Facebook phone: 5 interesting features

Zeebiz Bureau

New Delhi: Laying all the speculations to rest, Facebook this week launched “Facebook Home”, an operating system like app, which will convert Android phones into a 'Facebook phone'.

To be called HTC First, Taiwan's HTC Corp will manufacture the phones. The phone will specially cater to the needs of those who love social networking.

Let’s have a look at five interesting things about the phone.

What is Home?

Home is the new software that lets users comprehensively modify Android, the popular mobile operating system developed by Google. The new software will allow you to prominently display your Facebook newsfeed and messages on the home screens of a wide range of devices - while hiding other apps.

What does the Home offer?

Instead of traditional wallpaper or a "lock screen," users with Home installed will see a new Facebook "cover feed" that displays a rolling ticker-tape of photos, status updates - and eventually, ads - from Facebook's network.

Where to buy the phone

AT&T Inc has got the exclusive rights to sell the first handsets made by Taiwan's HTC Corp for USD 100 on April 12. The same day the "Home" software will be available for download for free from Google Play. France Telecom's Orange will be offering the phone in Europe. There is however no information on the launch of the phone in India but a few media reports say that it might not be launched in the country.

What is Chat Heads

Acknowledging that messaging and communications remain the most fundamental use for today’s smartphone using generation, the Facebook phone has a new feature called the "chat heads" messaging interface. This would combine SMS text messages and Facebook chat messages under one tool. Users can now communicate with their friends directly from their home screens without having to open a separate app.

What are the Key specs of the phone?

The phone will be available in shades of red, light blue, white, and black. It will sport a 4.3 inch screen, 5 megapixel rear-facing camera and LTE capability. With a 16GB internal storage, 1GB RAM the phone will have Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor.