Nokia
Asha 210

When Nokia introduced the Asha 210, it was described as “the most social Asha yet”. This claim was based on it being the world's first phone to have a dedicated WhatsApp button. The social dimension was enhanced with the inclusion of dedicated apps for Facebook and Twitter. As part of the agreement between Nokia and WhatsApp, the service was offered for free, rather than the $1 annual fee that was charged at the time. There was also social phonebook integration with the ability to launch WhatsApp direct from contact cards. In addition to the WhatsApp button, there was a dedicated camera button that allowed access to the two-megapixel camera, even when the keypad was locked. The Asha 210 used Nokia’s Xpress Browser which used the company’s cloud technology to reduce data consumption when accessing the Internet by up to 90 percent. The phone also included Wi-Fi support. Wi-Fi could be turned on and off with a long press on the space bar. The phone had an impressive battery life of up to 46 days for the Single-SIM version and up to 24 days for the Dual-SIM variant. At launch, the Asha 210 cost approximately US$72 and was offered in five colours: yellow, cyan, black, magenta, and white. The Mobile Phone Museum has a yellow, white and a rare blue variant. Interestingly, on the prototype devices of the Asha 210 (which are part of the Mobile Phone Museum collection) the dedicated social media button provided a link to Facebook like the HTC ChaCha and HTC Salsa. When the phone launched commercially, the Facebook button had been changed to display the WhatsApp logo. The Asha 210 was launched prior to Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp for $16 billion in February 2014, so the decision to change the button seemingly had nothing to do with Facebook.