Mystery Nokia device leaks, new Asha incoming?

Now this is a bit of a head-scratcher. A mystery new Nokia device has leaked online, but there's no word of what it is, or when we'll see it.

It comes from the usually reliable @evleaks Twitter account. All @evleaks says on the matter is, "remember that Nokia Asha design language preview?" This is a hint that there could well be another budget smart phone winging its way here soon.

From the image we can see the handset will come in a selection of colours, just like Nokia's Lumia range. It looks like it's running the Windows Phone operating system, though it's on the lock screen, so there's no sign of the Live Tiles. Other than that, there's not much to go on. The date on the phone's screen is given as 17 August 2012, which could be when the handset was conceived.

Traditionally Nokia Asha handsets have fared pretty poorly in our reviews. The Asha 302 was the most recent one we got our hands on, but it suffered from a lack of a touchscreen and the fiddly Series 40 software. Still, not as bad as the Asha 306, which comes with no 3G and a price that's not even all that low. Let's hope Nokia can pull its socks up. Using Microsoft's Windows Phone software instead of Series 40 would be a good start.

Just recently, Nokia boss Stephen Elop said the company was focused on "taking [Windows Phone] to lower and lower prices", and that its budget Windows Phone blowers would "over time compete with Android". It's got quite a fight on its hands, considering Android's star player is the Nexus 4, which manages decent specs and the latest software for not much money at all.

Can Nokia take on Android at the lower end? What would you like to see from a new Asha? Let me know in the comments, or on our Facebook page.