Jul 12, 2011 08:21 GMT  ·  By

Mobile phone carrier AT&T has just announced the pre-order availability of a new smartphone on its airwaves, the HTC Status, aimed at offering users the possibility to easily share content on Facebook and stay on top of what is happening on the social networking site.

The new device, launched in February as the HTC ChaCha, comes with a touch&type form factor and also sports a dedicated Facebook button, so that users can easily share photos, videos or other content on the social networking site.

The smartphone runs under Google's Android operating system and was made available for pre-order at AT&T with a price tag of $49.99 attached to it with the signing of a two-year contract agreement.

The handset, brought to the market just in time for the back-to-school shopping season, will be released via Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile in a special mauve edition.

The HTC Status comes with a 2.6-inch touch screen display that delivers a 480 x 320 pixel resolution, complemented by a QWERTY keyboard for fast typing, and a fast 800Mhz application processor inside.

The mobile phone also sports a 5-megapixel photo snapper with auto-focus and LED flash, enabling users to easily record videos and post them on Facebook.

Some of the other social-networking features the new device comes on the market with include:

- Post instantly on your wall or a friend’s wall by pressing the Facebook share button from your home screen. - Take a picture or shoot a video and share it instantly with a press of the Facebook share button. You can also post multiple pictures at one time and label and tag them before posting. - Or even post photos automatically as you’re taking them. Check in to Facebook Places by pressing and holding the Facebook share button from the home screen. - Share something cool on the Web with a quick press of the Facebook share button and be the first with the news. - Let your friends in on the music you love with the push of a button by pressing the Facebook share button to post the song title and other details.

The new HTC Status is set to become available for purchase via all AT&T company-owned retail stores around the country, as well as online on the carrier's website, and via retail partners.

The Facebook phone is available for pre-order on AT&T's website here.