27-2013 19:22:44 PDTBuy It Now for only: $63.95Buy It Now | Add to watch list
HTC Droid Incredible Verizon Wireless Wifi 8.0 MP Camera 8GB Android Cell Phone
$64.95End Date: Wednesday Jun-19-2013 10:07:32 PDTBuy It Now for only: $64.95Buy It Now | Add to watch list
Samsung Galaxy S2 d710 white Sprint bad ESN
$100.01 (5 Bids)End Date: Wednesday May-22-2013 16:57:02 PDTBid now | Add to watch list
New 4.0" Multi-touch Android 4.0 Dual Sim WIFI Smartphone AT&T T-Mobile Unlocked
$63.95End Date: Monday May-27-2013 19:22:44 PDTBuy It Now for only: $63.95Buy It Now | Add to watch list
HTC Droid Incredible Verizon Wireless Wifi 8.0 MP Camera 8GB Android Cell Phone
$64.95End Date: Wednesday Jun-19-2013 10:07:32 PDTBuy It Now for only: $64.95Buy It Now | Add to watch list
Samsung Galaxy S2 d710 white Sprint bad ESN
$100.01 (5 Bids)End Date: Wednesday May-22-2013 16:57:02 PDTBid now | Add to watch list
New 4.0" Multi-touch Android 4.0 Dual Sim WIFI Smartphone AT&T T-Mobile Unlocked
$63.95End Date: Monday May-27-2013 19:22:44 PDTBuy It Now for only: $63.95Buy It Now | Add to watch list
HTC Droid Incredible Verizon Wireless Wifi 8.0 MP Camera 8GB Android Cell Phone
$64.95End Date: Wednesday Jun-19-2013 10:07:32 PDTBuy It Now for only: $64.95Buy It Now | Add to watch list
Product 3 LLC, the company behind the original iControlPad, has successfully funded a successor: folks, meet the iControlPad 2. While there isn’t much to its name, the sequel boasts a handy QWERTY keypad along with an optional swivel-mount that you can attach to any smartphone. It works over either microUSB or Bluetooth, and true to its open-source roots, is said to support the Ouya, the Raspberry Pi and pretty much any other device you can throw at it. What’s more, it can be programmed to control almost any app via its support for touchscreen mapping. There’s still room for additional backers, so you could try to get a raw version for $ 69 or a boxed edition for $ 75 if you manage to pre-order in time. Let’s just hope the sequel doesn’t experience the same delays as its older sibling, especially given the $ 150,000-plus the company earned in its Kickstarter campaign.
[Thanks, Craig]
Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming, Peripherals
iControlPad 2 gets funded, adds QWERTY keypad and smartphone mount originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Oct 2012 02:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Related Posts:
Samsung Galaxy S2 d710 white Sprint bad ESN
$100.01 (5 Bids)End Date: Wednesday May-22-2013 16:57:02 PDTBid now | Add to watch list
New 4.0" Multi-touch Android 4.0 Dual Sim WIFI Smartphone AT&T T-Mobile Unlocked
$63.95End Date: Monday May-27-2013 19:22:44 PDTBuy It Now for only: $63.95Buy It Now | Add to watch list
NEW SAMSUNG FOCUS i917 BLACK AT&T (UNLOCKED) WIFI, WINDOWS 7, TOUCH, SMARTPHONE
$108.99End Date: Friday May-31-2013 0:15:52 PDTBuy It Now for only: $108.99Buy It Now | Add to watch list
AT&T NOKIA LUMIA 920 4G WINDOWS SMART CELL PHONE
$202.50 (14 Bids)End Date: Wednesday May-22-2013 17:07:22 PDTBid now | Add to watch list
Nokia Lumia 900 4G Windows Phone Black (AT&T)
$86.00 (11 Bids)End Date: Wednesday May-22-2013 17:10:44 PDTBid now | Add to watch list
