Asha 308, Asha 309 equipped with Nokia Nearby app

Yesterday, the Nokia Asha 309 was launched in India for Rs 6,349. In September this year, Nokia had unveiled the latest additions to the Asha Touch line-up of smartphones - Asha 309 and Asha 308. In an official statement, the company has announced that the Nokia Nearby web app is pre-installed on the two phones to help people discover new places by searching nearby locations and presenting the options on a map. The service is available via Nokia Xpress Browser or as a feature within Nokia Maps.

It is an additional application to Nokia Maps 2.0

Nokia Nearby is an additional application to Nokia Maps 2.0 and is available preloaded on the new Nokia Asha 308 and Nokia Asha 309. It can be launched via the Nokia Xpress Browser. It helps users discover, search, and share places without knowing in advance what they are looking for. For example it will help consumers discover places close to their location or elsewhere.  Nokia Nearby searches within a 10km radius of the phone’s location and presents results in popular categories such as ‘Eat & Drink’ and ‘Shopping’. Users can then simply choose the category they want to explore and view the available options on a map. They can then search for specific places, read ratings and reviews, and share their location or place of interest (POI) easily on Facebook. This type of capability is normally only available on devices with higher prices, but Nokia’s Xpress cloud-based internet platform delivers this new and exciting experience to Asha Touch and Series 40 devices.

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The app claims to help consumers discover places around themselves -- be it restaurants or coffee shops or other places. One can also use it to find bank ATMs or petrol stations. Users can also read reviews of places, save reviews for later perusal and share them with friends to give them suggestions on where to hang out.

The app gives access to over seven million places of interest in India. In Mumbai, consumers have access to over 35,396 shopping destinations, 5,663 tourism places, over 9,590 places to eat and more.

Nokia Asha 309, like the Asha 308 smartphone, is a 2G-enabled device featuring a 3.0-inch WQVGA capacitive display, multiple homescreens, stereo radio, loud speakers, and up to 32GB microSD card support. The Nokia Asha 309 is the single SIM variant with Wi-Fi. The phones also come with a free gift of 40 premium EA games, social features such as standalone Facebook and Twitter clients, the Nokia Messaging Service and video streaming through the browser from sites like YouTube – a first within the Asha Touch range.