Nokia Asha 501 has style and substance

Nokia has announced that its Asha 501, the first of a new generation of smartphones to run on the new Asha Platform, is available for purchase in Saudi Arabia.
The Nokia Asha 501 features distinctively Nokia design, a faster and more intuitive user interface and smarter Internet experiences — all at an ‘affordable’ price.
“The new Nokia Asha 501 helps people quickly access everything they love with just a simple swipe,” said Tom Farrell, VP, Nokia Middle East.
“Coupled with beautiful design, it’s a smartphone with both style and substance, offered at a great price.”
The Nokia Asha 50, which retails for SR365, is available in a choice of five striking colors — cyan, bright red, yellow, black and white. Its seamless design comes in just two parts — a durable, removable “shell” and the scratch-resistant, tempered glass display.
The compact, easy-to-use Nokia Asha 501 weighs only 98 gm, “for the ultimate in portability.”
The new phone works with just a simple swipe. Swipe unlocks the phone, closes apps and is used to shift between two screens — Home and Fastlane. Home makes full use of the three-inch capacitive touchscreen, displaying a traditional application launcher.
Fastlane is the second screen that adapts to display recent activity on the phone as well as upcoming events, helping people multi-task.
Fastlane also supports social integration with Facebook and Twitter, by allowing people to post directly from within Fastlane.
The new Asha comes with the Nokia Xpress Browser pre-loaded, which compresses Internet data by up to 90 percent, making mobile browsing faster and more affordable.
People can enjoy a world of entertainment on the Nokia Asha 501, including pre-installed social apps like Facebook and Twitter; chat services like Line, Nimbuzz and WeChat; as well as up to 40 free EA games available to download, such as Plants vs. Zombies. Even more free apps and games are available from Nokia Store, including HERE Maps and the new Nokia Xpress Now content discovery web app.