Shortly after we first heard of HTC’s Facebook-centric ChaCha, legal proceedings started up over the smartphone’s name. The US-based search provider ChaCha didn’t want HTC bringing the device to the States under that name, lest it lead to brand confusion. At the time, there weren’t any indications the company was even thinking of doing that, as it had only registered to use the ChaCha name abroad.

Since then, a version of the smartphone with an AT&T radio hit the FCC, and we got a look at how the phone will appear with AT&T badging. When it appeared on an AT&T roadmap, though, the phone was referred to by the codename HTC Iele. Now we’re finally hearing a rumor of what AT&T will end up calling the ChaCha for its US release, supposedly having decided on the HTC Status.

While we haven’t heard much about a potential release date for the Status, that roadmap had the phone coming out in Q2, so by that measure it’s nearly behind schedule. Factor in the recent FCC appearance and the press shots, and it looks like the Status is warming up to make a debut in the next few weeks; before the end of July seems like a safe bet.

Another rumor about these phones says that while the QWERTY Status is in the cards for AT&T, the similarly Facebook-enabled HTC Salsa slate won’t be picked up by the carrier soon, if ever.

Source: BGR