The HTC First is an
Android smartphone
A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...
released by
HTC
HTC Corporation ( zh, t=宏達國際電子股份有限公司, p=Hóngdá Guójì Diànzǐ Gǔfèn Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī, first=t), or High Tech Computer Corporation (abbreviated and trading as HTC), is a Taiwanese consumer electronics corporatio ...
on April 12, 2013. It was unveiled on April 4, 2013, as part of a press event held by
Facebook
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
. Serving as a successor to a pair of Facebook-oriented devices HTC released in 2011, it was the first and only Android device to be pre-loaded with Facebook's own user interface layer,
Facebook Home, in lieu of HTC's own
Sense
A sense is a biological system used by an organism for sensation, the process of gathering information about the surroundings through the detection of Stimulus (physiology), stimuli. Although, in some cultures, five human senses were traditio ...
.
While considered compelling by critics for a mid-range phone due to its display quality and its optional use of stock Android beneath the default Facebook Home overlay, the HTC First was panned by critics for its poor camera and lack of removable storage, and was also affected by the similarly underwhelming reception faced by the Facebook Home software.
AT&T
AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...
, the exclusive U.S. carrier of the First, only reportedly sold over 15,000 units of the device, while both ''
ReadWrite
ReadWrite (originally ReadWriteWeb or RWW) is a Web technology blog launched in 2003, covering Web 2.0 and Web technology in general, and providing industry news, reviews, and analysis. Founded by Richard MacManus, Technorati ranked ReadWrite ...
'' and ''
Time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' named it among the biggest failures in the technology industry for 2013.
Development
In 2011, HTC released two low-end smartphones that provided integration with the
social networking service
A social networking service (SNS), or social networking site, is a type of online social media platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interest ...
Facebook
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
, the keyboard-equipped
HTC Status, and the larger slate
HTC Salsa. The two phones featured Facebook's apps pre-loaded, along with Facebook integration within the
HTC Sense interface and a dedicated Facebook key that could be used to provide quick access to sharing functions. Facebook founder
Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (; born May 14, 1984) is an American businessman who co-founded the social media service Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms, of which he is the chairman, chief executive officer, and controlling sharehold ...
endorsed the two devices in a pre-taped statement during their unveiling, and promised the possibility of more "Facebook phones" in the near future.
Later that year, details began surfacing about a collaboration between Facebook and HTC known as "Buffy" (after the television series ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. The concept is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film, also written by Whedon, a ...
''), a
fork
In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods either to h ...
of Android that would be "deeply social".
The specifications of the phone was first leaked out by an HTC insider towards the end of 2012 that had claimed the device was then called "Opera UL" with a 1280x720 screen, and an Adreno 305 graphics processor with the Snapdragon 1.4 GHz CPU system on chip, which was later known to match the actual specifications of the final device.
In early 2013, reports indicated that HTC was preparing to unveil a Facebook-oriented smartphone with the revised codename "Myst"; this mid-range device was reportedly pre-loaded with a new Facebook-developed user interface layer known as "Facebook Home". Renderings of the new device leaked on April 3, 2013, revealing the design of the phone and its official name as the HTC First.
Both Facebook Home and the HTC First were unveiled at a Facebook news conference held the following day on April 4, 2013.
AT&T
AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...
exclusively released the device in the United States on April 12, 2013.
Specifications
Hardware
The HTC First is a mid-range smartphone which uses a dual-core, 1.4 GHz
Qualcomm
Qualcomm Incorporated () is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. It creates semiconductors, software and services related to wireless techn ...
Snapdragon 400 processor with support for
LTE
LTE may refer to:
Science and technology
* LTE (telecommunication) (Long-Term Evolution), a mobile telephony standard
** LTE Advanced, an enhancement
** LTE Advanced Pro, a further enhancement
* Compaq LTE, a line of laptop computers
* Leukotrie ...
, a 2000 mAh battery, 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of non-expandable storage. The First uses a 4.3-inch
720p
720p (720 lines progressive) is a progressive HD signal format with 720 horizontal lines/1280 columns and an aspect ratio (AR) of 16:9, normally known as widescreen HD (1.78:1). All major HD broadcasting standards (such as SMPTE 292M) includ ...
Super LCD display, and includes a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera, and a 1.6-megapixel front-facing camera.
The HTC First's exterior uses a rounded, minimal design with three
capacitive buttons below its screen, and was available in black, light blue, red, and white color finishes.
Software
The HTC First runs
Android 4.1.2 "Jelly Bean" and Facebook Home, a new interface layer developed by Facebook that heavily integrates with the service.
Facebook Home consists of a home screen and lock screen replacement known as Cover Feed (which aggregates content posted by friends on Facebook along with notifications from other apps), the ability to message users (via either Facebook or SMS) from any app using the "Chat Heads" overlay, and an overall experience that is oriented towards social interaction.
The HTC First was also the first smartphone to include the recently acquired
Instagram
Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
as a pre-loaded app. Although support for Facebook Home is not limited to the HTC First (it was also released for select HTC and
Samsung
Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...
models as well, and the Chat Heads feature was added to the standalone
Facebook Messenger
Messenger, formerly known as Facebook Messenger, is an American proprietary instant messaging service developed by Meta Platforms. Originally developed as Facebook Chat in 2008, the client application of Messenger is currently available o ...
app), integration with certain system functions (such as the ability to display non-Facebook notifications on the lock screen) is exclusive to the First due to technical limitations.
If Facebook Home is disabled, the device reverts to a stock Android 4.1 experience; the First was the first HTC device since the T-Mobile G2 to offer a stock Android interface and not ship with the company's HTC Sense software.
Reception
The HTC First was released to mixed reviews. Dieter Bohn of The Verge gave the HTC First a 7.9 out of 10, receiving high marks in most categories except for its camera. Its design was considered to have a comfortable size and shape by contrast to larger flagship Android phones, and a display that was noted for its high resolution, good color reproduction and "ridiculous" viewing angles (but still being hard to use in direct sunlight). The First's camera was considered to be better than expected for a low-end phone, but produced "muddy" photos and " eltlike a throwback to an earlier age when smartphones were nigh-useless in the dark." Facebook Home's functionality was considered to be good for casual users, but the ability to switch back to a stock Android 4.1 interface was considered "stunning" and a good compromise for the lack of Nexus
NEXUS is a joint Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection-operated Trusted Traveler and expedited border control program designed for pre-approved, low-risk travelers. Members of the program can avoid waits at border ...
devices with LTE support at the time.
Alex Roth of TechRadar
''TechRadar'' is an online technology publication owned by Future plc. It has editorial teams in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia that provide news and reviews of tech products and gadgets. It was launched in 2008 and expanded t ...
gave the HTC First a 3.5 out of 5, praising its build quality and operating system (feeling that the First could "develop a sort of second life as the mid-range of choice among Google geeks" due to its use of stock Android and LTE support) and considering it to possibly be "the last decent dual-core handset ever made", but considered Facebook Home to be a "glorified screensaver", and also criticized the camera's low quality and the lack of a dedicated shutter button (which Roth believed would have made sense on a Facebook-oriented phone).
On May 13, 2013, reports surfaced that AT&T had only sold 15,000 units of the First since its launch, and was planning to discontinue the device in response to the poor reception of Facebook Home from both users and AT&T's sales representatives. The reports came shortly after AT&T had lowered the First's price from $99.99 to $0.99 on a two-year contract as a promotion; however, AT&T denied any possible connection to the device being possibly discontinued. In response to the issues, the release of the First on the British carriers EE and Orange was indefinitely delayed so Facebook could focus on making improvements to the Home software.
In December 2013, ''Time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' named the HTC First as one of the 47 "lamest moments in tech" for 2013, and ''ReadWrite
ReadWrite (originally ReadWriteWeb or RWW) is a Web technology blog launched in 2003, covering Web 2.0 and Web technology in general, and providing industry news, reviews, and analysis. Founded by Richard MacManus, Technorati ranked ReadWrite ...
'' similarly named it one of the "Top 10 Tech Failures" of 2013, stating that "like Carrie Underwood
Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983) is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of ''American Idol'' in 2005, returning as a judge beginning with the twenty-third season. Underwood's f ...
in the remade '' Sound of Music Live!'', the HTC First smartphone started out as an intriguing concept that attempted to shoehorn something very popular (Facebook) into a familiar vehicle (a smartphone). And like that live television event, it wound up being an undeniable disaster."
References
External links
*
{{Facebook navbox
First
Android (operating system) devices
Mobile phones introduced in 2013
Discontinued smartphones
Facebook