Nokia Asha 303 Philippines Price, Specs, Release Date - Soon, In the Flesh Photo!

TechPinas Exclusive!

I've just received information from an insider that Nokia Philippines is already set to release the Touch and Type QWERTY phone, Nokia Asha 303, within a month or so.

Announced last October 26 at Nokia World 2011 held in London, Series 40 Nokia Asha 303 is the second Nokia phone to don a combination of a full QWERTY keyboard and capacitive touchscreen (Can you name the first Nokia phone to feature that combo?)

Supporting a variety of connectivity options like Wifi, Bluetooth and 3G, Nokia Asha 303 comes replete with a 2.6-inch capacitive display, which responds to the slightest touch, and a full QWERTY keyboard with tactile keys making it easy for users to browse the web and stay connected on their favorite social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Here's how the phone looks like in the flesh:

Again, as yet, Nokia Philippines hasn't made any formal announcement regarding the availability of this handset. But according to our source, Nokia Asha 303 should arrive within this year -- sometime in Yuletide, maybe. The TP guesstimate for its price tag is around Php 7,500.

UPDATE as of November 29, 2011:

Nokia Asha 303 is now out in the Philippines! The official SRP is just Php 6,490! Fine, I'm off by more than a thousand bucks, which is good, right?! You may get this phone via all authorized Nokia retailers nationwide.

TechPinas Smartphone Technical Specs Table (TSTST)
Name	Nokia Asha 303
Type	Touch and Type, Candybar with Full QWERTY Thumb-type Keyboard and Capacitive Touchscreen
Price Category	Midrange
Dimensions	116.5 x 55.7 x 13.9 mm, 72 cc
Weight	99 grams
Available Colors	Red, Aqua, Green, Graphite, Silver White, Purple
Operating System	S40
Display	2.6 inches (~154 ppi pixel density), 320 x 240 pixels, TFT, capacitive touchscreen, 256K colors
Processor	1 GHz
Camera	3.2 MegaPixels, 2048x1536 pixels, fixed focus
Video Capture	VGA 15 frames per second
Audio and Video Playback	MP4/H.264/H.263/WMV player - MP3/WAV/WMA/AAC player
Ports	microUSB 2.0, 3.5 mm audio jack
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP, EDR, HSDPA, 10.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 2 Mbps
Network	2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, 3G Network HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100
Memory	170 MB (100 MB user available), 256 MB ROM, 128 MB RAM
Sensors	TBA, Proximity
Battery	Li-Ion 1300 mAh (BP-3L)
Uptime	Standby of up to 840 hours on 2G Standby of up to 720 hours on 3G Talk time of up to 8 hours 10 minutes on 2G Talk time of up to 7 hours 10 minutes on 3G
Value-Added Features	Touch and Type form factor, SNS Integration
Announcement	October 2011
Availability	December 2011
Price	TP Guesstimate - Php 7,500