The Emperor's New Mobile Phone

From The Independent:

Nokia has launched a new mobile phone that needs charging less than once a month and costs just £13 to buy.

The Nokia 105 is a basic text-and-call phone aimed at mobile markets in the developing world where electricity sources may be scarce or unreliable, but it is likely to prove a hit in the west too as a back-up or emergency device.

The 105, which is set to go on sale in the next few weeks, comes with a full-colour screen, torch and FM radio, and can obviously make phone calls and send and receive SMS messages too.

But the key feature of the new Nokia is its incredible battery life which, according to the Finnish company’s press spokesperson Pekka Haverinen, is around 35 days on a single charge.

Haven't Nokia been making simple, reliable phones that retail for about £15 for at least ten years? Apart from the longer battery life, this is some sort of Great Leap Forward how, exactly?

Background: I bought my first mobile phone, a Nokia 1112, in late 2007 for £15 and it is still going strong, although the battery seems to need recharging more often than when it was new.