Nokia connects 'next billion' with 5 new smartphones...

Nokia underscored its commitment to connecting the next billion to the internet by releasing five new affordable handsets at Mobile World Congress, including Nokia X, Nokia X+ and Nokia XL smartphones.

Revealed by Stephen Elop, executive vice president of Nokia's Devices & Services, the family of smartphones run Android(TM) apps, Microsoft services and signature Nokia experiences.

"Nokia has connected billions of people around the world, and today we demonstrated how our portfolio is designed to connect the next billion people to great experiences," Elop says.

"Our deliberate approach is to offer four tiers of products including our affordable entry-level devices like the new Nokia 220; our entry-level Asha touch phones like the new Nokia Asha 230; our new Nokia X, Nokia X+ and Nokia XL smartphones primarily for growth economies; and our Lumia portfolio, which is where we introduce the greatest innovation and provide full compatibility with the Microsoft experience," he added.

According to Elop, he Nokia X, Nokia X+ and Nokia XL are priced to capture the fast-growing affordable smartphone market and provide an on-ramp to Lumia and Microsoft services like Skype, OneDrive and outlook.com.

The Nokia Asha 230 is Nokia's most affordable full-touch Asha device to date, while the Nokia 220 is an internet-ready mobile phone with social apps.

Nokia X family delivers the best of all worlds

The Nokia X family features Nokia's renowned handset quality and design, with a fresh, tile-based user interface inspired by our Lumia family.

All devices come with Fastlane, a screen which lets people switch between their favorite apps more smoothly. People can access curated, quality-tested apps from Nokia Store, more than a dozen third-party app stores and by sideloading.

Out of the box, they can enjoy signature Nokia experiences including free HERE Maps, with true offline maps and integrated turn-by-turn navigation, and Nokia MixRadio for free* music streaming and downloadable playlists. All devices are also pre-loaded with a variety of third-party apps and games.

The Nokia X family is also an affordable introduction to popular Microsoft services, including free cloud storage using OneDrive. With the purchase of any Nokia X family smartphone in select markets, people will get one month of Skype's Unlimited World Subscription for a limited time, ideal to make international calls to landlines in more than 60 countries and to mobile phones in 8 countries.

The first device, the Nokia X, comes with a 4" IPS capacitive display and 3MP camera. The Nokia X+ is optimised for multimedia enthusiasts, who can enjoy even more games, music, photos and video thanks to more memory and storage. Both the Nokia X and Nokia X+ will be available in bright green, bright red, cyan, yellow, black and white.

The third family member, the Nokia XL, boasts a 5" display with 2MP front-facing camera - ideal for Skype video calls - and a 5MP rear-facing, autofocus camera with flash.

The Nokia XL will be available in bright green, orange, cyan, yellow, black and white. The entire Nokia X family is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon dual core processor and supports Dual SIM, letting people switch SIM cards to get better tariffs.

The Nokia X will go on sale immediately, starting at EUR 89 and rolling-out in Asia-Pacific, Europe, India, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. The Nokia X+ and Nokia XL are expected to roll out in these markets starting early second quarter, priced at EUR 99 and EUR 109, respectively.

Beautifully crafted phones for the "mobile first" generation: Nokia Asha 230 and Nokia 220

Nokia also unveiled two further handsets designed for people experiencing the Internet for the first time.

Adding to the popular Asha range of devices, the Nokia Asha 230 is the ideal introduction to full-touch mobile phones. The Nokia Asha 230 includes all the benefits of the Nokia Asha Software Platform, including Fastlane and access to popular social apps like Line, WeChat and WhatsApp.

One swipe up from the lockscreen activates the Nokia Asha 230's camera, and one touch enables people to share images to their favourite social network. With a forthcoming software update, the Nokia Asha 230 will introduce 7GB of free cloud storage on Microsoft OneDrive, and the option to automatically back up photos to the cloud.

the Nokia Asha 230 is available in single and Dual SIM variants, and will start rolling out immediately across Asia-Pacific, Europe, India, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

Nokia also introduced its lowest-priced, data-enabled phone: the beautifully designed Nokia 220, which makes mobile Internet accessible to more people around the world.

With its 2.4" colour screen, dust- and splash-proof keypad, the Nokia 220 is a well-crafted choice for people experiencing mobility and the Internet for the first time, with Facebook and Twitter pre-loaded and Bing as the default search engine in the pre-loaded Nokia Xpress browser.