Facebook announces a new ‘Facebook Phone’- an Android phone will a heavily integrated Facebook App.
Excitement was building last night as CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg held a press conference last night, teasing the audience by suggesting a new “Facebook Phone”.
Zuckerberg revealed however that this ‘Facebook Phone’ is infact an Android phone with a sophisticated Facebook App built into it.
Facebook is hoping to increase the amount of time people spend on it’s service to boost revenue from advertizing. Despite a clever marketing ploy, claiming Facebook was launching a Phone, Zuckerberg stated that Facebook had no interest in building a phone but rather they wanted to “integrate deeply with existing platforms”.
Launching our own Facebook phone is “so clearly the wrong strategy for us” stated Zuckerberg, instead however, the decision has been made to launch an Android phone with a Facebook designed App that doesn’t have to configure to the phone’s settings like the with the iPhone.
The new app will allow users to search the web for content related to your friends posts, it will also provide a messaging app that allows you to text your friends and it will also have a call feature, allowing you to make video and voice calls.
“The social network has been developing new software for mobile devices powered by Google’s Android operating system that displays content from users Facebook accounts on a smartphones home screen- the first screen visible when they turn on the device. Facebook will initially demonstrate the capability from HTC, but has been working to reach similar arrangements with other device makers,” said a statement.
While the App will be exclusive to Android HTC phones however, Facebook is hoping that all major phone companies will jump on board in the not too distant future.
While it might not be the “Facebook Phone” everyone was expecting, this new app could bring social networking to a whole new level.