Nokia Asha series gets a major software update

Nokia has started the rollout of a major software update for its Nokia Asha touch devices and the update brings few exciting new features and functions to the featurephone lineup. The update comes with enhanced support for mail for exchange, a dedicated YouTube launcher and improved social experiences. Some features will remain specific to different models, but the update with all its tweaks and fixes will be available to all the Asha touch phone users.Furthermore, the software update for the Nokia Asha 305, Asha 306 and the Dual-SIM variants of Asha 308 and Asha 310 will now support WhatsApp, a popular third-party messenger, for the first time. The software update is available over the air (OTA) or you can update your devices via Nokia PC Suit. Nokia had announced last week that the Mail for Exchange app was now available on Nokia Store for Nokia Asha users. The app, which was initially announced in May, is compatible with the Nokia Asha 311, Nokia Asha 310, Nokia Asha 309 and Nokia Asha 308, will allow users to sync their email, calendar and contacts data with Microsoft Exchange 2003, 2007, 2010 Servers and Microsoft Office 365 Mobility Online Service through Microsoft's Exchange ActiveSync protocol. Perhaps the update facilitates the installation of the app in the above mentioned Asha series phones. With support for WhatsApp, Nokia wants to make its Asha phones a strong contender in the low-cost phones segment, with budget Android smartphones eating into its share. While one can install and use messaging apps much more easily on Android smartphones which come with a dedicated app store,Google Play Store, and support for running apps in the background, not all Nokia Asha feature phones support it out of the box due to their software limitations. It's worth mentioning that a large number of users are increasingly using data based messaging apps over conventional text messaging so if Nokia doesn't add these 'smart' features it's likely that it will see its users abandoning the platform.This also consolidates Nokia's efforts to position the Asha series as a smart feature phone or indeed a smartphone. Meanwhile, Nokia had also introduced two more apps that will encourage corporate users to adopt Nokia Asha phones in addition to offering Mail for Exchange support. Editori Text and Editori sheet apps allow users to view and edit Microsoft Word and Excel documents on the move. With the apps users can now modify, save and share documents or spreadsheets for quick review right from their Nokia Asha phones. Since they were launched last year, the Asha Touch devices have proved to be a huge hit all over the world. This software update demonstrates that these affordable smartphones are still getting better and better.
New features
The Nokia Asha 308, Asha 310 and Asha 311 will get the following new features with this update:

§  Better business support with enhanced Mail for Exchange

§  Dedicated YouTube launcher

The Dual-SIM Asha 308 and Asha 310 will become compatible withWhatsApp, which is already available on the single-SIM models.

In addition, the Asha 308 gets easy access to the eBuddy chat client. A software update that’s coming shortly for the Nokia Asha 309 will also give users easy access to eBuddy.

An update is available as well for the Nokia Asha 305 and Asha 306. It will allow the Asha 305 to support WhatsApp for the first time and both devices will get a WhatsApp launcher.