Will Home work?
There had been speculation that Facebook was working on a phone of its own, or
at least on a mobile operating system to rival Android or Apple’s iOS. But
dabbling in hardware at this stage of its development would be a huge risk for
Facebook and developing a rival operating system would risk alienating Apple and
Google, whose mobile platforms have helped power its advertising growth.
EMarketer, a research firm, reckons Facebook is on track to win 11% of the $13.6
billion likely to be spent around the world on mobile ads this year.
Home, which is a group of Facebook apps, avoids both pitfalls. Among other
things, it converts a phone’s home screen (and lock screen) to Facebook’s
Newsfeed, allowing people to get updates on what their friends are doing without
having to launch a dedicated app each time they want news. A phone using Home
will also notify you when your friends are doing something new, as well as
alerting you to new data from other apps. Another feature is a tool called "Chat
Heads" that combines Facebook's message system with a phone's regular SMS
message offering. This means messages pop up on the home screen along with the
sender's profile picture, which is enclosed in a small circle
