Facebook addicts, and mobile business people, the world over can soon get their hands on their very own super smart android phone, purpose built for social media. Brand HTC – which is rapidly becoming synonymous with “Google phones” (phones built on the open source, android platform) has launched two new smartphones at the World Mobile Congress in Spain.
HTC has worked closely with Facebook over a period of years to develop the phones, that offer a much greater degree of social integration than any previous phones (you’ll never miss your mum’s birthday again!).
Head of Mobile Business for Facebook, Mr Henri Moissinac said, “HTC has brought Facebook to these two new devices in an innovative way enabling people to connect and share easily whenever they want, wherever they are.”
With small businesses in the USA rapidly moving onto Facebook as a low-cost, easy way to promote their product or service, the new Facebook phones promise to make life even easier. The HTC ChaCha and HTC Salsa feature a dedicated Facebook® button for one-touch access to the key functions of the Facebook service that are integrated throughout the HTC Sense experience.
“HTC has always understood that different people want different things and the new HTC ChaCha and Salsa offer special new ways to experience Facebook on a mobile device,” said CEO of HTC Corporation, Mr Peter Chou. “With more than 500 million active users worldwide, Facebook has become synonymous with the social web and we wanted to create the ultimate, socially connected phones with mass market appeal.”
The new devices feature Android Gingerbread 2.3.3, the latest version. The phones have a gently pulsing with light whenever there is an opportunity to share content or updates through Facebook. You can press a single button and update your status, upload a photo, share a website, post details of a song you are listening to or ‘check in’.
Not funky enough? How’s this: when you make a phone call, the screen will display your friend’s latest status update and photos, and tells you if their birthday is approaching (nice!). The same updates are also displayed when you receive a call from a Facebook friend… plus a whole lot more.
Tired of the touch screen thing? It’s not for everyone.The ChaCha has a physical QWERTY keyboard, and a 2.6-inch, 480 x 320 resolution landscape touch screen so you can have the best of both worlds.
The HTC ChaCha and HTC Salsa smartphones will be available in European and Asian markets during the second quarter of 2011. In the United States, HTC has done a deal with AT&T who will offer the phones exclusively, later in the year. If you thought the iPhone 4 was hot, it’s time to think again.
