The long-rumored "Facebook Phone" has taken the form of Facebook Home - not a phone at all, but "a family of apps" that will be deeply integrated with the Android OS.
Facebook Home is a custom Android interface that, among other things, replaces the lock screen and the home screen of your Android phone with the Facebook "cover feed."
The cover feed is what you see when you turn on or open your phone, and it shows a continuous stream of your friends' Facebook updates.
From the Facebook Home cover feed, a finger swipe accesses apps, phone calls and the other functions you expect from a phone.
The 'Facebook Phone' unveiled
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the stage today to introduce Facebook Home.
"Today we're finally going to talk about that Facebook Phone," Zuckerberg, who previously spent months denying the existence of a Facebook Phone, said. "Or more accurately, we're going to talk about how you can turn your Android phone into a great, simple social device."
That simplicity involves putting Facebook before your Android phone's other functions, so that instead of opening your phone and navigating to Facebook, the UI works the other way around.
"More and more we just want to know what's going on with the people around us," Zuckerberg said.
Facebook Home will be available starting April 12 on the HTC One X, Samsung Galaxy S3, the Galaxy Note 2, and other future devices, including the Galaxy S4.
It will come pre-loaded on the HTC First - introduced today as the closest thing to an actual Facebook Phone that we'll ever get.
