Today saw some interesting news from Facebook, which announced a new Android experience named Facebook Home, and alongside a new handset from HTC which will run it out of the box, the rather ironically named HTC First. This isn't Facebook or HTC's first attempt at a Facebook-specific handset, either, if you recall the HTC Status, or its codename ChaCha.

First is Home, which is part Android launcher replacement, part Facebook Skin. Home replaces the lock screen, application launcher, notification, and chat system with Facebook designed counterparts. Home overlays Facebook and Instagram views atop the lock screen, statuses and stories alike. The UI looks like a drastic departure from Android and takes cues from Web OS with lots of transparent regions. Facebook has dubbed its chat interface on Home 'Chat Heads' and intercepts SMS notifications from Android and augments them with Facebook chat as well. These persist throughout the UI atop active applications. Facebook has videos explaining Cover Feed, Notifications, and Chat Heads on their YouTube page.

Rather than build a complete platform from scratch, it makes sense for Facebook to leverage Android and deliver something like Home which essentially is part launcher replacement, part UI skin. Home will be available on April 12 through the Play Store for a limited subset of devices - the HTC One X, X+, Samsung Galaxy S 3, and Note 2, and in the coming months the Galaxy S 4 and HTC One. What's interesting is that subset of devices which Home will work with, it's a bit more than a launcher replacement since it is intercepting some notifications from the OS.

The other part of the announcement is an HTC-made phone called the HTC First. It's a midrange specification HTC handset which will be, well, home to Facebook Home, First, get it? Phew. I've put together a table with the specifications of the HTC First.

HTC First Specifications
Device HTC First
SoC 1.4 GHz Snapdragon 400
(MSM8930AA, 2x Krait, Adreno 305 GPU)
RAM/NAND/Expansion 1 GB LPDDR2, 16 GB Storage with USB-OTG
Display 4.3-inch 720p LCD
Network GSM/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
WCDMA: 850/1900/2100 MHz
LTE: 700/850/AWS/1900 MHz
Dimensions 4.96 x 2.56 x 0.35 inches, 4.37 oz
Camera 5.0 MP F/2.0 (Rear), 1.6 MP F/2.2 (Front)
Battery 2000 mAh 3.8V
OS Android 4.1 with Facebook Home
Connectivity NFC, BT 4.0, 802.11a/b/g/n

The First is at present an AT&T exclusive officially, which is further backed up considering the presence of Band 17 LTE. AT&T is taking preorders for the HTC First which will go on sale for $99 with a two year contract starting April 12th.

Update: I clarified the LTE band situation on the HTC First, which reflects the newer AT&T RFP with LTE on both its current WCDMA bands (850/1900 MHz) in addition to Band 17 (700) and 4 (AWS 1700/2100 MHz).

Source: HTC (First Page), AT&T (Preorders), Facebook (Introducing Home)

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  • TerdFerguson - Thursday, April 4, 2013 - link

    It's not an app, it's an experience? Come on, really?
  • Paulman - Thursday, April 4, 2013 - link

    Well, it's basically a UI, or as they're called these days, a UX (User eXperience), so I don't think it's a bad way to phrase it :P
  • Ewram - Thursday, April 4, 2013 - link

    The specs table say the phones name is HTC One,
  • DuaneDibbley - Thursday, April 4, 2013 - link

    I guess Klug has something on his mind :p
  • dylan522p - Thursday, April 4, 2013 - link

    I am so ready for that review.
  • Brian Klug - Friday, April 5, 2013 - link

    Oops! Fixed now I hope!

    -Brian
  • lilmoe - Friday, April 5, 2013 - link

    is it going to be long for the One's review? :(
  • DuaneDibbley - Thursday, April 4, 2013 - link

    The concept of a Facebook phone seems kind of silly to me. The UI surely looks very nice, however!
  • perry1mm - Friday, April 5, 2013 - link

    Why does the concept seem silly to you? There are plenty of people that mainly use their phone for social networking, and as you said the UI looks very nice, which is more of a concern to a lot of users than the customization and fine-tuning of Android. Seems like the concept makes perfect sense!
  • Yofa - Thursday, April 4, 2013 - link

    htc person 1: quick, we need a new name for a phone!
    htc person 2: one!
    htc person 3: one x!
    htc person 4: one x+!
    htc person 5: first!
    htc person 1: first! that's perfect! let's go with that...

    by the way, your device row says "htc one." i think you mean "htc first." that's god's (anand's?) way of telling you to complete the htc one review. sorry, brian. had to...

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