Nokia today introduced the latest addition to its Premium Developer Program, this time focusing on Asha full touch developers. The program follows in the footsteps of the Premium Developer Program for Lumia, which was launched late last year. Program members will enjoy a number of benefits, crafted to make it easier for developers to create apps and games for full touch Asha smartphones.

The program has two tiers of benefits, with productivity tools and app promotion opportunities.

Enhanced productivity tools include:

- A free Nokia Asha 310 smartphone for development.
- Expanded Remote Device Access to test apps on a wide range of different Nokia Asha Devices.
- Free tech tickets for Asha development support (valued at $198 USD).

App promotion opportunities include either:

- Greater visibility and promotion on the Nokia Store.
- Credit worth $500 USD to run paid ad campaigns on the Nokia Ad Exchange (NAX), with access to more than 120 advert networks worldwide.

Developers are in for a treat when it comes to pricing, as membership in the Asha Nokia Premium Developer Program is free, but certain qualifications need to be met:

- For free stage-one productivity membership, developers must provide links to two existing apps they have developed and published on any mobile platform.

- To access stage-two app promotion tools, developers need to create and publish a new Java or web app for full touch Asha smartphones, and some pre-defined quality criteria need to be met.