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![]() Main menu interface of the Asha platform | |
Developer | Microsoft Mobile Oy (originally Nokia) |
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OS family | Mobile operating system |
Working state | Discontinued |
Source model | Closed source |
Initial release | 9 May 2013 |
Latest release | Asha Platform 1.4.0.6 |
Marketing target | Entry-level smartphones |
Available in | Multi-lingual |
Package manager | .jad |
Platforms | ARM |
Kernel type | unknown, descendant of Series 40 [1] |
Default user interface | Nokia Fastlane, Swipe |
Official website | Nokia Asha — Platform overview |
Support status | |
Unsupported |
The Nokia Asha platform was a mobile operating system (OS) and computing platform [2] designed for low-end borderline smartphones, based on software from Smarterphone which was acquired by Nokia. The platform inherits UI similarities mostly from MeeGo "Harmattan", and replaced Series 40 on Nokia's low-end devices. [3] The user interface design team was headed by Peter Skillman, who had worked previously on webOS and the design of MeeGo for the Nokia N9.
It was the successor to the Meltemi project which Nokia was developing as a Linux platform to replace Series 40, but was cancelled in July 2012. [4]
The first phone based on the platform was the Nokia Asha 501, followed by the Asha 500, Asha 502 Dual SIM, and Asha 503, all announced at Nokia World in October 2013. [5] Another phone, the Nokia Asha 230 was announced on 24 February 2014, and came pre-installed with Asha platform 1.4.
Apps for the platform were either made using Java ME, or as web apps, which are rendered by the Nokia Xpress browser which uses the Gecko rendering engine. [1] The mobile operating system lacks true multitasking but the radio and music app can run in background mode (which is advertised as multitasking), while swiping to fastlane apps will actually close down previously opened applications instead of minimising them. [6] [7]
It featured a notification centre, named Fastlane, which was accessible by swiping to the left of the home screen.
The platform was supplemented by the Nokia X software platform, Nokia's customised version of Android, seen on the Nokia X, which draws cues from the Asha platform, including the Fastlane notification centre. [8]
In a company memo released in July 2014, Microsoft announced that as part of cutbacks, they would cease all development of the Asha, Series 40, and X ranges, in favor of solely producing and encouraging the use of Lumia Windows Phone products. [9]
A much rumoured project, "Meltemi" was the codename of a new Linux-based operating system for low-end handsets. This was first reported in June 2011, during the N9's announcement and before the Lumia's debut. Nokia CEO Stephen Elop also reportedly referenced the Meltemi name as well as "Clipper". [10]
It was reported in June 2012 that the Meltemi project was cancelled. Reasons have been variously reported due to restructuring efforts, focusing on Series 40 Asha devices, fundings, or the start of a new project that would become the Asha platform. [11] [12] [4] An insider's report claimed that a device running Meltemi OS was almost ready before it was cancelled. [13] [14]
In December 2014, pictures of a working Meltemi prototype device were leaked on the internet. The interface is clearly based on that of MeeGo Harmattan on the N9. [15]
In the book Operation Elop, the authors called the Meltemi project "one of the biggest secrets during Elop's era at Nokia", a project Nokia never officially confirmed existed. The authors further explain that Meltemi originated as a research project in 2010 under then-CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo; that "Clipper" was to be a device sibling to the Nokia Lumia 610; that a tablet device for developing markets was planned; and that it was part of the company's "Next Billion" programme, much like what the Asha platform would become. In addition in June 2012 it was announced that a Nokia R&D centre in Ulm, Germany, where apparently much development took place, would close down in cuts. The book states that the main reason of Meltemi's cancellation was that the costs of bringing it to market would have hit the company's cash assets too hard, at a time when they were already financially struggling. [16]
Java APIs: HERE API, Nokia Gesture API, Nokia Frame Animator API,
File Selection API, Image Scaling API, Network State API, Contact API, Phone Settings API,
JSR 172 (Web Services), JSR 177 (Security and Trust), JSR 179 (Location), JSR 211 (Content Handler), JSR 234 (Multimedia Supplements), JSR 256 (Mobile Sensor API), JSR-238 (Mobile Internationalization), JSR 75 (File and PIM), JSR 82 (Bluetooth), JSR 118 (MIDP 2.1), JSR 135 (Mobile Media), JSR 139 (CLDC 1.1), JSR 184 (3D Graphics), JSR 205 (Messaging), JSR 226 (Vector Graphics),
Supported models: Nokia Asha 501
Features (new compared to 1.0): WhatsApp, easy capture and share videos, Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, VoIP and Fastlane is more personalised and more closely integrated with your social networks. [17]
Java APIs (new compared to 1.0): Share API, VoIP API
Supported models: Asha 500, Asha 502 Dual SIM and Nokia Asha 501 with a firmware update to 11.1.1 [18]
Features (new compared to 1.1): 3G
Java APIs (new compared to 1.1): none
Supported models: Asha 503
The Verge commented that the platform may be a recognition on the part of Nokia that they are unable to move Windows Phone into the bottom end of smartphone devices and may be "hedging their commitment" to the Windows Phone platform. [19]
The Asha Platform's main competition is Firefox OS, and Samsung's Java-based REX platform; [20] both of which are also optimised for low-end handsets. Furthermore, entry-level Android handsets are also competition to the platform. [21]
Nokia Corporation, commonly referred to as Nokia, is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, originally established as a pulp mill in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, in the Helsinki metropolitan area, but the company's actual roots are in the Tampere region of Pirkanmaa. In 2020, Nokia employed approximately 92,000 people across over 100 countries, did business in more than 130 countries, and reported annual revenues of around €23 billion. Nokia is a public limited company listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki and New York Stock Exchange. It was the world's 415th-largest company measured by 2016 revenues, according to the Fortune Global 500, having peaked at 85th place in 2009. It is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index.
Java Platform, Micro Edition or Java ME is a computing platform for development and deployment of portable code for embedded and mobile devices. Java ME was formerly known as Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition or J2ME.
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Stephen Elop is a Canadian businessman who most recently worked at Australian telecom company Telstra from April 2016. In the past he had worked for Nokia as its first non-Finnish CEO and later as Executive Vice President, Devices & Services, as well as the head of the Microsoft Business Division, as the COO of Juniper Networks, as the president of worldwide field operations at Adobe Systems, in several senior positions in Macromedia and as the CIO at Boston Chicken.
The Nokia N9 is a flagship smartphone developed by Nokia, running on the Linux-based MeeGo mobile operating system. Announced in June 2011 and released in September, it was the first and only device from Nokia with MeeGo, partly because of the company's partnership with Microsoft announced that year. It was initially released in three colors: black, cyan and magenta, before a white version was announced at Nokia World 2011.
The Nokia Lumia 800, which was codenamed 'Sea Ray', is a smartphone that was launched by Nokia on October 26, 2011, at the Nokia World 2011 event. Initially, it operated on Snapdragon S2 processor and Windows Phone 7.5 "Mango" and was the first device manufactured by Nokia to run on the Windows Phone operating system. This marked a significant shift for the company from using Symbian for their smartphones. Upon its original release in November 2011 in Europe, it was Nokia's flagship product and was hence a crucial product for their mobile phone business.
Microsoft Lumia is a discontinued line of mobile devices that was originally designed and marketed by Nokia and later by Microsoft Mobile. Introduced in November 2011, the line was the result of a long-term partnership between Nokia and Microsoft—as such, Lumia smartphones run on Microsoft software, the Windows Phone operating system; and later the newer Windows 10 Mobile. The Lumia name is derived from the partitive plural form of the Finnish word lumi, meaning "snow".
Nokia Asha is a discontinued series of low-end feature phones and smartphones produced and marketed by Nokia. The name "Asha" came from the Hindi word meaning "hope".
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