Nokia Asha 501 to cost $99

HELSINKI, FINLAND: Nokia on Thursday unveiled a new mid-range Asha phone priced at $99, aiming to prevent consumers, particularly in emerging makets, from switching to Google's Android as they upgrade from basic phones.

According to Nokia, the Asha 501 will start shipping in June, and will be available through around 60 operators and distributors in over 90 countries.

The Asha phones have some of the basic functions of smartphones including access to Internet and apps like Facebook.

The phone comes with a basic 3-inch screen with a 320 x 240 pixel QVGA resolution. The screen is a capacitive dual-touch screen display.

The Nokia Asha 501 comes with a 3.2 MP rear end camera without flash. On the memory front, Nokia Asha 501 comes with a 4GB internal memory card which can be expanded up to 32 GB.