Nokia Asha platform overview

The Nokia Asha software platform is designed specifically to power a range of affordable yet powerful smartphones. It’s a direct descendant of the Series 40 platform. So, if you’ve delivered Java or web apps to Series 40, you’ll be instantly at home with the Nokia Asha software platform.

Better still the Nokia Asha software platform will take your apps into the future, with a platform that’ll advanced with the increasing expectation of consumers worldwide.

Key feature of the Nokia Asha software platform

The key features of the platform are:

• Platformised in software and hardware — complementing the Nokia Asha software platform is an increased focus on platformising the phone hardware, developers will now have greater certainty that a hardware feature they want to exploit in an app will be available across the new Nokia Asha family.
• Firmware updating — smartphone users expect regular firmware update to bring new features and functions to their phones, the Nokia Asha platform has been built with this demand in mind. Users of Nokia Asha 501 phones will be able to update their firmware to Nokia Asha software platform 1.1 and updates are already in development.
• User experience — an engaging, sophisticated UI, optimised for 3” QVGA displays. The UI employs a swiping style for navigation between apps and the home screen, and within the home screen. It also enables apps to use the whole screen by hiding the status and menu bars until they are swiped into view.
• Advanced apps — create more advanced, fully featured apps more easily with Java. Harness features such as 2D and 3D graphic, accelerometers, and location information, among others. Using the Nokia Notifications API you can also push information to your Java apps in real-time. The Share API adds the ability to interact and share information with social media sites, and the VoIP API enables apps to make internet calls over WLAN. Building your apps with Java gives you more options to deliver the quality of apps consumers expect on a smartphone.
• Connected apps — with web apps online content is delivered using up to 90% less data, while offering users an interactive and engaging UI. This is because, unlike other proxy browser systems, Nokia Asha web apps can update their UI locally on the phone.
• Better support for social apps — in both Java and web apps, with Nokia Notification functionality provided on the platform and within the development tools.

Create great apps with Java or web apps technology

The Nokia Asha software platform offers you the choice of two industry standard development options: Java ME and web technology. Java ME is ideal for apps and games where rich functionality and high performance are needed, while web technology can be used to deliver on-line content in an engaging, data efficient way.

Java APIs supported in Nokia Asha software platform 1.1