Cheap Android phones? Bah! How about a $29 mobe from Microsoft? Microsoft has reaffirmed its commitment to the absolute bottom of the mobile market with a new, web-capable phone that will retail for just $29. In a blog post announcing the device on Monday, Microsoft described the Nokia 215 as its "most affordable internet-ready phone" – but that doesn't make it a smartphone. If you recall …
Enough battery to get through the weekend (note 29 *days* standby, not hours).
Cheap enough to not care if its lost or stolen (and the latter seems unlikely)
Enough internet to gloat about where you are to mates who couldn't make it.
Camera bad enough you shouldn't be tempted to make the people behind you watch the bands through your screen.
You'll still probably have trouble finding your tent in the dark while drunk though, even with the torch.
I suspect that dual SIM phones would be very popular everywhere, were they to be available everywhere..Where I am ( France ) they are, but from what I've read here in the past, they are not offered in many places, including the other side of the channel ?
I'm soon to be in the market to replace 4 phones, if these go on sale here , I'll take two .
"I suspect that dual SIM phones would be very popular everywhere, were they to be available everywhere..Where I am ( France ) they are, but from what I've read here in the past, they are not offered in many places, including the other side of the channel ?"
There are a few available here and there. I know CPC sell some, for example, and I recently set up my mother's new phone, which she got from one of those shopping TV channels - and I was surprised to see that was a dual SIM phone.
They're only cheapo phones, though. Nothing special - though they'd suffice for most things.
I have a dual sim phone, funnily enough a Nokia but a Nokia that runs Android, it's a Nokia X.
I got it for 2 reasons, the main one is that I live in Northern Ireland and cross the border into Ireland quite often, data roaming is expensive so I pop an Irish PAYG sim into slot 2 and it takes over once I cross the border. I use Waze as my Sat Nav so need a data connection.
Second reason is that I am on call on 1 weekend a month, so I can just pop my work sim into it so I don't have to lug two phones around over the weekend. Don't mind carrying two phones during the week as I wear a suit, but at weekends in jeans and t-shirt (depending on season).
The product category is called "feature phones". There's nothing new or remarkable about this phone in terms of features or price. There are loads of them out there from many manufacturers. The phone itself is hardly newsworthy.
So Microsoft has decided to stay in the feature phone business? It would be interesting to know the reasoning behind this. I'll take a stab at it by guessing that some major distributors or carriers were thinking about dropping Microsoft's smart phone line because there wasn't enough sales volume to make the effort of maintaining the sales relationship worth while, and keeping a feature phone in the line up help keeps a foot in the door.
I doubt it will do anything for brand loyalty though. Nokia found out the hard way that anyone upgrading from a feature phone to a smart phone was far more likely to buy an Android phone than they were to stick with Nokia and buy a Windows phone. People at the cheap end of the market tend to be rather pragmatic about these things. It's the expensive end of the market which has the irrational rabid fan boys.
@Elmer Phud - I don't know what''s in your current Nokia, but camera, web browser, music player, calendar, etc. have been pretty bog standard in feature phones for a while. The camera resolution is pretty typical in this price range as well. It may not win the mega-pixel wars, but it's very handy for taking shots of things and price tags while shopping instead of writing notes.
Oh, and the battery goes forever, it fits in your pocket easily, and you won't cry if it gets broken or scratched up.
The main reason why not a lot of people actually use the Internet with these things is because they tend to be used with low cost PAYG phone plans that don't include data, or where data is charged by the megabyte. People mainly just use then to talk and send texts.
If you can get a cheap PAYG phone plan, then you can buy them for your kids and not have to worry too much about them getting broken or lost. They're great as "leashes" because you can always call them (or send a text) to ask "where are you and why aren't you home yet?"
They're great as "leashes" because you can always call them (or send a text) to ask "where are you and why aren't you home yet?"
On the other hand, they don't support "leash apps" like dondeEsta (which allows you to text a phone, and it automatically sends back its current location).
They had already found out that punters upgrading from a feature phone to a smartphone were far more likely to buy an Android phone than a Symbian phone, a situation that led to Android overtaking Symbian by the end of 2010.* This situation was the result of several years of very poor decisions taken by Nokia senior management combined with a very destructive internal turf-war between the Symbianista and the Meegoites over the future of Nokia's proprietary OS. The incompetence of Nokia's senior management had to all intents and purposes sealed the fate of the company's phone division long before any of the original conversations with Redmond took place.
*I myself upgraded during that period from a Nokia feature phone to the original HTC Wildfire, my first ever smartphone.
"Main area is emerging markets, such as Africa."
So they hope. But there's two problems:
Firstly that all emerging markets have seen what you can get for $30 from a Chinese no name, and by any reckoning if you choose well you'd have something equivalent to the first or second generation iPhone or a Nokia 5800. Evidence the world over suggests that the lower battery life of a smartphone is something the vast majority of users will tolerate for the extended capabilities. And even off grid, developing markets have credible options like small, simple PV trickle chargers that are next to useless in frigid and sunless northern climes.
Secondly, in their desire to keep the name Microsoft "exclusive" (hah!) they've created a situation where even if this new cheapy phone is a success, there's no brand upgrade path. Microsoft must have a special strategy department dedicated to snatching defeat from the jaws of any potential victory.
Secondly, in their desire to keep the name Microsoft "exclusive" (hah!) they've created a situation where even if this new cheapy phone is a success, there's no brand upgrade path. Microsoft must have a special strategy department dedicated to snatching defeat from the jaws of any potential victory.
Indeed, Microsoft is looking more and more like Nokia did in its last mobile phone years...
Here's a free idea for Microsoft: Reintroduce WP 7 for the low-end phone range. By today's standards, WP 7 is quite frugal with hardware, so it should work well on cheap phones, but yet allows a smooth upgrade path to phones with a newer WP.
Looks like a perfect phone for me and I might go get one!
I'm sat in front of a computer all day at work so I've got a nice big screen for all my internetty needs, and iPads and laptops at home for the rest of the day. All I want from a mobile phone is a phone, something that fits easily in my pocket and a battery that can last at least a week when I go on a holiday.
And just $29 ?!?!?!? Amazing.
"And just $29 ?!?!?!? Amazing."
Where have you been for the past few years?
If you want a basic Nokia phone for voice calls then they were cheap as chips long before this - for example, if available in your market look at the Nokia 106, currently being sold for £9 (brand new, major retailer) in the UK. That's less than $14.
If you're not hung up on Nokia, then an Alcatel 10.10 will set you back £5 from the same retailer, less than $8.
I can see the potential for phones and mobile internet diverging again for some users - snap up an old school 'dumb' phone like this one if days of standby are important to you, and a small tablet or smartphone for your internet needs. With them separate you can hammer the battery on the internet device and not worry about losing your communication capacity.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
