Ever since rumors of a Facebook phone started last fall, therea4‚¬a4„s been talk of a partnership between the social network and British phone manufacturer Inq. Now Inq has finally revealed its Facebook-focused Android phones, the Cloud Touch and Cloud Q.
The phones will be the first to use Facebooka4‚¬a4„s Social Graph API, which allows for more Facebook content than ever to be sent to your phonea4‚¬a4„s home screen, according to Engadget. We expect similar integration with Facebooka4‚¬a4„s new API to make it to the next version of HTC&'s Sense user interface.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been coy about whether the company is building a phone or not, and personally, I never understood why Facebook would want to be in the hardware business. Ita4‚¬a4„s better off providing better tools for phone manufacturers to deliver the best Facebook experience possible on their devices.
Both the Cloud Touch and Cloud Q run Android 2.2, and feature 3.5-inch touchscreens, as well as 5-megapixel cameras. The Q offers a hardware keyboard, while the Touch is all screen. Both phones also feature Spotify instead of Androida4‚¬a4„s typical music app. Clearly, theya4‚¬a4„re designed for teenagers who spend most of their time on Facebook and are beyond the quaint need to purchase music.
The Cloud Touch will launch in the UK in April at Best Buy and Carphone Warehouse. The Cloud Q is expected to appear some time in the third quarter. Therea4‚¬a4„s no word yet on a US launch, but we can certainly expect similar teen-focused devices to hit these shores eventually.
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Companies: Facebook, Inq
Companies: Facebook, Inq
Devindra Hardawar is VentureBeat's lead mobile writer and East Coast correspondent. He studied philosophy at Amherst College, worked in IT support for several years, and has been writing about technology since 2004. He now lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can reach him at devindra@venturebeat.com (all story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com), and on Twitter at @Devindra.
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