Mark Zuckerberg asks this question, “If we’re all spending so much time on our phones interacting with people then how can we make this easier?”
Last April 4th at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, California, Facebook announced a new mobile experience for Android phones, the Facebook Home. It’s actually not a phone, not an OS nor an app, which caused a stir of confusion actually. Facebook Home is very akin to a ‘launcher’. Not to worry, we will reveal to you the nitty gritty about all this Facebook Home stuff.
Here’s some further enlightenment from Mark Zuckerberg as to the concept of Facebook Home, “what would it look like if instead of our phones being designed around apps first and then just being able to have some interaction with people inside those apps, if we flip that around and made it so that our phones were designed around people first and then you could also interact with apps if you wanted to.” In summary, the concept of Facebook Home is a people-first centered mobile experience.
Facebook Home is not yet available, the d-day for Facebook fans with Androids is on April 12th – don’t worry it’s free! However, it will be restricted to a few phones first, refer to check the compatibility of your phone. But if you’re looking to get a new phone which bonds perfectly with Facebook Home, pre-order the HTC First. HTC has partnered with Facebook to develop a phone that incorporates Facebook’s people-first philosophy, and it comes pre-loaded with Facebook Home.
Alright, enough with this banter, here’s what you need to know about HTC First and Facebook Home.
Where do I get HTC First?
HTC First is not yet available, however, it can be pre-ordered at the website of Facebook or at any AT&T stores.
HTC First: How much will it cost?
HTC announced during the Facebook demo of Home that the HTC First will cost $99.
HTC First: What colours are there?
The HTC First will be available in black, red, white and blue colour varients.
HTC First: Specs
- 4.3in screen 720p resolution
- 1.4GHz Qualcomm dual-core processor
- Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
- 1GB RAM
- 16GB internal storage
- 5Mp rear camera
- 1.6Mp front camera
- Wi-Fi
- Bluetooth 4.0
- NFC
- 4G LTE support
- 2000mAh battery
What is Facebook Home?
Mark Zuckerberg said, “we’re not building a phone, we’re not building an operating system, but we’re building something that’s a whole lot deeper than just an ordinary app – it’s a family of apps and it becomes the ‘Home’ of your phone”. In summary, it is like a ‘launcher’ that takes over the ‘front’ of your Android, but in essence the real system is still there “underneath” Facebook Home.
What is ‘Cover Feed’?
Cover Feed is a revamp of your homescreen and lockscreen. It’s like your normal news feed from Facebook, but in Home, you see full screen images containing your friends’ latest updates and shares.
What is ‘Chat Heads’?
In Home, you can chat from any application that you are running. There are little ‘heads’ appearing on the screen which you can tap to continue your conversation. You can move these so called ‘chat heads’ on different locations on the screen to keep them from blocking whatever you’re doing.
How are the ‘Notifications’ in Facebook Home?
When in the ‘Cover Feed’ screen, you get bubble-like notifications that you can click on to interact with, or throw away via a swipe if you deem it insignificant.
How do I go to my ‘Apps’?
Near the bottom of the screen, you will find a small photo of yourself, you can drag it up to go to your ‘Apps’, left to go to ‘Messenger’ and right to go to your previous application.
There been strong opinions against Facebook Home, but ultimately, it will be the majority of users and not just the “techies” who will decide whether or not to embrace this new innovation from Facebook. In the meantime, that was Facebook Home.
Jamaica Sanchez loves to buy lots of stuff online. She visits lots of Philippine group buying websites to check for the latest promos available. On her spare time, she loves listening to Korean Pop Music.
