Nokia to show something new on April 24, could be the Lumia-inspired Asha 501

By Andy Boxall April 22, 2013

We’re all for companies keeping us in suspense when it comes to teasing new product releases, but perhaps Nokia has gone too far with its latest attempt to ratchet up the tension ahead of an announcement on Wednesday. Posting on its Nokia Conversations blog, the firm says it’ll be, “Announcing something new” at 7am GMT (eek) this Wedneday, but gives no other information whatsoever. It does state a Q&A session will follow the announcement, and that it’ll be held by Nokia’s Technology Marketing Director Neil Broadley and a “special guest.”

It’s lack of information doesn’t stop us though, as there are enough clues here for us to make an educated guess as to what Nokia has planned for us. The picture you see above accompanies the post, and gives us our first hint. It shows two corners of what we assume is a mobile phone, one with the edge of a screen, and the other with the edge of a keyboard. Both show a very bright yellow casing. We’d say all this means it’s not going to be for any Windows Phone hardware, but for Nokia’s mid-range Asha devices instead.

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Moving on, Nokia’s Neil Broadley has long been involved with the Asha series, having most recently been on hand to reveal the Asha 205 last year, and the 301 at the end of February this year. In an interview with Nokia Conversations at the beginning of January, Broadley claimed to be an Asha devotee, and admitted to using an Asha 311 during his work day.

So, although the event probably won’t be for the various new Windows Phone handsets many of us are anxiously waiting for, we’re keen to see where Nokia is taking the Asha range next. The announcement may be linked to the rumored Asha 501, the design of which was leaked at the beginning of April, and showed a touchscreen phone with a yellow casing, very similar to the one posted by Nokia.

What makes the Asha 501 more interesting than usual is its possible, “baby Lumia Windows Phone” design, indicating Nokia wants to spread the bright colors, big fonts and friendly images common on its Lumia Windows Phones to its Asha brand. As for the spec, another leak speculated the phone would have a 1GHz processor, a 3.5-inch AMOLED screen, 3G connectivity and a 5 megapixel camera.

According to the official image, the touchscreen phone will probably be accompanied by a keyboard-equipped model too, although we’ve not seen any leaks concerning it yet. We’ll be bringing you all the news on Nokia’s new phones following the Wednesday, April 24, event.

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Nokia will be at Microsoft’s Build event on April 2, could bring new Lumia phones along

windows phone 8 helpful tips nokia lumia icon

Mere moments before HTC unveiled the new HTC One M8, Nokia sent out early warning about its own special event, which will take place next week. Followers of the Nokia Twitter account will have seen its own little jab at HTC too, as it tweeted “Why go for One when you get more.” Oh, those little devils. Nokia will hold its event on April 2 in San Francisco, a date which will ring a bell with tech fans. Why? It’s the first day of Microsoft’s Build developer conference.
Sure enough, Nokia will hold its event at Build. This time last week, we’d have expected it to be a glitzy celebration of Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia’s Devices division. However, we’ve since been informed of a delay, and the process isn’t going to be completed until later in April. It seems unlikely we’ll get the whole story at Build, then, but luckily we are promised something a little more exciting than solely business talk.
Over at Nokia’s official Conversations blog, we’re told the company has various treats lined up for us, and closes with the words “remember, you can always do more Lumia.” We’ll take a wild guess and say the firm will launch some new Windows Phone-powered Lumia devices on the day. Not only that, but as Microsoft is expected to reveal Windows Phone 8.1, these new phones should come with the latest version of the software installed.
Rumors had already spread of an April Nokia event, but with a later date attached. Since its MWC 2014 line-up was all about the new Nokia X family, we’ve been expecting some new Lumia phones ever since. If existing speculation turns out to be correct, we could see the Lumia 530, the Lumia 630, and the Lumia 930 announced. We’ll be back with all the Nokia news from the event next week.

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Nokia Lumia 630 leaked, as rumors spread of an April launch event

Lumia 630 Leak

Nokia used Mobile World Congress to reveal the Android-powered Nokia X family of smartphones, leaving aside its signature Windows Phone hardware, presumably for another special event in the future. Two rumors have emerged this week, the first of which points to such a get-together occurring next month, and the second concerning one of the devices which may be announced.
The phone has been leaked through the @evleaks Twitter account, and is a traditional press-style glamor shot of a phone apparently named the Lumia 630. Pictured in five different colors, it’s shown running Windows Phone 8. The design is reminiscent of previous Lumia phones, but also shares the look of the Nokia X too.
While it’s the first time we’re getting such a detailed look at the Lumia 630, it has been leaked before. The phone, codename Moneypenny according to Engadget, appeared a few days ago on a Chinese site, where it was suggested the phone will have a 4.5-inch, 854 x 480 pixel screen, a Snapdragon 400 processor, and 1GB of RAM. The camera’s megapixels aren’t revealed, but the lack of flash says this is no PureView challenger.
None of the recently rumored Windows Phone devices were announced at Mobile World Congress. This is presumably due to Nokia having to wait for Microsoft to announce Windows Phone 8.1 - as all its new phones should run the new version - which it is expected to do during the Build conference on April 2.
Does that mean a late April event from Nokia? Perhaps. A tweet from the same account also hinted we may not have long to go before the Lumia 630 is officially revealed, speculating we may soon get invitations to an event to be held on April 19. The tweet was posed as a question, and has since been removed, which could mean it was based on false information. However, Nokia did reveal a few new Asha phones on April 24 last year, so it fits in with previous schedules.

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Nokia reveals super cheap 220 and Asha 230

Nokia continued its assault on the budget end of the market today at MWC by announcing the Nokia 220 and the Nokia Asha 230. They are bound for emerging markets where Nokia’s CEO, Stephen Elop, hopes they will “connect the next million people to the Internet.”
The Nokia Asha 230 is intended to be an entry-level smartphone. It has a touchscreen, and you can double tap it to wake the phone. It also features Nokia’s Fastlane, which is a stream containing all of your notifications and recently used services and apps.
Alongside the 230 there’s also a new release of the Asha software due in April. It will bring Microsoft OneDrive support to all Asha phones, allowing owners to back up their photos and videos in the cloud. Other improvements include smarter imaging, free streaming music with MixRadio, and there’s also Asha Motion, which allows you to create your own wallpapers.
The Nokia Asha 230 is on sale globally now and will cost $62 (45 euros).
The Nokia 220 has a 2.4-inch display, a 2-megapixel camera, 2G connectivity, and will have a dual-SIM variant. It is an affordable Internet-ready phone with Facebook and Twitter pre-loaded. Nokia has also integrated Bing into the Nokia Express browser.
When they said affordable they were not joking. The Nokia 220 will cost just $40 (30 euros).