14 DAY TRIAL // As expected, AT&T has just announced the HTC Status, also known as HTC ChaCha, but has yet to unveil the phone's availability and pricing.
In fact, the carrier officially announced the phone's Facebook page, which will be updated with further details about the HTC Status release date and price tag.
The HTC Status is coming exclusively to AT&T this summer, as the carrier's first device with a Facebook share button.
The phone lets users share pretty much everything with just about everyone, instantly, by simply using the dedicated Facebook button.
The Status also features a chat widget that allows users to see when their friends come online, so they can start a live instant chat and juggle between as many private conversations as they wish directly from the phone.
“HTC Status brings a Facebook experience to people who want to share their experiences with their friends faster and easier than ever before. With a dedicated Facebook share button combined with the hallmark HTC Sense experience, HTC Status makes it easy for people to stay connected to the things that are important to them,” said Jason Mackenzie, president, HTC Americas.
Specs-wise, the Status packs 512 MB ROM, 512 MB RAM and microSD card slot for memory expansion (up to 32GB).
In addition, it sports an average 5-megapixel camera with autofocus, LED flash and face detection, as well as camcorder and secondary VGA front-facing camera for video calls.
Besides the traditional QWERTY keyboard that makes it easier to text, HTC Status comes with a few interesting new settings like “quiet ring on pickup” and “pocket mode.”
The “quiet ring on pickup” setting reduces the ring volume when users pick the phone up, while the “pocket mode” setting increases ring volume when the phone is in a pocket or bag, and then returns the volume to a reasonable level when it is taken out.
Furthermore, the phone runs Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) platform and is powered by an 800 MHz processor.
Potential customers should keep an eye out on the phone's Facebook page for information regarding the release date and prices.