Maker of one of the first ‘Facebook Phones’ shuts down
Inq Mobile, a company among the first to team up with Facebook to introduce a so-called “Facebook Phone,” has shuttered its doors. The UK-based company was founded in 2008 and introduced several handsets before shifting their focus toward creating software products, namely apps Material and SO.HO. Both apps have seen their last updates and will no longer be supported.
Rumored as early as 2010, Inq introduced the Cloud Touch and Cloud Q in 2011. At the time, they were the closest thing to a smartphone collaboration with social media giant Facebook. While not truly Facebook-branded devices, the phones did feature special features linking it closely with the network. Inq only ever had a chance to release the Cloud Touch, which was received poorly. This led to the scrapping of the QWERTY-laden Cloud Q. Inq’s offerings were ultimately overshadowed by similar collaborations between HTC and Facebook.
Material, a news reader app, and SO.HO, a social media aggregator, were then introduced as Inq’s main focus. In the end, the company was never quite able to find itself among the rapidly evolving market and as such has been lost in the wash. We’ve poured one out for the Facebook phone that never came to be. Here’s one for Inq Mobile.
[via TechCrunch]