App-iness is a world of cheap smartphones

The Life: The "smartphone" is becoming the norm - with even the cheapest handsets now offering email, apps and internet.

The Nokia Asha 303. Handout photo

Back in the 1980s, a high-end mobile phone was one that fitted, if you were lucky, in the boot of your car.

These days, mobiles are not only a great deal more portable but offer high-tech features unimaginable 30 years ago.

In the Apple age, the mobile's "phone" function almost feels like an afterthought. Most high-end devices now support email, Web, a plethora of apps and GPS navigation.

And with more devices coming to the market, prices are coming down as consumers expect more for their money.

According to the market-research firm TNS, almost half of mobile users in UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia now use a "smart" device. The proportion will exceed 50 per cent by this time next year, TNS says.

At the same time, the handsets are becoming cheaper. Smartphones are today available for as little as US$80 (Dh293) and that is forecast by TNS to fall $60 to $70 by the end of the year.

Nokia launched its cheap smartphone range, dubbed the Asha, late last year.

Starting at Dh288, the range has many of the features you'd expect from more expensive smartphones, such as support for apps and Web browsing.

Tom Farrell, the vice president of Nokia Middle East, says the Asha range would make smartphones affordable to the masses.

"We believe there is a massive opportunity to give everybody a smartphone," he says.

One of Nokia's targets is to help connect another billion people globally to the internet - and the cheap smartphone is one way to do this, says Mr Farrell. But the company faces stiff competition, especially from Chinese manufacturers making feature-packed phones at a fraction of the price.

Mr Farrell acknowledges the competition from China, but says Nokia's application store - which has downloads such as Angry Birds and Whatsapp - marks an advantage over such manufacturers.

Either way, the smartphone is becoming the norm, with even the cheapest handsets now offering email, apps and internet.

The mobile has certainly come a long way since the 1980s.

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