‘Facebook phone’ confirmed by HTC: ChaCha and Salsa officially unveiled -

ChaCha and Salsa will feature branded Facebook buttons while new 7” Flyer Tablet also includes a pen for writing notes

                                    Image 1 - HTC's Android Flyer tablet includes a pen and integration with gaming and video services

                                         Image 2 - HTC's Salsa phone is the first mobile to feature a branded Facebook button

The first phones to feature a dedicated Facebook button have been confirmed by mobile maker HTC. Much-rumoured, ChaCha and Salsa will allow instant access to the popular social network via the button. Although not official ‘Facebook phones’, HTC and Facebook both said they had cooperated closely on the devices. Salsa is a touchscreen phone while ChaCha will also feature a keyboard.

Peter Chou, CEO of HTC, said that “we wanted to create the ultimate socially connected phones with mass market appeal”, while Henri Moissinac, Facebook’s Head of Mobile Business, said “We have worked closely with HTC for several years on bringing Facebook to their devices and HTC ChaCha and HTC Salsa are the next stage.”

The two Android-based devices will run on Gingerbread, the latest version of the operating system and offer a level of Facebook integration that has so far only been seen on INQ’s new Facebook models announced last week.

The Facebook button will be ‘context aware’, offering different function depending on what the user is doing. It will allow instant sharing of photographs or music from the phone. Status updates and information will also be displayed if the phone identifies a caller as a user’s Facebook friend.

HTC hopes the integration of Facebook will appeal to a generation of new consumers who use the site more than email and run their social calendars through Facebook’s events functions.

The company also announced a 7” tablet, the Flyer, that features an Apple-style ‘unibody’ Aluminium case. It also includes a pen which, for instance, can integrate recording sound with taking notes by hand so that lectures can be synchronised with notes. A video download service, integration with Skype and cloud-gaming OnLive and an enhanced version of HTC’s sense interface were also unveiled, along with updates to the Wildfire and Desire models.

All the products will be available in the UK in the second quarter of 2011. The Flyer will initially be sold running Gingerbread but will be upgraded to Google's tablet-specific operating system Honeycomb after it is released.

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Apple seeks ban on import of Samsung devices in US

NEW YORK: Apple Inc has filed a US trade complaint to block Samsung Electronics Co from importing a variety of electronic devices, less than one week after Samsung sought to stop imports of Apple's popular iPads and iPhones. 

The complaint filed with the US International Trade Commission in Washington, DC escalates a patent infringement battle also being waged in South Korea, where Samsung is based

The complaint filed with the US International Trade Commission in Washington, DC escalates a patent infringement battle also being waged in South Korea, where Samsung is based. 

Apple began the fight, contending in an April 15 complaint filed in a San Jose, California federal court that Samsung's Galaxy line of tablets and mobile phones infringed several patents and "slavishly" copied its iPads and iPhones. 

"Samsung chose to copy Apple, not to innovate," Apple said in a July 1 court filing. It said Samsung is trying to trade off Apple's popularity by calling products, such as the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet and Galaxy S 4G smartphone, "just like an iPad" or "just like an iPhone." 

But Samsung countered that Apple infringed five patents, and on June 29 asked the ITC to block imports of such products as the iPhone 4, iPad 2 3G and iPod Touch. 

A copy of Apple's ITC complaint was not immediately available but the ITC website shows that one was filed. The ITC is an independent federal agency overseeing trade disputes. 

Apple, a lawyer for Apple and a lawyer for Samsung did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

Galaxy products use Google Inc's Android operating system, which competes with Apple's mobile software. 

Apple had in 2010 been Samsung's second-largest customer, accounting for $5.7 billion of sales tied mainly to semiconductors, according to Samsung's annual report. 

Sony Corp is Samsung's largest customer. Last week, Apple asked the San Jose court for a preliminary injunction to block imports of infringing products. 

Apple is based in Cupertino, California, and Samsung in Suwon City, South Korea. Apple's complaint is In re: Certain Electronic Digital Media Devices and Components Thereof, US International Trade Commission, No. 2827. Samsung's complaint is In re: Mobile Electronic Devices, Including Wireless Communication Devices, Portable Music and Data Processing Devices, and Tablet Computers at the same agency, No. 2824. 

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