Interested in snagging an HTC Status to help you more easily get your Facebook on while you're about and about? Then you'll be glad to know that AT&T just announced that the Status will be launching this Sunday, July 17th, for $49.99 with a two-year contract. The Status will be available in silver from AT&T as well as a special edition mauve color scheme that's exclusive to Best Buy. For those of you that absolutely, positively need to be the first on your friends list with the Android 2.3.3 handset, you can pre-order one beginning today on AT&T's website.

The Status may not be for everyone, but its $50 on-contract price should make it pretty attractive to anyone interested in banging out some messages or commenting on photos of a friend's weekend escapades. Anyone planning on picking one up when it hits this weekend?

UPDATE: Best Buy just pinged us to let us know that it, too, will be launching the Status both in stores and online on July 17th. Additionally, the retailer is kicking off pre-orders of the Status today. You can check out the full presser from Best Buy below and an image of its exclusive mauve-colored Status up above.

HTC Status Offers One-Touch Facebook Sharing For Just $49.99
First Mobile Phone with Dedicated Facebook Share Button Available for Preorder on ATT.com Arrives in AT&T Stores on July 17

Dallas, Texas, July 11, 2011

AT&T begins presales of the HTC Status today on http://www.att.com/.
The first phone with a dedicated Facebook share button, the HTC Status is exclusive to AT&T customers for $49.99 with a two-year contract.
Best Buy stores to offer exclusive color.
HTC Status available in time for back-to-school shopping season.
HTC Status

The ultimate phone for customers who love posting on Facebook what they’re doing, seeing or listening to, the HTC Status is the first phone to feature a dedicated Facebook share button.  Not just a link to a mobile Facebook application, the button lets you quickly share what you are doing on Facebook with a simple press.  It is also context aware and lights up when there is an activity to share, such as a song you are listening to, a website you are viewing or a photo you have taken.

The Facebook share button allows people to:

Post instantly on your wall or a friend’s wall by pressing the Facebook share button from your home screen.
Take a picture or shoot a video and share it instantly with a press of the Facebook share button. You can also post multiple pictures at one time and label and tag them before posting.  Or even post photos automatically as you’re taking them.
Check in to Facebook Places by pressing and holding the Facebook share button from the home screen.
Share something cool on the Web with a quick press of the Facebook share button and be the first with the news.
Let your friends in on the music you love with the push of a button by pressing the Facebook share button to post the song title and other details.
The HTC Status runs on the Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread) platform, AT&T’s first smartphone to do so. It is also the first phone in the US with an enhanced version of HTC Sense™ that integrates Facebook into more places than ever before. Facebook content and information is integrated in the clock, dialer, calendar, address book and photo gallery. The HTC Status also features a Facebook chat application that lets you maintain your chat conversations, even when you navigate away to take a call, browse the Web or play a game.  And the Facebook chat widget shows who is available to chat and allows you to initiate a conversation with just a tap.

The HTC Status, with its uni-body design with sleek metal accents, is easy to customize to reflect your style with widgets, shortcuts and wallpapers, and its customizable lock screen lets you open your favorite application quickly when you unlock the screen.

The HTC Status also sports a 5-megapixel camera with auto-focus and LED flash on the back and a front facing camera to easily capture and share self portraits. Above the dedicated physical keyboard, HTC Status has a 2.6-inch touch screen with 480 x 320 resolution and capacitive navigation buttons.

Exclusive custom cases and a screen protector will also be available for sale with the HTC Status at AT&T company-owned retail stores.  Customers can choose from hard- and soft-shell case options from Speck and AGF. The HTC Status will be compatible with a number of universal micro-USB charging options, Bluetooth headsets and corded stereo headsets such as the IFrogz Luxe corded headsets with integrated microphone, which will be available in four colors, black, silver, pink and blue.  Accessories will also be available for sale in AT&T’s online store.

Pricing and Availability

Arriving in stores as the lead device in AT&T’s back to school promotions starting July 17, the HTC Status will be available in AT&T stores and online for $49.99 after a two-year contract. (Minimum $15 data plan required.) Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile standalone stores will feature an exclusive mauve edition.

Quotes         

“We can’t wait to put the HTC Status in the hands of our young customers who will waste no time tapping into Facebook to update their friends,” said Jeff Bradley, senior vice president, Devices, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets.  “We’re also really pleased to offer the hottest new smartphone at an affordable price to this important, socially savvy youth market.”

“HTC Status brings a Facebook experience to people who want to share with their friends faster and easier than ever before,” said Jason Mackenzie, President, HTC Americas. “With a dedicated Facebook share button combined with the hallmark HTC Sense experience, HTC Status makes it easy for people to stay connected to the things that are important to them.”

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

Best Buy® Launches Pre-Sale and Exclusive Color for the HTC Status on AT&T
 
HTC Status, featuring the dedicated Facebook share button, lands in stores and online July 17; pre-sale begins today
 
MINNEAPOLIS, July 11, 2011 – Smartphones have become the go-to devices for people looking to stay social no matter where they’re at in the world. Later this month, the connection between mobile phones and social networking is going to the next level. Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile stores today launched a nationwide pre-sale of the HTC Status from AT&T, America’s first phone with a Facebook share button.
 
Best Buy will carry an exclusive mauve color of the smartphone, featuring the Android 2.3 operating system, which is expected to be one of the hottest new phones of the summer. It hits Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile specialty stores and online at BestBuy.com/Mobile on July 17 for $49.99 with new two-year activation.
 
“Best Buy is proud to help HTC, AT&T and Facebook bring this phone to consumers,” said Scott Anderson, head of merchandising for Best Buy Mobile. “Featuring the exclusive color furthers our commitment to truly offering a selection of high-end smartphones that customers cannot find anywhere else in America.”
 
The HTC Status on AT&T features:
·         Dedicated Facebook share button

o   One-click to share on Facebook

·         5MP rear-facing camera with LED flash, VGA front-facing camera

·         Combination touch screen and QWERTY keyboard

·         Android 2.3 operating system

As with all of its smartphones, Best Buy Mobile provides consumers with an array of accessories and services designed to enhance, personalize and protect their mobile phone. For the HTC Status, Best Buy Mobile will offer a full range of accessories (from cases to screen shields) and the standard complement of services including Walk Out Working, Upgrade Checker, Happy 24, Geek Squad Black Tie Protection and Buy Back to ensure that consumers have the knowledge and on-going support they need to use their new phone the minute they leave the store.