Apr 12
Now you can get Chat Heads even if you don’t want the rest of Facebook Home.
Apr 12
Facebook Home for Android just went live. In addition to using it on the newly available HTC First, you’ll be able to get it on “select” Android phones including the HTC One, HTC One X, HTC One X+, Samsung Galaxy S III and Samsung Galaxy Note II. Go get your homescreen on. [Google Play] More »
Apr 12
If you’ve got one of the few smartphones compatible with Facebook Home (the app) here at the launch, you’re in luck! It’s out now, available for download from the Google Play app store and it’s completely free. Devices that can download and use Facebook Home right this minute include the Samsung Galaxy S III, Samsung Galaxy Note II, HTC One X, and HTC One X+ (everyone else is currently out of luck.)
What you’ll be doing to grab Facebook Home is heading to the Google Play app store and searching just that: “Facebook Home.” If you have one of the compatible phones listed above, you’ll see the app immediately and will be able to download and install with ease. When you first head back to your home screen after installing, you’ll be met by a pop-up that asks which launcher you’d like to use.
UPDATE: Facebook Home appears to be temporarily (hopefully) unavailable in the Google Play app store once again – check back soon!
UPDATE 2: Facebook Home is once again up and ready for action – you’ll be able to download it and make it work for some smartphones, but not all! Have a peek at our guide: Why doesn’t Facebook Home work on my phone?
If you choose Facebook Home, you’ll be brought into a brand new Facebook-centric universe, yours for the tapping. You’ll also want to make sure you’ve updated Facebook Messenger and your normal Facebook for Android app too – they all exist together in harmony. Have a peek at today’s “Chat Heads” update for more information on what Messenger brings to the table.
You’ll also want to head back to SlashGear’s full Facebook Home review as well as our review of the HTC First – the first smartphone to hit the market with Facebook Home installed right out of the box. Let us know if you plan on partaking in this lovely Facebook software experience on your Android device today!
Or if you plan on skipping the Facebook Home environment entirely!
Facebook Home delivered to Google Play – available for Android now is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Apr 12
As you may have heard, Facebook Home has finally made its way to a select number of devices from HTC and Samsung. While the initial rollout was a little shaky, we were able to grab the social network’s latest mobile triumph on every device that officially supports it. What you see above is the full spread of devices that are listed as candidates for the downloadable APK’s launch (the HTC First excepted, which we have unfortunately already shipped away): from left to right, you’ll see the Samsung Galaxy Note II, Galaxy S III, HTC One X+, One X and the One. For folks who already have access to it, the One isn’t officially supported yet, but it’s been announced and it should be coming soon.
We’ve already gone into painstaking detail of Facebook Home in our review of the HTC First, so we won’t dwell too much on the downloadable version. In short, as we expected, the interface seems quite a bit more quiet than our experience on the First simply because it doesn’t offer the same system-level integration; in other words, the devices shown in the above image are only able to display notifications related to Facebook services. You can still access your usual suite of alerts through the status bar at the top of the screen, but just make sure to go into Home settings to enable this functionality. Aside from the difference in notifications, the downloadable APK differs from the First’s pre-loaded version in that no Google search bar sits upon the top of Home’s app menu. Other than that, you’ll be hard-pressed to find any major variances in Cover Feed, chat heads or the app launcher. If you’re curious to see exactly what it looks like on a Samsung Galaxy S III, check out our gallery of screenshots below.
Note: To ensure that everything works the way it should on your phone, make sure the official Facebook and Messenger apps are installed and completely up-to-date.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Facebook
Apr 12
The HTC First may have been released on AT&T today, which will be the first Android device to launch with Facebook Home right out of the box, but you can enjoy one of the cooler features from the app right now if you’re an Android owner thanks to an update Facebook pushed out to its standalone Facebook Messenger app.
The Facebook Messenger app on Android has just received an update that will include the new Chat Heads feature, which will overlay Facebook messages on top of your Android OS. That means no matter what you’re doing, Messenger messages will pop up when you receive a Facebook message with a Chat Head icon of the person who is currently messaging you.
If you would prefer not to be bothered with your great-aunt asking when you’re going to get married, you can swipe down from the Chat Heads message in order to dismiss the conversation. Just make sure you tell your great-aunt your phone was on the fritz, which is why you didn’t receive her prior message.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Verizon Introduces One Year Device Payment Plan For Devices Worth Over $349.99, New Facebook Home Commercial Stars Mark Zuckerberg, 
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Apr 12
After a long period of speculation, we finally know about the “Facebook phone”. In fact, it’s not really a dedicated Facebook phone at all, but a custom build of Android which has a special Facebook home screen. While I’m no power-Facebook user, I can imagine that people using Facebook a lot will enjoy this new offering.
The HTC First is the first phone to come packaged with Facebook Home, software that fills your home screen with friend’s photos, status updates and more information, directly from your Facebook account. You’ll also be able to quickly bounce in and out of chats and conversations no matter what app you’re running on the phone.
Spec-wise, the HTC First phone is nothing too fancy, sporting a 1.4GHz dual-core Qualcomm CPU, a 4.3″ 1280×720 screen, 5.0 MP rear-facing camera and 4G LTE capabilities. Under the hood, it’s still an Android 4.1 phone, and Facebook Home is really just a custom app launcher and skin running on top of it. The phone will be available in matte, black, white, red and pale blue.
If you absolutely must be on Facebook all of the time, you can order the HTC First over at AT&T for $99.99 (with a 2 year contract.)
And if you’re interested in trying out Facebook Home without buying a new phone, it should be available later today on the Google Play store for many popular Android smartphones.
Apr 12
Facebook invited the media to not only learn about Facebook Home, but to also announce it has partnered with HTC for the HTC First, which is the first smartphone to feature Facebook Home straight out of the box. Well – as long as you don’t consider its leaked version that was released and then contained a few days ago. If you’ve been counting the days until its official release, you can stop your countdown as the HTC First is now available on AT&T.
“The HTC First will offer the best Facebook Home experience on mobile, right out of the box,” said AT&T chief executive Ralph de la Vega. “That’s why we’re committed to this phone and making it exclusive in our stores.” The HTC First features a 4.3-inch display capable of 341PPI, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of built-in storage, 5MP rear-facing camera, 1.6MP front-facing camera, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0 and a 2200mAh battery. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Sonic Notify Uses Sound For Shops, TV Shows To Interact With Customers, Twitter Music iOS App Currently Available For ‘Influencers’, 
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Apr 12
The weirdly named Chat Heads feature was a big focus on the new Facebook phone. But just like the “Home” launcher itself, you won’t need an HTC First to get it. The Facebook Messenger app for Android just got an update will full Chat Head functionality. [Google Play via The Verge] More »
Apr 12
Last week, Facebook announced Facebook Home — a new home screen/app launcher of sorts that looks to skin your Android device with the social network’s goodness. The phone that’s specifically made for the new launcher, the HTC First, is now available on AT&T exclusively for just $99 after signing a new two-year contract.
The phone comes in black, blue, red and white colors, and if you don’t feel like signing your life away, you can grab the phone off-contract for $449. The First is a mid-range device that is specifically built to run Facebook Home, so if you’ve been waiting for a Facebook phone of sorts, this is pretty much it.
The First sports a 4.3-inch Super LCD display running at a resolution of 1280×720. Inside there’s a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 dual-core processor clocked at 1.4GHz with 1GB of RAM. There’s also a 5MP camera on the back, along with a 1.6MP front-facing shooter. The phone runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, so you’ll be treated with all the great new features, like Google Now, improved notifications, and Project Butter.
If you’re not too keen on the HTC First, but still want to play around with Facebook Home, it’ll be available for free in the Google Play store starting sometime today. Once it goes live, we’ll be sure to report back to let you know that you can grab it, but for now, you’ll have to be a little on the patient side.
HTC First available now on AT&T for $99 is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Apr 12
Chat heads, a virtual carousel of full screen (Instagram) images and enough status updates to let you keep close stalkerly tabs on your nearest and dearest — that’s what Facebook’s got in Home. And as of today, it’s breaking free from AT&T’s exclusive HTC First and heading to a choice few Android flagships in the US. Now owners of the Samsung Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note II as well as the HTC One X+ can rush on over to Google Play or Facebook’s site to download the free screen-stealing app / launcher. And when HTC’s One and Samsung’s GS 4 make their eventual way to the US market, Facebook heads will also have the privilege of setting up Home on those two flagships, just as Zuck promised. Home: it’s where privacy and your free time go to die.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Google, Facebook
Source: Facebook, Google Play
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