Nokia on budget life tools
Nokia launches five new affordable mobile phones and Nokia Life Tools in Indonesia
Jakarta, Indonesia - Nokia Life Tools, the service which gives consumers in small towns and rural areas the ability to get a range of livelihood and life-improvement services on their mobile phones, will launch in Indonesia in early December 2009. Nokia also announced five new affordable and easy-to-use phones which will support Nokia Life Tools, and these phones will also be available globally.
“Following the successful launch of Nokia Life Tools in India, where people are getting the benefits of vital information sent directly to their mobile phones, we are pleased to bring this service to consumers in Indonesia,” said Dieter May, Vice President, Emerging Markets, Nokia. “Inform, Involve, Empower - the vision of Nokia Life Tools - applies no matter where it’s implemented. With the number of devices that Nokia Life Tools supports, including the five new phones we are announcing today, we are giving people the solution that suits them the most.”
Five new mobile phones designed for consumers in emerging markets
With affordability and ease of use as the cornerstones of solutions for emerging markets, the five new Nokia phones - Nokia 1280, Nokia 1616, Nokia 1800, Nokia 2220 slide and Nokia 2690 - support Nokia Life Tools, and bring with them all the features that consumers around the world have come to expect.
Priced at EUR 20, EUR 24 and EUR 26 respectively (before taxes and subsidies), the Nokia 1280, Nokia 1616 and Nokia 1800 support FM radio, prepaid tracker, flashlight, anti-scratch cover and dust-resistant keymat, among other features. The long battery life, with up to 22 days of standby time, is vital for people in areas where access to electricity is limited.
Nokia 1280 specifications, availability and price :
- EGSM (900/1800Mhz)
- 3.5 mm jack
- FM Radio
- Flashlight
- Symbian S30 UI
- weight : 81.9g
- dimensions : 107.2 x 45 x 15.3 mm
Available starting with Q1 2010 - for a roughly 20 euros aka $29.
I can eat more than that on one meal.
Nokia 1616 specifications, availability and price :
- EGSM and GSM
- TFT 65k colors 160×128 resolution display
- 3.5mm jack
- FM radio
- Flashlight
- S30 UI
- dimensions : 107.1 x 45 x 15 mm
- weight : 78 g
Available starting with Q1 2010 - for a roughly 24 euros aka $35.
Nokia 1800 specifications, availability and price :
- EGSM band
- TFT 160×128 resolution 65k colors display
- FM radio
- Flashlight
- S30 UI
- Dimensions : 107 x 45 x 15.3 mm
- Weight : 78.3 g
Available starting with Q1 2010 - for a roughly 26 euros aka $38.
The Nokia 2220 slide and the Nokia 2690, priced at EUR 45 and EUR 54 (before taxes and subsidies), also support email on the device through Ovi Mail, giving people in developing markets their first digital identity directly from their handsets. Ovi Mail accounts can be created on the device and people can start sending and receiving emails without ever needing a PC. Other device features include FM radio, VGA camera, GPRS and MMS support, phone books for up to 1,000 contacts, and Bluetooth. Standby times for the Nokia 2220 slide and Nokia 2690 are about 20 days and 13 days respectively.
Nokia 2220 slide specifications, availability and price :
- GSM, EGSM, GPRS, EDGE
- S40 UI
- TFT 160×128 65k colors display
- Camera : VGA
- FM Radio
- Dimensions : 97.14 x 47 x 15.85 mm
Available starting with Q1 2010 - for a roughly 45 euros aka $66.
Nokia 2690 specifications :
- EGSM, GSM, GPRS, EDGE
- S40 UI
- 1.8″ inch TFT 160×128 resolution , 65k colors, display
- Camera : VGA
- FM radio
- memory card microSD up to 8Gb
- Bluetooth
- Dimensions : 107.5 x 45.5 x 13.8 mm
- Weight : 80.72g
Available starting with Q1 2010 - for a roughly 54 euros aka $79.
The first of the five new mobile phones will begin shipping before the end of 2009, with others expected to start shipping in the first half of 2010.
Nokia Life Tools in Indonesia
Nokia Life Tools will be available across Indonesia from early December 2009, with the Agriculture service available for Java and Sumatra at the first stage, and Education and Entertainment services available nation-wide.
Consumers will be able to subscribe to Agriculture, Education and Entertainment information and content. Nokia is collaborating with the Ministry of Agriculture (Departemen Pertanian Republik Indonesia), the Center of Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG), Synovate and other industry partners to bring valuable agriculture information, prices, news and tips directly to consumers.
The Agriculture service will be available for commodities beginning with crops, livestock, horticulture and fisheries. Consumers will be able to subscribe to three of the most commonly grown commodities in their region. Also included in the Agriculture component are weather services, price services, and frequent agriculture news and tips.
The Education service features Learn English, General Knowledge and Test Preparation. Learn English has three levels of expertise with focus on English language fundamentals. General Knowledge will be primarily related to the province where one lives, as well as containing information at the national and international levels. Test Preparation will offer services at the Junior High School and Senior High School levels.
The Entertainment service features a range of mobile entertainment content, including news, music, comics, jokes, astrology, movie news and reviews. The content will be available to consumers via subscription and/or on-demand.
At launch, customers of Telkomsel, Indosat, XL and Hutch (3) will be able to subscribe to Nokia Life Tools services. Nokia Life Tools will first be available on the Nokia 2323 classic, Nokia 2330 classic and Nokia 2700 classic in Indonesia. Aside from the 11 handsets which will come pre-loaded with Nokia Life Tools, the service will become downloadable on more phones later.
Nokia Life Tools services use an icon-based, graphically rich user interface that comes complete with tables and which displays information simultaneously in two languages. Behind this rich interface that comes out of the box on all Life Tools-enabled handsets, SMS is used to deliver the critical information to ensure that this service works wherever a mobile phone works, without the hassles of additional settings or the need for GPRS coverage.
More about Nokia 1280
The Nokia 1280 doesn’t look unusual, but it certainly is unique and quite special. This time last year we brought you news of the Nokia 1202 for India, a 25 Euro phone that sparked a heap of great comments when we first unveiled it at the tail end of 2008. Now, today sees the launch of a device that shaves 20 percent off that price tag, with the announcement of the first 20 Euro handset in the form of the Nokia 1280 – Nokia’s cheapest ever phone. One stride closer to the reality of a 5 Euro phone? The concept doesn’t seem so far fetched. Read on to find out more about the new 1280, and scribble down your thoughts in the comments section below.
The new Nokia 1280 is a device perched at the absolute opposite side of the playing field to the N900 in terms of high-end functionality and performance, but that certainly doesn’t mean it warrants any less attention or kudos. See, I have a serious soft spot for what this device stands for and what it means – it’s a fresh-faced pioneer in terms of showing how low the price of a handset can go without sacrificing basic quality, performance and functionality. That’s no mean feat of engineering, or ambition for that matter, don’t you think? We need handsets like the 1280, as they push our expectations and drive performance and value benchmarks in an entirely different fashion.
The 1280 has been built to meet the needs of folk in remote and rural areas. In environments such as this, phone sharing is extremely common and necessary, so the new Nokia 1280 features five separate phone books, designed specifically so five different people can comfortably use it (first seen on the Nokia 1202) – split that 20 Euros between five members of a community and it becomes a 4 Euro device of sorts. I think that’s pretty incredible when you think about it in those terms.
Highly dust resistant and scratch resistant with a robust keyboard, the 1280 has been designed with longevity in mind. The same can be said on the battery life front, with up to 22 days of standby time and 8.5 hours of talk time – invaluable in communities where gaining access to electricity can often mean traveling to the nearest town many miles away.
Other key features include a torch, again a significantly valuable tool in areas without electricity, speaking clock with alarm, hands-free calling and FM radio support. Style hasn’t been left out of the equation though, as the 1280 features changeable colour covers and loud MP3 grade ringtones.
It will launch in certain markets with Nokia Life Tools pre-loaded.
The Nokia 1280 is slated to launch in the first quarter of 2010 for 20 Euros.
sources:
nokia press release, nokia conversations, www.nokia.com