Praise be to the phone gods! We no longer have to keep calling HTC’s Facebook phone the ChaCha. BGR confirmed that the HTC ChaCha is headed to AT&T as the HTC Status, and we’re all glad to see one of the world’s most poorly named phones get a new title. Apparently, HTC was having some trouble with search service ChaCha over the branding.
We originally reported that the phone could launch on July 17 based on a date displayed in leaked photos. BGR claims the phone could launch as soon as next week, bringing a dedicated Facebook button to the AT&T masses. Unfortunately, still no word on pricing.
If you don’t remember, the HTC Status (ChaCha) is the company’s first Facebook-centric phone, offering a direct connection to the social network from apps such as the address book, the camera, and the media player. Additional specs include a 2.6-inch display offering 480×320 pixels of resolution, a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera, and a VGA front-facing camera for video chat. Running Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread, the Status is powered by an 800MHz processor and has support for a microSD card, Wi-Fi connectivity, and Bluetooth 3.0.
In other news, the HTC Salsa, which is the manufacturer’s other smartphone with a dedicated Facebook button, will not be headed to AT&T anytime soon, according to HTC. In fact, the Status counterpart may not make it over to big blue at all. So if you’re a fiend for the Facebook, it looks like the Status is your best bet unless you switch over to Verizon. The Facebook integration on Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Play is just as deep, albeit without a dedicated button, but the specs on the PlayStation phone are much more impressive.
[via BGR]