Nokia has stepped up with dual SIM phones
I simply can’t stress it any further but I detest the sight of those Chinese phones that have dual SIM card capability and TV. While the ideas are novel, the execution is quite sad. Manufacturers have been urging the Chinese government to crack down on fake products while warning consumers about potential health hazards such as exploding batteries.
It seems that not a day goes by without a new clone of some well-known product appearing on the Ugandan market, under a different name and with different features, but sharing the same design as the original. Make no mistake, it’s not in Uganda only; whether you’re in New York, London, Shanghai, Tokyo, N’Djamena (Chad’s capital city, bet you didn’t know that) or Moscow, chances are you’re going to encounter low-quality knock-offs. Most fakes just slap a slightly off logo on an inferior good and that’s that. Furthermore, the Chinese have turned it into an art-form, creating whole products and companies that are blatantly imitative of well-known western brands. I’m not just talking gadgets here, they’ve got coffee chains, retailers, and yes, even knockoff cars.
It’s cool to have a dual SIM card phone so that you can fully take advantage of offers from telecom companies. Unfortunately, apart from Samsung, there’s been no major brand stepping up and offering a dual SIM phone. However, enter Nokia. Yesterday, Nokia had zero dual-SIM card phones. Today? Two. The C1 and C2 are both low-end phones that won’t offer media-hungry people the phone they were looking for but they will for users who only need the fundamental purpose of a phone – that is, to talk and sms.
Since these are aimed at developing countries, they are bound to be cheap, offering run of the mill connectivity and multimedia. They may lack 3G connectivity but seriously who uses 3G in Uganda? The C1 has a memory card slot (up to 32GB cards but those cost more than the phone itself), flash light, media player and FM radio. The C2 also comes with Ovi Mail, chat and a web browser.
Calls and texts can be sent and received from both phone numbers at the same time on the C2, whereas the C1 can hold two SIM cards at once, with the ability to switch between the two numbers at the press of a button. The first SIM card on the Nokia C2 sits underneath the battery and the second is ‘hot-swappable’, a feature that is unique to only memory cards, meaning the SIM can be removed and inserted when the phone is on.
However, don’t go rushing to the Nokia dealer asking for this phone as they were simply announced by Nokia. Expect availability end of the year prices ranging between Shs100,000 to Shs150,000. Such innovations only guarantee Nokia’s top position in the global mobile phone market. These types of phones may not be cool or hip or even beautiful, but their utility is better than what others offer. I can see them selling well for business types, conmen and cheating spouses alike.
