FB Rising: ‘Home’ Software on HTC ‘First’ on AT&T April 12

event by tiernantech, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/8786051@N03/8620009648/">We’re settling in for
Facebook‘s (FB)
media event at its headquarters, which is expected to reveal
technologies for Google‘s (GOOG)
Android operating system, reportedly
through a partnership with handset maker
HTC (2498TW).
Youcan follow along via webcast on the company’s site, where
you can also replay the whole event following its conclusion.
Facebook shares are up 26 cents, or 1%, at $26.51. Facebook
CEO Mark Zuckerberg is on stage. In
fact, it is not a new phone, and it is not an operating system for
phones, says Zuckerberg. It is an application you can install on
your Android phone called “Home.” The
program takes over the home screens of Android phones, with its own
arrangement of icons for the apps on the phone, and something
called “cover feed” with a focus on
updates from Facebook contacts, allowing you to swipe through
full-screen updates from individuals. “If your phone is designed
around people, not apps, then your notifications should be too.”
“It’s just one swipe away from the home screen and
the lock screen,” says Zuckerberg. Something called
“chat heads” allow you to move icons
of your individual contacts into and out of the focus of the
device. They hover above everything else you’re doing, to make
friends’ communiques always visible. Demo time. The application has
lots of the same functions of
“launcher” programs on Android phones,
such as roaming through screens of icons and placing individual app
icons on pages. Executive Joey Flynn comes up to talk more in-depth
about the messaging functions. He’s
talking about the eternal dilemma of whether to respond to a
message in the middle of doing another task on the phone. tiernantech, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/8786051@N03/8618929287/"> “You should really be able
to respond to a friend in the middle of whatever you’re doing on
the phone. This is the idea of chat heads. With chat heads, You can
talk to whoever, where you are on the phone.” The software will
become available via a prompt in existing Facebook apps for
Android, which take you to the Google “Play Store,” to download the
software. The software will come to tablet computers “in several
months,” the company says. Home will be updated once a month with
new features. The company emphasizes it has no intention to
“fork” the Android OS, that the
software is beneficial because it’s “open.” The software is part of
Facebook’s new “mobile first” focus. In closing remarks, Zuckerberg
says the company is “reall proud about Home. How natural and smooth
all the interactions are. We think this is the best version of
Facebook there is.” And it’s video time! Guy on an airplane. As he
browses strange stuff on the phone in Cover Feed, those very same
strange people, and cats, pop up in the aisle of the plane.
First release will be available on
April 12th. But … there’s
one more thing. “Phone makers come to
us all the time and ask us to put Facebook on their phones. We want
to empower them. We’ve established the Facebook Home program.
Before even announcing Home, a lot of the best phone makers and
carriers have already signed up. Today, I want to highlight two,
AT&T (T)
and HTC. They’ve worked together to build the first set of phones
with Home on them.” Home, April 2013 by tiernantech, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/8786051@N03/8618984245/"> He invites up Ralph de
La Vega, president and CEO of AT&T’s
mobility unit, and Peter Chou, CEO of
HTC. Facebook 'Home', April 4th, 2013 by tiernantech, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/8786051@N03/8618983607/">'Home', April 4th, 2013" width="220" height="244" />Chou introduces the “HTC First,” the only phone with
Facebook Home pre-loaded. It will run on AT&T’s
LTE network, he says. De la Vega comes
on, says “You will have a great Facebook experience with a device
designed from the get go for that. It’s simple, it’s elegant, it’s
not designed to be a big phone, but a phone that feels good to
you.” De la Vega says it is the most “immersive” phone he’s ever
used. The phone will be available April 12th for
$99.99 exclusively at AT&T.
AT&T is taking pre-orders
today att.com/facebookhome. However, neither that URL, nor
www.facebookhome.com, are currently coming up if you punch them
into a Web browser. Facebook shares are up 86 cents, or 3%, at
$27.11. Zuckerberg says the HTC First will be coming to other
carriers such as Orange in Europe. And
that’s it.