The ultimate Facebook phone

AFP FILE PHOTO

According to Darren Sng, HTC senior director for Asia product marketing, 300 million people access Facebook on their mobile devices, and these people are twice as active as those who use their PCs to access the social network site.

Seeing the demand, Taiwanese device maker HTC has incorporated a dedicated Facebook button right onto its HTC ChaCha qwerty smartphone, a new Android handset currently offered by Smart Communications under postpaid plans P1,500 and P1,000.

The HTC ChaCha features a 2.6-inch HSVGA touchscreen and four-row keypad with ample space in between the tiny keys. Below the keypad is the solitary blue “F” button which, when pressed, takes the user to a Facebook Wall to allow him or her to post an update, a photo from the phone’s gallery, or even take a snapshot and post immediately onto the Wall.

A longer press of the F button provides the exact location of the user through the GPS function of the phone and the indicated location can now be immediately shared by the user in Facebook through the Check In feature.

Another nice Facebook application is the FB Chat, which shows instant messaging in Facebook done in threaded style, like SMS thread boxed in colorful balloons.

The HTC ChaCha runs on the Android Gingerbread OS and features the latest Sense UI that offer a lot of nice enhancements and customization capability to the user experience.

“HTC Sense with the Facebook features provides users with complete and holistic smartphone experience. It offers a lot of insightful features that make the user say wow,” said Sng during the product demo.

For the HTC ChaCha, HTC worked closely with Facebook for several years and the device is recommended by a Facebook official.

Those who do not wish to be tied to a postpaid plan can acquire the handset for P15,500. It comes with a prepaid Smart SIM card.—Raquel P. Gomez