The HTC First will land exclusively on EE’s 4G LTE network this summer and sport Facebook’s freshly announced branded Android user interface - Facebook Home – out of the box.
This encompasses an all-new lock screen called Cover Feed that displays the latest photos and updates from your friends.
You can 'like', comment and view updates right from this screen without swiping anything or opening an application. Notifications and messages will also appear here with the profile pictures of the users.
Home also brings a new feature called Chatheads, which enables easy switching between SMS and Facebook Message conversations with friends and other applications.
In terms of hardware, the HTC First is very much a mid-range affair, featuring 4.3-inch 720p HD LCD display, a dual-core Snapdragon 400 processor, a five-megapixel rear-mounted camera and a front-facing 1.6-megapixel camera.
Of course, as a handset launching on EE, it’s also home to 4G LTE support, which means it’ll be capable of opening your Facebook photos in seconds and be blazing fast at browsing and downloading too.
Pricing and release details are still under wraps, but we expect these to be revealed in the coming weeks. For now you can register your interest on EE's website to be notified as soon as the handset is available to order.
Although the HTC First will be the first-ever Android smartphone to launch with Facebook Home preinstalled, the software will be available to other flagship smartphones running Google’s OS from April 12th as download from Google Play.
