Vodafone will launch its Facebook phone, named 555 Blue, in India this month. The telco had launched the phone in the UK some time ago for $100 (Rs 4,500).
Confirming this to ‘The Mobile Indian’, an Indian spokesperson for Vodafone said, “We will launch 555 Blue for Indian consumers in August.” However, he refused to divulge further details like launch dates and pricing.
555 Blue will be a prepaid phone and will have a locked SIM. The device is targeted at prepaid users and will offer a customised Facebook experience to people who love social networking and messaging.
The phone is not 3G enabled but will instead use EDGE network. As a matter of fact, it is a good move because Edge enjoys far greater coverage than 3G does. 555 Blue will sport a 2.4 inch display and a QWERTY keyboard designed to make it easy to chat, email, and send texts using the device.
Apart from that, it has a 2 Megapixel camera with instant upload capability, a microSD slot, and a music player with FM radio.
It also features a dedicated Facebook ‘F’ button, which is customisable in terms of assigning tasks such as instantly posting a status update with photos or with links from the browser. The device also automatically updates Facebook every 20 minutes, although this can be customised.
Interestingly, Vodafone is not the only player offering a Facebook phone. Some time back HTC had launched the HTC ChaCha and Salsa smartphones for Facebook users.