Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled at the company's Menlo Park headquarters on Thursday evening, a new product called "Home". The reason behind the name is purely down to the fact that this software will reside on the home screen of Android phones.
The new product is a family of apps designed around users Facebook connections, the social network will become the hub of the users Android smartphone. Facebook Home software should be available to download starting on April 12 from Google Play.
Mark Zuckerberg said users can have an experience on Android smartphones that they cannot have on other platforms. "You're going to be able to turn your Android phone into a great social device," Zuckerberg said at the unveiling. "Our phones today are designed around apps, not people. We want to flip that around."
The idea is rather than seeing a set of apps for email, pictures, maps and other services when they turn on their devices, users will be greeted with photos and updates from their Facebook feeds. How Facebook will incorporate advertising into the software is yet unclear but there are plans however to bring this into action eventually.
As to how the software will operate, it will be similar to how the HTC One has a live Flipboard-like interface for its home screen. Facebook Home will put updates from the social network right on the home screen via a feature called Cover Feed. Content from Facebook takes up the entire screen, with no navigation or "chrome" whatsoever, and users can navigate through updates simply by swiping. Apps are still there, but accessed through a launcher that appears via a swiping up gesture.
CHAT HEADS FEATURE
Facebook also announced its "chat heads" feature, this will open up a new way to communicate with friends, regardless of what you're doing on your Android phone at the time.
Incorporated as a part of its new Facebook Home interface on Android-powered smartphones, the company introduced functionality called chat heads, allowing you to instantly message with friends, no matter what app you're already in.
This includes from checking email and playing games to surfing the internet, whilst allowing you to instantly message.
A floating picture of a friend's head appears on the screen, this will obviously as you might of guessed their Facebook profile picture — their Facebook profile picture that can be dragged via your finger to anywhere on the screen. You basically tap it to open a message window, and more than one chat head can be on screen at one time i.e group messaging.
"It makes you feel like your friends are always there," said Joey Flynn of Facebook. "You can carry on multiple conversations with the people you care about, and you can tap back to switch."
Facebook Home will available to download for Android smartphones from April 12 and a tablet version will come at a later date. The first crop of compatible phones are the HTC One and One X, and the Samsung Galaxy S III, Galaxy S 4 and Note II, Zuckerberg said.
So to sum up, Facebook Home is to bring Facebook content right to the home screen, rather than requiring users to check apps.
Effectively Facebook wants to take over your smartphone, scary thought eh! This deeper mobile integration will likely help Facebook to attract more mobile advertisers.
The idea is rather than seeing a set of apps for email, pictures, maps and other services when they turn on their devices, users will be greeted with photos and updates from their Facebook feeds. How Facebook will incorporate advertising into the software is yet unclear but there are plans however to bring this into action eventually.
As to how the software will operate, it will be similar to how the HTC One has a live Flipboard-like interface for its home screen. Facebook Home will put updates from the social network right on the home screen via a feature called Cover Feed. Content from Facebook takes up the entire screen, with no navigation or "chrome" whatsoever, and users can navigate through updates simply by swiping. Apps are still there, but accessed through a launcher that appears via a swiping up gesture.
CHAT HEADS FEATURE
Facebook also announced its "chat heads" feature, this will open up a new way to communicate with friends, regardless of what you're doing on your Android phone at the time.Incorporated as a part of its new Facebook Home interface on Android-powered smartphones, the company introduced functionality called chat heads, allowing you to instantly message with friends, no matter what app you're already in.
This includes from checking email and playing games to surfing the internet, whilst allowing you to instantly message.
A floating picture of a friend's head appears on the screen, this will obviously as you might of guessed their Facebook profile picture — their Facebook profile picture that can be dragged via your finger to anywhere on the screen. You basically tap it to open a message window, and more than one chat head can be on screen at one time i.e group messaging.
"It makes you feel like your friends are always there," said Joey Flynn of Facebook. "You can carry on multiple conversations with the people you care about, and you can tap back to switch."
Facebook Home will available to download for Android smartphones from April 12 and a tablet version will come at a later date. The first crop of compatible phones are the HTC One and One X, and the Samsung Galaxy S III, Galaxy S 4 and Note II, Zuckerberg said.
So to sum up, Facebook Home is to bring Facebook content right to the home screen, rather than requiring users to check apps.
Effectively Facebook wants to take over your smartphone, scary thought eh! This deeper mobile integration will likely help Facebook to attract more mobile advertisers.
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