Exploring WhatsApp and the Nokia Asha 210

Last week Nokia announced the Nokia Asha 210, the first mobile phone to feature a dedicated WhatsApp button in addition to social networking capabilities that include Facebook and Twitter.
The Nokia Asha 210 is perfect for messengers who want to easily go between SMS and WhatsApp. Especially these days, when messaging services such as WhatsApp have now overtaken SMS as a preferred way to get hold of friends and family.

In all the excitement about this new phone, we connected with Neeraj Arora, WhatsApp’s VP of Business Development to find out more about the exciting messaging service.

The Asha 210 with the dedicated WhatsApp button is going to have the easiest access to WhatsApp available on any mobile today. What does this mean to WhatsApp?

Neeraj: Our core customer experiences are to have a fast connection to the people who matter most to them and to easily share not just text, but photos, video etc.

With the Nokia Asha 210, users of the phone don’t need to manually and laboriously import contact details, WhatsApp automatically adds phone numbers to the user’s WhatsApp contact list. Also, with the dedicated WhatsApp button, WhatsApp is front and center on the keyboard. WhatsApp users can also share multimedia content directly from the gallery or camera on Nokia Asha 210 .

Nokia Asha 210 with dedicated WhatsApp key also comes with a unique offering – for the first time we’re giving WhatsApp for free for the lifetime of the device.

Tell me about the development process for the Asha 210 – the choices made and partnership between Nokia and WhatsApp?

Neeraj: WhatsApp has a long history with Nokia. Over the last year and half, the partnership has been amplified in several ways. We like that Nokia values partner feedback and as a global company, it is well known for its deep market distribution and worldwide reach.

Like WhatsApp, Nokia is a mobile-only company with a deep history. Like no other company, Nokia “gets” mobile and the mobile landscape.

It was a huge advantage for us to have transparent access to the Asha roadmap and APIs and we had constant interaction and engagement with Nokia design, product, architect, and engineering teams to ensure WhatsApp is well optimized for the Nokia Platform and Asha Devices.

What are WhatsApp’s key markets and where do you see the biggest opportunity for growth?

Neeraj: WhatsApp is used broadly and immersively. WhatsApp currently processes over 20 billion messages every day – over 12 billion outbound, and over 8 million inbound.

WhatsApp has leadership in many markets around the world. At this stage, for us, it’s not a matter of more territories. Our opportunity lies in working with operators and great partners like Nokia to create more value and deeply integrated solutions and promotions to users around the world.