Q&A With HTC on the Weibo Smartphone [INTERVIEW]

A few weeks ago, we showed you HTC’s new Sina Weibo phone. The HTC Weike is a reworked HTC Salsa with a dedicated button for Weibo and unprecedented integration of the popular Chinese microblogging service throughout the phone’s functionality. We got in touch with Ray Yam, corporate vice president and Head of China for HTC Communication, to learn a little more about HTC’s Weibo phone.

1. Apart from FriendStream, where else is Weibo integrated into the HTC Weike?

The one-touch dedicated Weibo key on the HTC Weike offers users a host of integrated functions and services. For example, a short press on the Weibo key allows users to:

• Write on and edit their Weibo pages
• Add new contacts
• Add trends and topics to their Weibo pages
• Insert emoticons into their posts

Users can also check-in at their current locations or send their location information on both Weibo and Gypsii by holding and pressing the Weibo key on the HTC Weike

There are lots of other integrated functions which make the HTC Weike the ideal device to share content with friends and family. Simply press the Weibo key to share Web pages and links of interest which you come across while surfing the Internet. Sina music content is also easily shared by pressing the Weibo key. Your friends on Weibo can then listen to the music that you have just shared simply by clicking the music player on their Weibo pages.

Weibo integration on the HTC Weike

Consumers can use the HTC Weike to take photos wherever they go. Instead of clicking the shutter button to take photos, pressing the Weibo key uploads the photo instantaneously onto their Sina Weibo photo album. Their friends are then able to view all uploaded photos, and see their albums as well.

The HTC Weike also makes live chatting simple and easy to use with the Weibo chat widget, allowing consumers to chat with friends in a real-time chat environment that is constantly and instantaneously updated. Users will also be able to search for and locate the hottest topics on Weibo and join in the real-time discussion immediately.

2. Have Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr integration been removed from the phone for China?

Due to the unique market in China, and the popularity of Weibo, HTC has partnered Sina.com in a groundbreaking initiative to launch the first mainland-China specific smartphone which offers integrated Weibo services and a dedicated one-touch Weibo key that makes it easy, simple and intuitive to connect with friends and family…Currently, Facebook and Twitter are not supported as these services are blocked in China.