By Claire Reilly

SYDNEY, NSW: It was all Spanish eyes and sangria last night as HTC launched their newest Facebook-focused smartphones, the decidedly saucy sounding Salsa and ChaCha.

Both phones are designed for the ever-connected social media generation, with devoted Facebook hotkeys that allow for one-touch status updates, location posting and photo and video sharing.

According to HTC country manager for Australia and New Zealand, Ben Hodgson, the Salsa and ChaCha were designed with Facebook as a starting platform and then “built from the bottom up”.

“HTC understands the growing value of social media and has taken that to a whole new level by introducing HTC ChaCha and HTC salsa,” said Hodgson. “These two new devices bring customers a refreshingly easy user experience and a more immediate way to engage with Facebook through a mobile device.”

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Both phones feature 800 megahertz processors and the Android Gingerbread OS with HTC Sense, as well as 5 megapixel rear-mounted  cameras with auto focus and flash and VGA front-facing cameras.

The key difference between the two phones is display – the Salsa features a 3.4-inch touch screen, while the ChaCha features a 2.6-inch touch screen display coupled with a full QWERTY keyboard.

The Salsa and ChaCha will be available exclusively to Vodafone from Wednesday 6 July, costing $0 upfront on the $29 cap over 24 months, or $0 upfront on the $45 Infinite over 24 months. The phones will also be available for $299 on prepaid, though an unlocking fee will apply.

Ross Parker, Vodafone general manager devices and pricing, said the two smartphones were sure to excite and engage customers. "We are thrilled to add these two new devices, with their innovative social media features and high-end performance, along with competitive price points to our current HTC range," he said.

Totally in your face…book – the HTC Salsa features just one press-button, devoted to social networking.

The HTC ChaCha (pictured in white) features a touch screen and full QWERTY keyboard.