After announcing a slew of midrange, Symbian handsets yesterday, Nokia has now announced the addition of two new low end handsets to its portfolio. The two new handsets are the Nokia 100 and the Nokia 101. Both the handsets are affordable and are obviously targeted at the high volume, emerging markets in Asia and Africa.
The 101 happens to be the fifth dual SIM handset from Nokia in the past three months. This phone gets a SIM manager that lets users switch from one SIM to another while making and receiving calls. Users can also configure settings for up to 5 SIMS cards and can assign those names and logos for each one of them. The Nokia 100 is a single SIM handset.
The 101 also gets a color display and features an MP3 player as well with support for 3.5mm compatible headphones. It also gets a micro SD card slot for memory expansion. The cheaper Nokia 100 skips these features – but retains the color display. The Nokia 100 however gets FM radio support which we presume should be good enough for the price it will retail for. Both the phones use Nokia’s S30 interface and the popular grid menu system.
Both the phones come packed with Nokia Life Tools in selected markets across the globe. This feature allows users to subscribe to locally relevant information on healthcare, education, agriculture and entertainment. In India, the phone will come preloaded with the Nokia Money software that will allow them to conduct monetary transactions online. This software is powered by Obopay –a leading player in the mobile payments sector.
Both devices are expected to be launched in Q3 2011 and would be priced at $30 for the Nokia 100. The 101 would be $5 dearer at $35.
