HTC remains silent on rumored
Facebook phone
Taipei, April 3 (CNA) Taiwan’s HTC Corp. declined to comment
Wednesday on media reports that it will unveil a new phone
featuring unique Facebook functionalities at a press
conference to be held by the social networking website in the
United States.
Facebook said in an invitation sent to the media a week
earlier that it will hold a news event April 4 with the theme
of “Come See Our New Home on Android,” raising media
speculation that it will showcase a customized handset in
partnership with HTC.
U.S.-based tech news website Engadget also reported last month
that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved
March 22 an HTC phone called “PM33100” for use in the U.S.,
which was labeled “HTC First” in a leaked image by Twitter
account @evleaks April 2.
Engadget reported March 22 that the new HTC-Facebook device,
which has been referred to by earlier media reports as the
“HTC Myst,” will have dual-band Wi-Fi connectivity, Bluetooth
4.0 wireless radio technology and long-term evolution (LTE)
connectivity compatible with the AT&T Inc. network.
The Android-powered phone will also be equipped with a 4.3inch 720p display, a 1.5-gigahertz dual-core microprocessor
from Qualcomm Inc. and a 5-megapixel rear camera, the report
said.
The device has been described as HTC’s latest attempt to jump
into the fast-growing social networking market. In February
2011, the Taoyuan-based company unveiled the HTC ChaCha and
HTC Salsa phones, both of which have an exclusive button to
connect with Facebook.
But the two devices appeared to receive a lukewarm response
from the public when they went on sale, as AT&T, the secondlargest U.S. wireless carrier, slashed its orders for the HTC
ChaCha in September 2011, according to a research note by J.P.
Morgan Securities.
(By Jeffrey Wu)
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