Facebook says its new mobile interface is all about shifting devices away from apps and tasks, and towards friends and people. Today the company shared the specifics about its new Facebook Home, showing off a user interface that is completely focused on photos, friends, and contacts. The homescreen is a newsfeed of photos posted by friends. Messages from contacts appear at the top of the screen no matter what app is in use. The conversation can be loaded on top of the app, then swiped away when the user is ready to return to their previous task. Text messages and Facebook messages look almost exactly the same to the user.
Reports that Facebook Home will debut on an HTC device proved true — the HTC First is a $100 LTE phone that will be available exclusively through AT&T starting April 12. Facebook Home will also be available on the HTC One and the HTC One X, as well on Samsung’s Galaxy S III, Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note II. The HTC One and the Galaxy S4 are not yet available, but users of the other phones will be able to download Facebook Home from the Google Play store starting April 12.
“This is a great experiment for Facebook,” said Jan Dawson, chief telecoms analyst at Ovum. “It’s much lower risk than developing a phone or an operating system of its own, and if it turns out not to be successful, there will be little risk or loss to Facebook. If it does turn out to be successful, Facebook can build on the model further and increase the value provided in the application over time. The biggest challenge will be that it can’t replicate this experience on iOS, Windows Phone or BlackBerry, the three other main platforms.”
Facebook says it will release a new version of Facebook Home every month. The company says it looks forward to bringing the user interface to tablets, and to European carriers including Orange and EE.
AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega said Facebook approached AT&T about carrying a Facebook Home device and asked him to help choose a manufacturing partner. HTC was the “one name” that came up, according to de la Vega. HTC CEO Peter Chou took the stage at Facebook’s press event to show off the HTC First, saying that the device will “bring mobile and social together” because “mobile is fundamentally social and social is increasingly mobile.”
Follow me on Twitter.
