The ‘Facebook Phone’ has been long rumoured to arrive in the markets, but we did not know what it could do or who would manufacture it.
Now, HTC has announced that it has collaborated with AT&T and Telus to bring ‘HTC Status’ aka Facebook Phone to the North American masses. It is not clear when the phone would be available in the market, and how much it would cost but the specs are pretty impressive. It would appeal to people who prefer QWERTY keypads like me, and those who were looking for a Smartphone that comes with a great camera and specific importance given to Facebook.
HTC Status facilitates instant sharing on Facebook with the help of a dedicated button. Of course, most cellphones come with a Facebook App, but what makes HTC Status ‘Facebook Phone’ is that much of the design and features that it offers are somehow related to the social networking giant. You would be able to capture images and videos and share them instantly on Facebook. You could also share your location on Facebook with the help of the ‘long-press’ function enabled for the dedicated Facebook button.
You would also be able to use Facebook Chat on your HTC Status and even without unlocking your phone you could quickly share content on Facebook. Many reviewers feel that the announcement of the Facebook Phone would be dimmed by the announcement of Google+ and the number of Android phones that may make use of Google+. However, it must be kept in mind that Facebook is already the most important social networking site in the world and people will not start using Google+ overnight.
Moreover, apart from being the ‘Facebook Phone’ HTC Status packs in some really impressive specs. It comes with 2.6″ (480 x 320) touchscreen, portrait QWERTY keyboard, 800Mhz processor, 512MB of RAM and HTC’s Sense user interface. The phone runs on Android 2.3 (gingerbread), which means if Google+ becomes popular, you would still be able to use the Facebook Phone just the same. The 1.3 MP forward facing camera and the 5MP main camera are good enough for any self-respecting cellphone photographer. One may have to wait till we get details about HTC Status’ pricing. It is expected to be available in North America sometime this summer. We had also written about an obscure Facebook Phone Concept a long time ago. Read that if you choose to!
