The INQ Cloud Touch
The folks who brought out the first, endorsed-by-Mark-Zuckerberg “Facebook phone,” have just modernised their device in a big way. INQ’s new Cloud Touch, 18 months in the making, now runs on Google’s Android Froyo operating system instead of the cheap and simple BREW application platform of previous iterations, features an in-built integration with music streaming service Spotify and, crucially, lives and breathes Facebook.
Unlock the phone and you’re met with an constantly updating news feed. Want to call a friend? Tap their Facebook profile photo. INQ makes it possible to write on someone’s wall or direct message them via the same phone menu you’d use for texting or calling. Facebook events are integrated into the inbuilt Google calendar, which also supports Exchange.
There’s no Facebook branding on the hardware, but there is a dedicated hardware key to access Spotify, and the music streaming service comes as a standard application on the phone. “Music is really important to our target network,” says Ken Johnstone, INQ’s products director and co-founder. The app provides a wireless interface with the Spotify program on a home computer so users can manage their music on the go. INQ is mum on whether it’s struck some sort of licensing deal. “It’s a close relationship between us and Spotify,” is all INQ Chief Executive Frank Meehan will say.
INQ (pronounced “ink”) says Cloud Touch is unique because it uses Facebook’s social graph API (application programming interface) to concentrate on “news” and updates from your closest friends. “It’s very AI (artificial intelligence) driven,” says Meehan.
A focal point for the the user interface is photos, while videos are enlarged and status updates are tastefully displayed in large Times New Roman font with watermarked quote marks in the background. Kind of like what the Flipboard app has done for Twitter and Facebook.
INQ, based in London, U.K. with an office in Palo Alto, Calif. is targeting 18-28 year olds with the Cloud Touch and has focused all its devices on social networking from day one. Facebook founder Zuckerberg endorsed INQ’s first phone, the INQ1, brought out in Nov. 2008, as the best phone for Facebook. At that point the INQ1 was already being called a “Facebook phone” for maintaining a permanent connection to the Internet and the social networking site.
“Normally the way we work is we go to Facebook and say we’ve got this whole new approach of how we want to do things, and Facebook say, ‘Yes, we’ve been thinking of that as well,’” says Meehan. “And that’s pretty much what happened this time.” Facebook’s mobile people had the initial ideas for integrating Facebook events into the phone’s Google Calendar, for instance, while the social API and “deep links” into Facebook were all INQ’s proposals.
Meehan points out that his top three engineers (two of which are in Silicon Valley, one in London) all have a background in software, not mobile phones, making it easier for them to have conversations with the engineers at Facebook.
As far as social networking goes, the onus will always be on Zuckerberg’s creation. “Obviously Twitter and Foresqure are still there but they’re kind of not really social networks,” says Meehan. “My Yahoo and Hotmail and Flickr died age ago.”
Meehan says INQ pushed hard in the early days to invest in Facebook because the company could see it would become big. Does he expect another endorsement from Zuckerberg? “Let’s see how it goes in the market,” he answers.
INQ is also bringing out a QWERTY smartphone, the Cloud Q, in the summer, while the Touch will be available through Britain’s Carphone Warehouse from April. INQ, which doesn’t see its phone competing with the iPhone, has maintained a relatively low price point on all its devices, and says the Cloud Touch will probably be available for free on a £20 a month contract.
Software specs – INQ Cloud Touch
- • Android Froyo 2.2 platform
- • Built with a modular approach making upgrade to Gingerbread easy
- • Instant Messaging for WLM, G-Talk and Facebook Chat
- • Free push email across major domains, including Microsoft Exchange
- • Info Key to quick access to key handset functions
- • Fast unlock for quick access to key functions
- • Backup and sync, plus firmware upgrades to later software releases
Hardware specs – INQ Cloud Touch
- • Processor: Qualcomm 7227 chipset, 600MHz
- • Triband HSPA (7.2/ 5.76Mbps), Quadband GSM, EDGE + WiFi
- • Size: 3.5” inch HVGA capacitive touchscreen display with extended 10mm touch strip
- • Memory: 4MB with option to add more
- • 5 MP autofocus camera
- • 1300mAh battery
- • WiFi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth, GPS, FM Radio, accelerometer, compass, ambient light and proximity sensors
- • MicroUSB charging, 3.5mm audio jack.
- • Accessories included: 4GB microSD Card, Travel Charger & USB Cable, Stereo Headset, Quick Start Guide
- • Video record and playback
