LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, INQ Mobile delivered an all-new Facebook mobile experience with two new Android devices, the INQ Cloud Touch and INQ Cloud Q. Built for people worldwide who use Facebook as their primary means of communication, they deliver a fully live Facebook experience built around INQ’s Visual Media Feed.
The result of close collaboration with Facebook, INQ Cloud Touch and INQ Cloud Q feature all new apps for Facebook on mobile. The new apps leave behind the mobile paradigm of text based status updates and deliver a rich media feed to the homescreen.
The homescreen is a visual Facebook feed for clicking through friends’ updates, pictures, videos and web pages. There are one-touch links to Facebook Chat, Friends, Messages, Wall and Notifications. Facebook Single Sign On is activated across the phones and people can check in to their favorite shops, restaurants and clubs with Facebook Places, also active on the homescreen. Facebook Events fully integrates with the Google Calendar on both devices.
The phones are the first mobiles to use the Facebook social graph API, making it easy for people to follow updates from the friends they interact with most.
The default music player on the INQ Cloud Touch and INQ Cloud Q is Spotify, and all Spotify features are available to subscribers through a dedicated Spotify key.
Frank Meehan, INQ’s CEO, said: “We started the ‘Social Mobile’ category 3 years ago with the Skypephone and INQ1, as we believed integrating the internet was the future of mobile. Since then, Facebook has evolved from a social network to become an incredibly powerful global communications platform. Speed and simplicity of access to things you love is our DNA, so our next step is to make it even easier for people to experience the richness of Facebook – all from the homescreen. The power of the Facebook platform enables us to make the INQ Cloud Touch a deeply immersive social mobile experience.”
Meehan added: “We also love Spotify, an amazing service that brings the benefits of the ‘cloud’ to consumers, so we made it even easier for Spotify customers to access their music. INQ is all about enhancing the mobile experience, using the power and flexibility of Google’s brilliant Android platform which ultimately makes all this possible.”
Henri Moissinac, Head of Mobile Business for Facebook said: "The INQ Cloud Touch and INQ Cloud Q bring Facebook to people with a single touch while they are mobile and demonstrate the power of socially aware devices. INQ has built an innovative and easy to use set of features that enable people to use common Facebook interactions such as viewing photos and videos, chat, message, and check-in to their favorite businesses all from the home screen."
Spotify CEO and Founder, Daniel Ek, said: "The INQ Cloud Touch is a perfect example of how the next generation of phones will be built - from the cloud up - and we're excited to make Spotify a part of that."
Graham Stapleton, Chief Commercial Officer for Best Buy Europe said: "The arrival of these new INQ devices in the UK is hugely exciting for customers. We all know mobile phones are no longer about just making calls, and a new generation of customers is now entering the market for whom this is especially true. They grew up with Facebook and Spotify and expect their mobiles to offer a fully integrated social media experience. The new INQ mobiles offer one of the best, most integrated Facebook experiences I've seen so far, and I'm thrilled we'll be able to offer them exclusively to our customers.”
The INQ Cloud Touch is a 3.5” HGVA, Android 2.2 touch device, and the INQ Cloud Q is a 2.6” Android 2.2 touch Qwerty. Both offer high levels of smartphone functionality in a sleek package at affordable prices for the mass market. The INQ Cloud Touch will be available in Q2 2011, and INQ Cloud Q will be available Q3 2011, only at The Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy.
INQ Cloud Touch specifications:
Software
- Android Froyo 2.2 platform
- Built with a modular approach making upgrade to Gingerbread easy
- Instant Messaging for WLM, G-Talk and Facebook Chat
- Free push email across major domains, including Microsoft Exchange
- Info Key to quick access to key handset functions
- Fast unlock for quick access to key functions
- Backup and sync, plus firmware upgrades to later software releases
Hardware
- Processor: Qualcomm 7227 chipset, 600MHz
- Triband HSPA (7.2/ 5.76Mbps), Quadband GSM, EDGE + WiFi
- Size: 3.5” inch HVGA capacitive touchscreen display with extended 10mm touch strip
- Memory: 4MB with option to add more
- 5 MP autofocus camera
- 1300mAh battery
- WiFi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth, GPS, FM Radio, accelerometer, compass, ambient light and proximity sensors
- MicroUSB charging, 3.5mm audio jack.
- Accessories included: 4GB microSD Card, Travel Charger & USB Cable, Stereo Headset, Quick Start Guide
About INQ Mobile
INQ Mobile is pioneering the development of Social Mobiles as part of its commitment to making the mobile the centre of your web experience. The company was founded to address a growing need among operators across the world for advanced mobile internet handsets for the mass market that drive data revenue, minimize subsidies and minimize network load. INQ draws on the strengths of its parent company, Hutchison Whampoa, which made an early investment in global 3G networks. For more information visit: www.inqmobile.com or follow us on Twitter @inqmobile.