Facebook Phone Unveiled

Is that it? Zuckerberg's big mobile idea turns out to be free app that turns ANY Android handset into 'Facebook phone'

Facebook Home takes over phone's homescreen and menus
Lets users see updates and chat with friends from anywhere in their phone
Firm is also working with phone makers including HTC to load the software on new phones
Critics say new system is simply a way to show users more adverts

Facebook has unveiled a new app to turn any phone running Google's Android software into a 'Facebook phone'.

The free software can be downloaded to handsets and take over its homescreen and menu system to show updates without having to launch a Facebook app.

It will also be preloaded on new handsets, including a HTC handset called First which will be the first 'Facebook phone', and goes on sale on April 12th, when the free app will also launch.

The new Facebook Home app takes over the menu system of an Android phone. Users can chat and see emails (left) and also easily post pictures via Instagram and comment without having to load a Facebook app.

'Today we're finally here to talk about the Facebook phone,' said Mark Zuckerberg at the announcement at the firm's Silicon Valley HQ.

'Or more accurately, we are going to talk about how you can turn your Android phone into a great social phone.'

'We are not building a phone and we are not building an operating system but we are are building something that is a whole lot deeper than an ordinary app. 

'We wanted to flip things around so our phones were designed around people and not apps.

'How many times have you pulled out a phone and looked into different apps to see what's going on.

'We want to bring all this content to the front.'

Zuckerberg says users can have an experience on Android phones that they can't have on other platforms.
'We're really proud of Home, we think this is the best version of Facebook there is.'

'Home' comes amid rapid growth in the number of people who access Facebook from phones and tablet computers.

Of its 1.06billion monthly users, 680million log in to Facebook using a mobile gadget.
The new product is a family of apps designed around people's Facebook connections.
Pictures from your Facebook news feed would take up the entire display screen.
Zuckerberg said users will be seeing the world through people rather than apps.
He gave an example of standing in line at a shop and looking down at the phone to see photos of friends and family.

The new app completely overhauls Facebook's chat system, left, while a new lockscreen, right, completely replaces the normal Android menu system.

The HTC first will be the first handset to launch with Facebook's software preloaded on it

'It'll be possible to flip through the items.
'If there's something you like, just double tap on it to "like" it,' he said.

The home app also includes a radical overhaul of the firm's chat app designed to take on increasing competition from apps such as Snapchat.

The new 'Chatheads' show a friend's head in the corner of the screen whenever a new message appears.
'They're a way you can chat to your friends no matter what you're doing,' said Facebook's Adam Mosseri.
The new app will be available on all recent Android devices, including tablets, the firm said.

The software replaces the normal phone menu with a version designed by Facebook

The new Facebook homescreen, which lets users access Facebook, chat with friends or access their apps

Experts said the move was an interesting one - but warn it could simply be a way to show users more ads..

Jan Dawson, chief telecoms analyst at Ovum, said: 'Any broadening of Facebook's appeal on mobile devices would have to be broad-based, and the Android launcher approach allows it to target a huge installed base of hundreds of millions of Android users, which will be a large chunk of Facebook's total user base of more than a billion people. 

'To users, the sell here will be making it easier to share information, photos and so on with friends.

'But to Facebook, this is about becoming more deeply embedded in the operating system on mobile devices, and creating a broader platform. 

'Since Facebook doesn't make an operating system for mobile devices, this is the next best thing. It will allow Facebook to track more of a user's behaviour on devices, and present more opportunities to serve up advertising, which is Facebook's main business model. 

'And that presents the biggest obstacle to success for this experiment: Facebook's objectives and users are once again in conflict. 

'Users don't want more advertising or tracking, and Facebook wants to do more of both.'

The new Facebook 'home' app, which turns Android handsets into a Facebook phone

'What Facebook wants is to put itself at the front of the Android user experience for as many Facebook users as possible and make Facebook more elemental to their customers' experience,' said Forrester analyst Charles Golvin.

The new Home service won't be available on Apple's iPhone and iPad devices. Apple's iOS and Mac operating systems include features that integrate Facebook's services, but Zuckerberg says doing something like Home would require a closer partnership.

Apple had no immediate comment.
The deeper mobile integration will likely help Facebook to attract more mobile advertisers.
Though mobile ads were a big concern for Facebook's investors even before the company's initial public offering last May, some of the worry has subsided as the company muscles its way into the market.

Last year, Facebook began showing ads to its mobile audience by shoehorning corporate-sponsored content into users' news feeds, which also include updates from friends and brands they follow.
Facebook now faces the challenge of showing people mobile ads without annoying or alienating them.
The mobile advertising market is growing quickly, thanks in large part to Facebook and Twitter, which also entered the space in 2012.

Research firm eMarketer expects U.S. mobile ad spending to grow 77 per cent this year to $7.29billion, from $4.11billion last year.

EMarketer said Wednesday that it expects Facebook Inc. to reap $965million in U.S. mobile ad revenue in 2013.

That's about 2.5 times the $391million in 2012, the first year that Facebook started showing mobile ads.
Clark Fredricksen, vice president at eMarketer, says: 'There are some clear reasons why a deeper integration with mobile operating systems and handsets make sense for Facebook.

'At the end of the day, the more deeply Facebook can engage consumers, no matter what device or operating system or handset,' the better.

Facebook's stock rose 80 cents, or 3.1 per cent, to $27.05 in afternoon trading following the announcement.
It is still 23 per cent below its initial public offering price of $35.