Facebook finally announces its "new home" on Android in a press conference today at 1:00 p.m. Watch the live stream here!
This new home is likely a Facebook branded Android smartphone, in much the same way that Amazon's Kindle is an Android device with an Amazon skin and user interface on top.
No One's sure exactly how "Facebook-y" this new device will be, but rumors say the social media company has been working with HTC on the device. Two previous phones from the Taiwanese manufacturer have included dedicated Facebook buttons, though those models only appeared in Taiwan.
Facebook's choice of HTC as a partner is an interesting one. The embattle company has been struggling to break back into the mobile market currently dominated by Apple and Samsung, and it's market share is less than 5 percent.
But it's most recent release, the HTC One, has received stellar reviews for its design, construction and revamped interface. Unfortunately, HTC has had trouble sourcing parts for the One, and it's possible that difficulty could extend to whatever device the company is working on with Facebook.
It's likely this new phone was well under way before HTC's supply problems. Facebook may announce a release date for the phone, but if they don't, it could indicate they're not quite sure how many units they'll be able to deliver. The main advantage to teaming up with a manufacturing company like HTC is to allow Facebook to focus on software, so it's not like they have stock of components lying around.
Whatever the device looks like, it will probably set Facebook as the home screen, and expect integration of the News Feed, notifications and Facebook mail. Of course, the Kindle, while branded as an Amazon device, is useful for many things other than shopping at Amazon.com, or even consuming media purchased from Amazon, so in order for this new phone to catch on, it will need to offer an experience that's hard to get from another device without preventing non-Facebook oriented activities.
Tune in to see exactly what's will happen.
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