Nokia's Asha line-up of smartphones has done remarkably well in emerging markets like India and with the Finnish company looking to launch more budget-friendly devices, the future looks bright. Now a mysterious Nokia smartphone, allegedly a part of the company's Asha series, has surfaced online, suggesting that the launch is not far away.
The leaked images of the mysterious Nokia smartphone are courtesy of well-known tipster @evleaks, who is pretty reliable.
However, @evleaks does not disclose any details regarding the mystery device, such as including what it is or the launch date.
All that the Twitter post from the tipster says is "remember that Nokia Asha design language preview?"
@evleaks' post hints that Nokia could have yet another budget-friendly smartphone waiting in the wings. The leaked image reveals that the mysterious handset will come in a variety of colors, just like Nokia's Lumia line-up.
The leaked image suggests that the phone could possibly be running on the Windows Phone operating system. However, since the lock screen is visible, one cannot see the Live Tiles, which are synonymous with WP8 handsets.
The date on the Nokia smartphone is Aug. 17, 2012, which could be when the device was conceived.
"Narrowing the gap further between the colourful Lumia and foundation Asha handsets come these colourful new Ashas that were said to be like 'mini N9s'," notes a MyNokiaBlog report.
The report also reveals that per the site's sources, these images are of not one but two Nokia smartphones — one that has a physical button and the other is capacitive.
"We are told there are two devices, one with a physical button the other with capacitive," notes the site.
Recently, Nokia's Stephen Elop let on that the company was focused on "taking (Windows Phone) to lower and lower prices" and that its budget Windows Phone handsets would "over time compete with Android."
The leaked images of the mysterious Nokia smartphones seem to hint at the company deploying Windows Phone in favor of Series 40, which powers its Asha line-up of phones.
However, it's early yet and we'll have to wait till Nokia lets out some more details or leaks throw additional nuggets of wisdom our way.
