Nokia launches smartphone

Mobile phone giants Nokia today made a move for emerging markets with the launch of a €137 smartphone.

The Finnish company announced the Lumia 520 alongside three other devices, including a €15 mobile phone, at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain.

The smartphone, which operates with Windows 8, could be perfect for colder countries with its super-sensitive touch-screen technology, meaning it can be used while wearing gloves.

But with experts predicting a big year for cheap smartphones as developers try to make inroads into the developing world, the Lumia 520 could be seen in India or Africa more than Scandinavia.

The phone also comes with a 5-megapixel camera and access to the music streaming service Nokia Music.

Alongside this, Nokia launched the 105 phone – a €15 standard mobile phone that is now the cheapest in the company’s range.

It comes complete with an FM radio and a torch, with Nokia explaining that it could be perfect for those living in areas where reliable electricity is in short supply.

It is also the end of an era as the 105’s colour screen means that Nokia have made their last phone with a black-and-white display.

Those two phones were launched alongside the Lumia 720, which Nokia are pitching at “socialites”, and the €64 “candybar”-style 301.

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop told a press conference at MWC: “Today we’re introducing the world’s most innovative portfolio of products.

“For Nokia the building blocks are in place and now we have to make sure that all of this capability, all of this beauty in design, everything that we have done in terms of great product making is put into the hands of consumers and that’s what we’re focused on today.”