New smartphones give instant access to Facebook
By IANSWednesday, February 16, 2011
WASHINGTON - Mobile phone giant HTC has launched two handsets - called Salsa and ChaCha - that will provide instant access to Facebook.
By punching in the ‘F’ logo, users will be able to instantly share photos, music and even their exact location on an inbuilt map from their mobile phone.
At the moment, owners of iPhones and similar products have to use a touchscreen process to access pages on the popular social networking site.
In a clear attempt to target the teenage market, the Taiwanese phonemaker called the two phones Salsa and ChaCha, the Daily Mail reports.
Salsa is a touchscreen-only phone with a 3.4-inch screen. ChaCha has 2.6-inch touchscreen with a separate keyboard, which looks a lot like a Blackberry.
Parents faced with children badgering them for one of the new gadgets may only have weeks to save up the cash as the phones may be on sale in Britain in April.
HTC and Facebook have spent two years developing the two phones. The devices have Facebook built into their contacts system, allowing users to see Facebook friends and message them.
When taking photos, the user simply has to press the F button and the images will appear on their Facebook profile. Similarly, when using Google maps, owners of the phone can press the F button to give friends their exact location.
Peter Chou, CEO of HTC, said: “We wanted to create the ultimate socially connected phones with mass market appeal.”
