theregoesdave

UK mobile carrier 3 has announced the upcoming release of the INQ1, pronounced “ink one.” The INQ1 is the first phone to fully integrate Facebook for both alerts and as the primary contact management tool. The INQ1 slider phone was developed by 3′s parent company, Chinese company Hutchison Whampoa. This is a prime example of how the mobile space is getting more social.

Syncing a user’s mobile phone contacts with Facebook is a brilliant move. A quick look through my contacts on Facebook using the iPhone application shows that I can’t keep nearly as accurate or complete contact information than my friends enter into Facebook. And I only have less than 20% of my friends from Facebook in my phone contact manager.

Another feature that the INQ1 has going for it is integrated Skype calling. The carrier has already launched the 3 Skypephone which offers free calling to your Skype contacts anywhere in the world. It’s amazing to see how much further ahead Europe is in terms of affordable data plans and the use of VoIP on mobile phones as compared to the US.

Other features of the INQ1 include Windows Live Messenger, a web browser with landscape detection, a 3.2 megapixel camera and a carousel to switch between all these functions.

INQ1 technical details:

• Size: 97 x 47.6 x 14.4 mm
• Weight: 110g
• Battery: 329 hrs (standby) 324 min (talk time)
• Camera: 3.2 megapixels
• Screen: 2.2″ QVGA (high res) / 262K colours
• Colours: silver (black coming soon)
• Memory: internal 50MB / external 4GB

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