Mediaboss Marketing

Facebook isn't making phones. Instead, the social networking giant is making software called "Home" that will add a Facebook interface to Android phones, making an aggressive move onto the most popular mobile device platform.

The free software will be available next week, enabling people to turn their phones into "Facebook phones" if they choose. The company said it "designed Home to be the next version of Facebook." It also takes its competition with Google to a new level, by effectively taking over phones based on Google's Android software.

"Home isn't a phone or operating system, and it's also more than just an app," the company said in its much hyped announcement today. "Home is a completely new experience that lets you see the world through people, not apps."

Speculation about Facebook's phone ambitions swirled in recent weeks, with some predicting the company would manufacture its own hardware in partnership with HTC, which worked on a Facebook phone called the Status. The device came out in 2011 and wasn't a hit.

This time around, HTC is making an Android phone that will come preloaded with Home and be sold exclusively through AT&T starting April 12. But that's a secondary announcement to Facebook's mobile ambitions.

By building software that can be downloaded on multiple devices _ rather than built into particular hardware _ Facebook likely will reach more users with Home. It's also asserting that its services deserve more prominence on Android devices than other apps and the operating system's interface.

It's a bold move in several ways. Facebook is pushing Google into the background on devices running Google's mobile operating system. Facebook also is gambling that users will like its service enough to Facebook-ify their phones, letting the company fill their pocket screens with news feeds, manage access to other applications and increase its ability to monetize mobile users.

Windows Phone users already are familiar with deep Facebook integration on their devices. Microsoft, an early investor in Facebook, blends photos and contacts from the service into its phone platform, moving it from app to cornerstone.

Here's how Facebook summarized its goals, in the Home announcement:

"We designed Home to be the next version of Facebook. But we also wanted to do something more. We wanted to reimagine the way we all use computing devices to make us more connected and bring us closer to the people we care about."

See the original post here:
Facebook Tries to Challenge Google With Smartphone Interface