So the Facebook Phones Were Real After All
HTC's made phones with dedicated Facebook buttons.
The Facebook phone has been rumored off and on for months. It didn't make a lot of sense for Facebook to brand its own phone, as after all, its strength in numbers would come from the apps for iOS and Android.
Now it seems that the real Facebook phone was just about a slightly more social-centric device, and HTC has some showing at Mobile World Congress. They're called the HTC ChaCha and HTC Salsa have a dedicated Facebook button for one-touch access to the key functions of the Facebook service that are integrated throughout the HTC's customized Sense UI.
"We have worked closely with HTC for several years on bringing Facebook to their devices and HTC ChaCha and HTC Salsa are the next stage," said Henri Moissinac, Head of Mobile Business for Facebook. "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."
The Facebook button on HTC ChaCha and HTC Salsa is context-aware, gently pulsing with light whenever there is an opportunity to share content or updates through Facebook. With a single press of the button, you can update your status, upload a photo, share a website, post what song you are listening to, ‘check in' to a location and more. For example, you can take a photograph of friends on your phone and upload it instantly to Facebook by simply pressing the button. Or let your friends know what song you're listening to by pressing the button while listening to music on the phone. The track is automatically identified and shared on Facebook.
The new devices feature Android 2.4, the latest version, and use the latest iteration of HTC Sense to integrate Facebook throughout the HTC Sense experience. When you make a phone call, the dialer screen displays your friend's latest status and photos, and even tells you if their birthday is approaching. The same updates are also displayed when you receive a call from a Facebook friend. You can also use your phone's existing contacts to help you connect with them on Facebook.
Facebook messages and conversations are integrated within your phone and appear within your text and email inboxes alongside your regular conversations.
The HTC ChaCha and HTC Salsa smartphones will be available to customers globally starting in Q2 2011.
HTC Salsa specs
Processor
600 MHz
Platform
Audio supported formats
Playback: .aac, .amr, .ogg, .m4a, .mid, .mp3, .wav, .wma (Windows Media Audio 9) Recording: .amr
Video supported formats
Memory
AndroidTM with HTC SenseTM
Internal phone storage: 512 MB RAM: 512 MB The actual available internal phone storage may differ depending on the software configuration of your phone
Dimensions
Weight
Display
109.1 x 58.9 x 12.3 mm
120g (with battery)
3.4-inch touch screen with 480 x 320 resolution
Network
Sensors
HSPA/WCDMA 900/2100 MHz Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz Upload speed of up to 384kbps and download speed of up to 7.2 Mbps
G-Sensor Digital compass Proximity sensor Ambient light sensor
Expansion slot
microSDTM memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
AC adapter
Voltage range/frequency: 100 ~ 240 V AC, 50/60 Hz DC output: 5 V and 1 A
Connectivity
Camera
Bluetooth® 3.0 with FTP/OPP for file transfer A2DP for wireless stereo headsets PBAP for phonebook access from the car kit Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11b/g/n
3.5 mm stereo audio jack Standard micro-USB (5-pin micro-USB 2.0)
5 megapixel colour camera with auto focus and flash VGA front camera
HTC ChaCha Specs
Processor
600 MHz
Platform
Camera
Memory
Audio supported formats
Playback: .aac, .amr, .ogg, .mid, .mp3, .wav, .wma (Windows Media Audio 9) Recording: .amr
Video supported formats
Dimensions
Playback: .3gp, .3g2, .mp4, .wmv (Windows Media Video 9) Recording: .3gp
Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery Capacity: 1250 mAh Talk time: Up to 420 minutes for WCDMA and up to 450 minutes for GSM Standby time: Up to 660 hours for WCDMA and up to 430 hours for GSM All subject to network and phone usage
Weight
Display
114.4 x 64.6 x 10.7 mm
120g (with battery)
2.6-inch touch screen with 480 x 320 resolution
Battery
Network
GPS Sensors
HSPA/WCDMA 900/2100 MHz Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz Upload speed of up to 384kbps and download speed of up to 7.2 Mbps
Internal GPS antenna
G-Sensor Digital compass Proximity sensor Ambient light sensor
Expansion slot
microSDTM memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
AC adapter
Voltage range/frequency: 100 ~ 240 V AC, 50/60 Hz DC output: 5V and 1A
AndroidTM with HTC SenseTM
ROM: 512 MB RAM: 512 MB The actual available internal phone storage may differ depending on the software configuration of your phone
5 megapixel colour camera with auto focus and LED flash VGA front camera
Connectivity
Bluetooth® 3.0 with FTP/OPP for file transfer A2DP for wireless stereo headsets PBAP for phonebook access from the car kit Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11b/g/n
3.5 mm stereo audio jack Standard micro-USB (5-pin micro-USB 2.0)



most cool people use telepathy nowadays. but it's so underground and exclusive
/hipster
Facebook has turned people into the biggest group of attention-whores I have ever seen. Why do you think anyone would ever actually care what song you're currently listening to? And it doesn't help when you can't turn on the tv for 5 minutes without hearing Facebook and Twitter mentioned 93 times. I'm listening to Open Face Surgery right now by Cryptopsy, anyone wanna become a fan?
Well I happen to love Cryptopsy...
What?!
Well, it's between 17 and 27 days of standby time (depending of network type) if you don't touch the phone or receive any call. I guess that's impressive. I didn't test it, but I'm sure my BB Storm wouldn't last 7 days.