Unsurprisingly, given Nokia is pricing them both at $62 (SIM-free and pre-subsidy), neither phone has 3G nor any particularly complex features. There’s a 1.3-megapixel camera and Bluetooth, with the latter being used for “Slam” – that uses the strength of a Bluetooth connection to automatically select the nearest phone to you for photo, music, or other transfer. It’ll work on the Asha 205 and 206, as well as send to any other S40, Asha, or Android device (the proximity detection is the new part; regular Bluetooth is used for the transfer). However, not Windows Phone at present; Nokia says that will follow on in time.

In practice, Slam cuts down on a couple of button presses. Choose to send “via Slam” and have the two devices near each other, and it automatically identifies the other phone; there’s no passcode to punch in, just an accept-transfer dialog on the other device. When we tested it versus the regular Bluetooth transfer, the only real difference was that we needed to pick the right Bluetooth recipient from a list.

The Asha 205 comes preloaded with the Facebook app, eBuddy Chat, Twitter, email support, and access to the Nokia Store for other titles. It supports up to 37 days or standby (on the single SIM model; up to 25 on the dual SIM) and up to a 32GB microSD card. The Facebook button simply acts as a launcher to the Facebook app – it can’t be remapped to, say, Twitter, and unlike the button on HTC’s Salsa and ChaCha Android handsets, doesn’t automatically trigger a Facebook share of, say, the photo you’re currently viewing. In the hand, it’s light but a little thick, but the keyboard is easily used.

As for the 206, that’s a classic form-factor with a surprisingly effective and modern design. Gloss-finish on the front, and easily-gripped matte on the back, it feels solid despite the $62 price tag, and the buttons are clicky and tactile. Nokia is positioning it as an ideal – and distinctive – phone for emerging markets as well as those users simply looking for a basic talk and text device, particularly those who might prefer a large, clear 2.4-inch display and sizable keypad.

Both the dual-SIM variants of each phone use Nokia’s EasySwap, which keeps both of the SIM cards active at the same time. That’s handy for travel, when you might want your home SIM active for emergency calls, but a local SIM present for cheaper service; alternatively, you can set up each SIM to be active only for voice, data, SMS, or MMS, or a combination of the four, depending on what tariff you have for each line.

Both the Nokia Asha 205 and the Nokia 206 will begin shipping before the end of the year.

In fact, Samsung’s mobile position dipped 0.4-percent quarter-on-quarter, while LG’s dropped 0.5-percent. In contrast, Apple’s share rose 1.4-percent – despite the fact that the company only offers three devices and no low-cost smartphones.

Looking at smartphones specifically, Android maintains its lead, growing 0.6-percent to 51.6-percent of the 110m devices in the US. Apple’s iOS, however, rose more – up 1.7-percent – to take 32.4-percent of the smartphone market and extending its lead over third place RIM, which dipped 1.6-percent. Microsoft still struggles in forth place, dropping 0.1-percent to just 3.8-percent share.

comScore bases its figures on more than 30,000 surveyed mobile device owners in the US. The company also found that mobile app downloads and listening to music rose in popularity the most among usage patterns, though text messaging remains the most popular activity.

Inside the 13.5mm thick handset there’s a numeric keypad and dualband GSM/GPRS connectivity, along with 50MB of storage and a microSD card slot for up to 16GB cards. The camera is a mere 2-megapixel unit with fixed-focus, and shoots up to 12fps video clips.

There’s also Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a basic browser, 3.5mm headphone socket and microUSB port, along with support for POP and IMAP email. The 750mAh battery may sound tiny, but with such minuscule specs it’s good for up to 4 hrs 49 mins of talktime or 417 hrs 26 mins of standby, Motorola claims.

Thankfully the price is also in keeping with the GLEAM+’s unambitious abilities. Tesco Mobile in the UK will be offering the handset free with a £10 ($16) per month, two-year agreement, and we’d expect to see it show up on prepay plans soon too. Not one for the internet-savvy, social networking smartphone obsessives among us, but if you want a skinny phone for texting and calling the GLEAM+ could have some appeal.