Nokia Asha 501 unleashed: Cut price smartie takes on Android

 

Smartphone? What’s a smartphone now? Meet the brand new Nokia Asha 501, a “dumbphone” running an all new version of Nokia’s low-power, low price Asha operating system. It’s designed to do just about everything that a smartphone can do, but for a fraction of the price. Read on to find out all about it.

At a glance, the Nokia Asha 501’s specs don’t impress: a three-inch touchscreen with a low-res 320×240 screen and 4GB of storage, plus Wi-Fi for jumping online at high speed. But it’s what the Nokia Asha 501 can do with just that that impresses: there are apps for Facebook, Twitter and more, games, even Nokia’s HERE mapping for directions, and WhatsApp is believed to be working on its own chat app for the new platform/

The Asha OS on the 501 has had a big revamp too, with Nokia using the expertise from feature-phone software developer Smarterphone, which it bought last year. The bright, clear homescreens are clearly reminiscent of today’s smartphones, putting contacts and apps at the fore.

One big difference: few of today’s smartphones cost $99 (£63) unlocked and none boast a battery life of up to 48 days. It’s a bold move on Nokia’s part, but one it needs to make as app-packed Android phones get cheaper and cheaper. The Nokia Asha 501 goes on sale in June in red, green, cyan, yellow, white and black hues

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Five for the weekend: Nokia Lumia 610, Playstation on HTC phones, Assassin’s Creed 3, More BlackBerry and Windows Phone leaks, and more

As another five days of gadget goodness comes to an end, it’s time to round up some of the stories that got us most excited. It’s been an exceptionally good week for leaks, smartphone fans and gamers. Missed any of it? Fear not. Read on to catch up, in our latest five for the weekend news roundup.


You read that right. Ubisoft this week confirmed that Assassin’s Creed 3 is a real thing, and that it’ll be launching on October 30th, also putting it in line to become a Nintendo Wii U launch title.


BlackBerry phones are set for a major overhaul. In every way. Photos showing how leaked earlier this week, revealing a radically different BlackBerry 10 interface. If you’re a Blackberry fan of any sort, you need to see this.


Rumours this week suggested that Sony is about to allow PlayStation games to appear on HTC smartphones and tablets in an attempt to widen the reach of the PlayStation brand. But who cares about branding – that’s great news for gamers and HTC gadget owners.


The likes of Spotify and Napster could have a new rival on its hands. Word has got out that HTC and Beats Audio are hatching a plan to develop its own music streaming service set for an unveiling later this month.


The Nokia Lumia smartphone range is one of the most gorgeous we’ve ever laid eyes on. Now there are rumours of a budget model called the Nokia Lumia 610, which will apparently be unveiled later this month, hopefully giving many more the chance to own a piece of beautiful design.

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