Today Facebook unveiled its highly anticipated Facebook Home before members of the media and invited guests. The new Android app is being touted as a “completely new experience that lets you see the world through people, not apps.” With the enormous worldwide popularity of the world’s largest social media, Home is destined to be a major hit, even if it’s only available for Android users.
As expected, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared on the stage wearing his trademark hoodie, amid a lively round of applause and buzz afforded to one of the most influential people on the planet. He began the presentation by telling the audience “we all want to share and connect” but today’s smart phones are built around tasks and apps. In other words, in order to see what’s happening with other Facebook friends, a member would have to launch an app or series of apps. With the new Facebook Home, which is a “series of apps”, a user’s Android screen is transformed into a social media-based home page, allowing the user to view typical tasks such as messaging, news feeds and instant notifications.
While Mark Zuckerberg commanded the stage for the majority of the event, he gave way to other speakers - Facebook Director of Product, Adam Mosseri, Facebook software engineer, Tom Alison, HTC CEO Peter Chou and AT&T Mobile CEO Ralph de la Vega. During his part of the presentation, Chou officially announced the HTC First, an Android phone that will have Home preinstalled and de la Vega announced that AT&T will be the exclusive provider in the U.S. Facebook Home will also be optimized the following Samsung devices – Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II. Noticeably absent at the event was any representation from Google, who is a direct competitor to Facebook, however Zuckerberg said that his Facebook Home could actually benefit Google Android.
Facebook Home on Google Play and HTC First will be both become available on April 12, although Zuckerberg said that preorders for HTC First are now being accepted.The app will initially be available only in the U.S. but Zuckerberg said the app will eventually reach a broader audience, particularly in Europe but with no "timeline" announced.
The Facebook CEO chose the Android platform because of its open source software, something that Apple doesn’t offer. While iPhone users hope to have Facebook Home on their phones, it wasn’t clear if an iOS app was in the works or if there ever will be. But if Facebook Home becomes as successful as expected, the app will replace other tasks that Google Android normally does, such as Google Talk and even Google+.
Comments