AT&T has joined HTC and Facebook in the venture to deliver the First release date and price details. The smartphone which had caused so much curiosity this past week, has been marked with the pre-order label at the carrier-exclusive store and it will be arriving on April 12. Slated to flash a retail tag of $449.99 (around Rs. 24,676) without a contract, it will moreover be up for grabs at $99 (approx. Rs. 5,430) when clubbed with the network operator’s 2-year service agreement.
For those who had been keeping track of the handset’s rumors, there isn’t much to be said about its specifications. As expected, it holds onto a 4.3-inch touch display with a resolution of 1,280 x 720 pixels. It has been optimized for Android Jelly Bean and gets its kick out of a 1.4GHz dual core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. A 2,000mAh battery powers the device and memory-wise, 16GB of flash storage along with 1GB of RAM has been provided.
It turns out that when Zuckerberg’s crew spoke of Home on Android, they were mentioning an app. This utility is what makes the device ‘the Facebook phone‘ bringing the SNS’ functionalities right to the home screen. It allows users to check notifications, missed calls, calendar reminders and inbox messages right from the start screen.
Cover Feed serves as the deliverer of constant updates made on the social network. Apart from viewing users will be able to like content by double tapping it as well as comment on a post or a picture. Also, this attribute kick starts as soon as the handset is yanked from its slumber. To clear further doubts concerning this functionality, take a look at the video embedded below.
Integration of Chat Heads grants a messenger-like experience, permitting users to chat with their friends and family while accessing other apps. The company keenly states that the device also happens to be the foremost phone to be pre-loaded with Instagram. All in all, we guess the new generation mantra should now be ‘Home is where the app is.’
Regarding purchase details, customers can also buy the HTC First with a one-year agreement by shelling $349.99 (roughly Rs. 19,192) in case two years is too long a span to be bound by a contract. If it is AT&T in the US, the company has chosen Orange as the preferred carrier for France-based users and EE for those residing in the UK. The smartphone’s retail value and availability details through these network operators has however been withheld.
