HTC - ChaCha
HTC - ChaCha
HTC - ChaCha
HTC - ChaCha
HTC - ChaCha
HTC - ChaCha
HTC - ChaCha
HTC - ChaCha

HTC
ChaCha

Announced
15 February 2011

Weight
120 grams

Features

When the HTC ChaCha was announced at the Mobile World Congress trade show, rumours of a "Facebook phone" had been circulating for months. Most of the media speculation had centred on devices from INQ Mobile. However, in the end, HTC asserted its claim as the leading manufacturer of Facebook devices with a video endorsement by Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg of two new phones with a dedicated Facebook button – the HTC Salsa and HTC ChaCha. Although Zuckerberg made it clear he expected to see "dozens of phones with much deeper social integration" in 2011, he also stated that he was "very happy with the direction HTC has taken in building Facebook into its HTC Sense experience and looks forward to a lot more to come". In reality, very few phones ended up with dedicated Facebook buttons. The Salsa and ChaCha allowed quick access to a range of Facebook services. By pushing and holding the Facebook button, users could "check in" to Facebook Places. While browsing the web, they could push the button to share a site's address on Facebook. Similar capabilities were available for photos, music and other content. HTC had also worked closely with Facebook to optimise the Facebook Chat user experience. With over 200 million people accessing Facebook on mobile devices when the ChaCha launched, it was firmly in tune with consumer trends at the time. In the end, it wasn't the commercial success some expected. There were very few further phones with dedicated Facebook buttons, with one notable example being the Nokia Asha 205. Notably, the Mobile Phone Museum also owns a rare prototype variant of this phone, which is pictured below. It is worth noting that the dedicated Facebook button is "pill-shaped" rather than the square button featured on the commercial variant. Htc Cha Cha Proto E210139 Front