Facebook can no
longer be classed as a social network - it’s now a real alternative to the
Android operating system. Here’s why...
Unless you’ve had your head in the sand for
the past decade, you’ll have clearly noticed Facebook’s dominance as a social
media platform. Despite rivals in the form of Twitter, Pinterest, Path and
Google+, Facebook still remains at the top of the social media pyramid, and
with a fanbase that now exceeds a billion users, the time has come for Mark
Zuckerberg to move the company in to unknown territories.
Facebook
Home: the new face of Android?
Facebook’s new venture comes in the form of
a partnership with HTC to launch a mid-range Android phone called the HTC
First, plus its own unique skin which can be applied to a number of Android
devices called Facebook Home. As a phone, the First isn’t the most spectacular
of devices. It has average specs, a pretty standard design, but at least it
should come with an acceptable price tag. Facebook Home is an entirely
different prospect altogether and one that could change the landscape of the
Android operating system for some time.
“It doesn’t matter that Facebook Home will
be launched with an Android operating system on an HTC smartphone. If
Facebook’s new concept works, it will become the standard for phones and
operating systems from now on” says Roslyn Layton, vice president of Strand
Consult. “Facebook’s announcement is an important milestone for investors, for
it demonstrates that the gold mine for Facebook is not advertising, operating
systems or hardware. The key for Facebook is to monetize its users for the very
communication it offers: SMS, voice, and data-enabled services.”
To be able to monetize such services,
Facebook will have to look to adapt Home very quickly from a simple skin that
keeps you in contact with your Facebook profile to a communication powerhouse.
There’s been much talk about Facebook’s willingness to follow in Amazon’s
successful steps. Both the Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD had a totally
independent skin designed by Amazon, but with Android at its core. Both tablets
have been successful, with many preferring the budget pair to many of the
high-end Android tablets now available on the market. With the added bonus of
having full access to the Amazon library of music, movies and books, Amazon has
the money and power to cater for everyone. Even Google is looking to build on
the amount of media available in the Play store, with Play Magazines now a
major competitor to the likes of Zinio. Fred Huet, managing partner at
Greenwich Consulting, thinks Facebook may have a tough time competing with the
likes of Amazon and Google on this front. “The biggest challenger to Facebook
Home would be Google, with traditional apps such as Gmail, Google Search,
Google Maps and YouTube in the background. That means less traffic, clicks and
revenues.” But he firmly believes that Facebook can remain unrivalled with
being a communication powerhouse: “With 1,800 texts a month sent by the average
American teenager, Facebook Home will capture all that traffic, thus increasing
revenues, traffic and metadata about users that they can use to better target
with ads.”
With
Samsung saturating the mobile market, it’s hard to find gaps that can be
filled.
If we look away from the media side of
things, for Facebook to be a major player in the mobile industry and ultimately
for Facebook Home to be a real success, it will very quickly need to identify
the market it is aiming itself at. With Samsung saturating the mobile market,
it’s hard to find gaps that can be filled, but it will be something that needs
to be considered by Zuckerberg and company. Sri Ramanathan, CTO of Kony
Solutions, believes that Facebook should play on the openness of the Android
platform to really nail a suitable target audience: “By using the ‘open-ness’
of Android, they’ve been able to make a very native application that integrates
deeply into the existing capabilities of Android. It also integrates seamlessly
with other applications on your phone. Facebook Home is going to appeal to a
generation of users who are very connected to Facebook and who want to use it
for the majority of their phone activity.” He -v advertisers and has the
potential to completely change the Facebook business model. More advertisers
will come to Facebook because the company is better leveraging mobile and
tapping into this key demographic.”
Facebook’s transition into mobile is a bold
move to say the least, but one that could change the landscape of the Android
operating system as we know it. Communication is at the forefront of what
Facebook does best and Home encapsulates that perfectly, but it’s in the other
areas where Facebook will have to vastly improve if it wants to really
challenge Google for the Android crown. But with a fanbase as large as what
Facebook has and with its first partnership with HTC already in full swing,
maybe we’ll all own a Facebook device in the next couple of years.
HTC First
HTC has another crack at making a
Facebook phone. Can it possibly find a market beyond its niche audience?
HTC
has another crack at making a Facebook phone. Can it possibly find a market
beyond its niche audience?
Whether a Facebook phone is truly needed
remains a dubious question, but HTC has forged ahead with bringing the HTC
First to the market. With full backing of the Facebook team, HTC has looked to
implement its own take on the Android OS, offering the standard Android
features with Facebook’s completely new launcher, Facebook Home, at the
forefront. There’s plenty of inspiration from the likes of Amazon here, who has
previously launched its own spin on the Android OS, but whether Facebook has a
committed enough fan-base to follow its success remains to be seen. It’s
certainly an important phone for HTC considering its current financial
problems, as the First follows a number of unsuccessful efforts at making
Facebook phones. It includes a very average set of specifications which means
anyone looking to get some decent bang for their buck may be left a little
underwhelmed with what’s on offer here, so pricing will be key for HTC when it
comes to finally launching the device all over the world. Perhaps most
interestingly the Facebook functionality can be turned off, leaving you with
fully stock Android.
·
Start your phone and you’ll see all your latest
Facebook statuses from your friends.
·
Incoming messages appear on your lock screen.
Tap on one to launch the full conversation.
·
This is you. Drag up to unlock the phone, or
sideways to launch into the app drawer or camera app.
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HTC First’s
specs
·
Operating system: Android 4.1/Facebook Home UI
·
Processor: Krait 1.4GHz dual-core
·
Memory: 1GB RAM, 16GB storage
·
Dimensions: 126 x 65 x 8.9mm
·
Weight: 123.9g
·
Display size: 4.3-inch LCD
·
Display resolution: 720 x 1,280 pixels
·
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth
4.0, HSPA+, micro USB
·
Camera: 5-MP rear, VGA front, 1080p video
recording
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