Today’s mobile news roundup features: Nokia’s unveiling of two additions to their budget-friendly Asha line; ROM kicks off the BlackBerry Jam; a new rehab program for cellphone addiction; and Verizon confirming that the iPhone 5 is to be forever unlocked.

Nokia unveils addition to Asha line

Nokia unveiled two new additions to their Nokia Asha Touch family: the Nokia Asha 308 and Nokia Asha 309.  The Nokia Asha 308 is a dual SIM phone, while the Nokia Asha 309 is a single SIM phone.  The new phones give fast access to the web at a very low cost via the newest version of the Nokia Xpress Browser.  The browser enables up to 90% more efficient mobile browsing and faster access to rich web applications compared to conventional browsers.

“Our innovative Asha Touch family of devices is designed for people who want a great smartphone experience with lower running costs,” said Timo Toikkanen, executive vice president, Mobile Phones, Nokia. “By introducing the Nokia Asha 308 and Nokia Asha 309, we’re expanding our affordable smartphone lineup and bringing new mobile experiences to more people.”

The devices are expected to cost $99 in the US.

BlackBerry Jam kicks off

Research in Motion’s annual developer conference, BlackBerry Jam Americas, officially kicks off today and will run through until the 27th in San Jose, California.  The company is expected to prove that their next generation operating system, the BlackBerry 10, is worth all the wait.  Unfortunately, RIM isn’t likely to showcase any new BlackBerry devices at the conference, so don’t hold your breath.

We also hope to learn what caused the BlackBerry outage last Friday, which is considered as a big mishap on their part, especially with the fact that Apple’s iPhone 5 was launched on the same day. As if RIM didn’t already have a hard enough time retaining users.

Rehab for cellphone addiction

If you can’t live a day without holding your mobile phone, or you feel anxious and nervous if you spend just a few minutes without access to it, then you might have nomophobia.  This isn’t something people should take lightly, because a lot of people actually suffer from it.

New studies show that people who feared losing their phone had increased from 53 percent to 66 percent since 2008, and that people aged between 18 and 24 were most dependent on mobile technology and seventy-seven percent of them were uncomfortable away from their phones for more than a few minutes.  For those aged between 25 to 34, about 68 percent felt the same.

Addiction to one’s cellphone is serious as it may lead to poor health because of lack of outdoor activities, and poor personal relationships.    So it comes as no surprise when the Morningside Recovery Center in California founded the first recovery group for people suffering with nomophobia under the care of Dr. Elizabeth Waterman.

The group will help people suffering from nomophobia recognize the signs and symptoms of their over-reliance on mobile technology, explore the psychological roots of their vulnerability to becoming addicted to it and master emotional, cognitive and behavioral techniques to regain their autonomy.

Verizon confirms iPhone 5 to be forever unlocked

A lot of people who got their hands on the iPhone 5 last Friday noticed that their Verizon iPhone 5 can be used with an AT&T SIM though there will be no LTE capability.  The company confirmed that their iPhone 5s were unlocked and they have no plans of locking them.

This is great news, especially for travellers who want to use other SIM cards while spending time abroad.  But this news is also favorable for T-Mobile, one of the top network carriers without access to the iPhone 5, since they will be selling nano SIMs.