Facebook phone launch put on hold

 

Richard Osley
Saturday 25 May 2013 15:38 EDT
0Comments
The HTC First will not launch in Europe this summer
The HTC First will not launch in Europe this summer

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The UK launch of the "Facebook phone" has been postponed following poor sales in the United States and lukewarm customer feedback.

The HTC First handset was supposed to be in the shops this summer but the social network has no fresh date for its European unveiling. It works around the Facebook Home software, launched by chief executive Mark Zuckerberg in the US in mid-April. He claimed it would "change the relationship" that people have with their mobiles.

The Facebook Home app swaps a traditional homescreen menu for a feed of pictures and updates from the user's Facebook account. But initial feedback from American users of the HTC First included complaints that it was too "clunky".

In a statement, Facebook said: "While we focus on making Home better, we are going to limit supporting new devices and think it makes a lot of sense for EE and Orange to hold off deploying the HTC First in Europe."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

0Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in