Category: Facebook

Facebook Home Now Available For Almost All Android Devices

Android Developer Paul O’Brien, has done it again. First, he unleashed Facebook Home apks before the initial release. Now, he has made Facebook Home available to all devices, even unrooted ones. That is correct. You do not have to be rooted to give Facebook Home a try.

The folks at Modaco extracted the Facebook Home APK file and made it available for all those in other countries than the US.

Paul O’Brian of Modaco found a way to patch the files necessary to run Facebook Home on unsupported devices and made it available for download. He patched a version of the Home app to keep it from figuring out what device you’ve just loaded it onto.

As TechCrunch explains,

All you really need to do is pop into your Android device’s settings and make sure it’s set to install applications from unknown sources (it’s in the “Security” section). From there, you just have to download and install his patched versions of the Facebook Home app, as well as his patched Facebook and Facebook Messenger apps too. Already have those latter two apps installed? You’ll have to uninstall both of them and load up O’Brien’s cooked versions in order for Home to work properly.

That could pose an issue for some of the more curious among you — certain devices that have the Facebook app baked into it by the manufacturer (like the HTC One, for example) won’t play nice with this version of the Home app unless you root the device and remove the Facebook app yourself. Thankfully, rooting most popular devices is way easier than it used to be, but be sure to do your homework if you think you may take the plunge.

Facebook’s ‘exclusive’ product reserved for the HTC One, One X, One X+, Samsung Galaxy S3, S4 and Note 2 debuted in the Play store on 13th of April, 2013 and has garnered a lackluster two-and-a-half stars rating with near 2 thousand votes.

This news should come as a blow to HTC, which released the HTC First, a phone which supposedly was a part of the select group of devices destined to get Facebook Home.

For more details on how to download and install this APK file, head over to Modaco.

[Modaco, TechCrunch]

April 13, 2013
Facebook Home Available On The Google Play Store, US Only For Now

Facebook Home has officially launched on the Google Play Store. After some leaks and the update of the Messenger app which included the Chatheads feature, Facebook Home is now available for download, for the US only for now.

Facebook Home currently supports installation on the HTC One X, HTC One X+, Samsung Galaxy S3, and Samsung Galaxy Note II. Once you’re able to get your hands on an HTC One or Samsung Galaxy S4, those models will support Home, as well.

In case you missed it, Facebook Home is essentially a launcher that turns your phone into an all-encompassing Facebook device. Cover feed is a feature that places your friends status and posts in the center of your screen, and Chat Heads is essentially a redesigned Messenger that displays a floating chat window when using other apps.

Facebook’s Messenger app for Android was updated this morning with the Chat Head feature, which is available for any device that can run the Facebook Messenger app.

People have raised concerns about privacy and security with Facebook Home, questioning the company about data collection and the decision to create a default setting where a Home-loaded phone provides access to a Facebook account on the lockscreen.

For what it’s worth, Facebook’s chief privacy officer of policy Erin Egan and chief privacy officer of products Michael Richter responded to some of those queries in a joint blog post, stating that Facebook Home does not compromise privacy.

[PCMag]

April 13, 2013
Facebook Home Beta Leaks Ahead Of Official Release

Do you want to give Facebook Home a try a few days before its official release? A beta has been leaked by the folks at MoDaCo and, while not all the features work, it’s a great opportunity to see what all the fuss is/may be about. That said, MoDaCo says that it will work on any Android device that meets that specification.

The “suite” involves updated versions of the Facebook app, Facebook Messenger and the Home launcher APK itself, the former two of which can be safely installed over your current versions. It’s important to note that the leaked version only supports devices with a maximum resolution of 1280×768, which precludes the Sony Xperia ZL and upcoming HTC One (for now).

It appears that the most intriguing part of Facebook Home, Chat Heads, has not been implemented in this beta version, but the Cover Feed sequence works quite well. The Facebook Home settings is also worth digging into, as it allows you to alter how frequently the fore- and background data is updated. By default, background data (the stuff inside the Facebook app) is updated every 30 minutes, while the Cover Feed content is updated every 15 minutes. We’ll be curious to see whether those aggressive settings negatively affect battery life going forward.

The Home launcher is also surprisingly smooth, and feels like a very natural extension of my workflow. The main issue we have is that Facebook attempts to bury as much of Android’s legacy functionality as possible; you must swipe down from the top of the screen to expose the notification bar and then again to expand it; and there are no spots for native Android widgets. As someone who relies on both features pretty extensively — as I’m sure most users do — this is going to be something of an issue.

Nevertheless, Home is an interesting first step towards a fully-formed Facebook experience on Android, for better or worse.

Head to MoDaCo to download the three necessary APKs.

[MoDoCa, The Verge]

April 8, 2013
Facebook Addresses Facebook Home Privacy Concerns

It seems that each time Facebook redesigns its News Feed, an entire swath of the Internet comes out and swears that they’ll never use Facebook again. But then, active users just increase more and more. But with Facebook Home, it’s a little different. Analysts and users alike have been asking Facebook for more clarity on what Home means for privacy — particularly for those who go with an HTC First, where there’s really no avoiding the Facebook connection.

Now Facebook has posted a Q&A on its website about the privacy implications of its new Facebook Home software for Android phones, though it was unclear if it has addressed all the concerns raised.

In a blog post Friday, the company said it had received “a few questions about how Home works with privacy.” It then posed several questions to itself about Home and privacy and answered them.

Home is essentially a software wrapper for Android smartphones that modifies the home screen, among other things, to put Facebook photos and messages front and center. It was announced on Thursday.

First of all, Facebook notes, Home is a completely optional experience. People have to install it to use it and they continue to use the regular Facebook app if they don’t like or want Home. That’s probably going to stay true for the mid-term future at least.

They can also uninstall Home or disable individual features. For example, Facebook says Home can be turned off in the “Home Settings.”

It’s unclear whether that means all “Home” features will be disabled leaving you with the core Facebook app functionality without actually uninstalling Home or whether this disables things like the Cover feed on the homescreen and that’s it.

The data use policy states that the data Facebook collects can include Internet Protocol addresses and a user’s location. “For example, we may get your GPS or other location information so we can tell you if any of your friends are nearby.”

It was not clear from Facebook’s post whether Home collects location data any more frequently than does the Facebook mobile app, and Facebook didn’t immediately respond to a question about that sent late on Friday.

Facebook has riled users in the past with respect to their privacy. Last year it settled a class-action lawsuit over a feature called Sponsored Stories, which used people’s photographs to suggest that they were endorsing companies’ products.

[PCWorld]

April 6, 2013
Facebook ‘Home’ App Suite For Android Announced, Available April 12

Facebook has announced, as expected, a suite of apps and Android launcher called Home. Its main tenet is called CoverFeed that uses photos to connect people, apps and data in a single place. According to Facebook, the app is used three times more than any other Android app on average; users are inside the app for an average of 30 minutes per day.

Unlike previous rumours, Facebook will not be releasing its own phone, nor will it be “forking” Android to its own version. Instead, CEO Mark Zuckerberg says that Facebook wanted to use Android’s inherent openness and flexibility to its advantage. Home sits atop your current Android operating system, regardless of manufacturer or version.

Home is also a suite of apps, combining the launcher, the Facebook app itself and Messenger, which now combines SMS and private messages into one app. There’s a “clean, simple” app launcher, so your previous workflow is still available. Facebook doesn’t want to prevent you from using apps, but its people-first integration is paramount.

In addition to the lock screen experience, Facebook Home includes a feature called “chat heads,” a messaging interface that uses chat partners’ faces as tabs for their messaging windows. When a user is in any app, a “chat head” can appear off to the side of the screen. Users can tap the icon to enter the conversation and then swipe upward to take the messaging interface off the screen and return to the app they were in before. Both SMS and Facebook messages can use the “chat head” alert.

Home will be available to existing Facebook users who have the latest version of Facebook and Messenger. You’ll be prompted to download it in the coming days. Home will be available as a launcher replacement, which can be deleted and replaced with your favourite launcher going forward.

It will also be available for tablets in the coming months; the initial version will be offered only on phones. The initial rollout will be limited to the HTC One, Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note II, Galaxy S4, HTC One X and One X+.

The app will eventually expand to work with a number of new devices, but it’s going to be Android 4.0+, which will help long-term performance.

HTC has also announced the First device in four colours today. More on that developing.

Facebook Home can be downloaded from the Google Play store starting April 12.

April 5, 2013
HTC First announced, phone with Facebook Home

The HTC First will continue on the partnership that HTC and Facebook have shared in the past, enabling users to experience a little more Facebook on their android screen, as the device comes preloaded with Facebook Home. Launching on April 12th on an exclusive carrier deal with At&t in the US the HTC First is expected tot be available globally shortly after.

AT&T had been collaborating with Facebook on its Home experience, and invited HTC to assemble the phone, said Ralph de la Vega, CEO of AT&T Mobility said at a Facebook’s press conference on Thursday.

On Thursday Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook Home, a family of apps that would sit as a integrated layer on the Android operating system.

Zuckerberg said Home was not an operating system or a “forked” version of Android akin to Amazon’s Kindle, but a separate software layer that could act as a home screen for smartphones.

The mid-range HTC First will be available in black, white, red and pale blue, and sports a 4.3-inch display that matches with earlier reports. Facebook Home obviously serves to obscure the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean build that’s actually running the show, while one of Qualcomm’s dual-core Snapdragon 400 chipsets (and not the MSM8960 that was previously reported) provides the horsepower from inside that smooth, curved chassis. The HTC First has a 720p display and LTE

[youtube id=”HKyO0hJEp-g” width=”100%” height=”300px”]

[toggle title=”Press Release”]Facebook’s Newest Mobile Experience Available Exclusively on the Nation’s Fastest 4G LTE Network

DALLAS, BELLEVUE and MENLO PARK, April 4, 2013 – AT&T*, HTC and Facebook have teamed up to develop and launch the HTC First™, the first and only smartphone built to feature Facebook Home, which puts your friends at the heart of your phone. Facebook Home is the first mobile experience designed to give you your friends’ latest updates right on your home screen and messages that reach you no matter what you’re doing.

HTC First will be available for pre-order today for $99.99 with a two-year commitment and available exclusively in AT&T stores and online starting April 12. To pre-order, visit www.att.com/facebookhome.

The HTC First runs on AT&T 4G LTE, the nation’s fastest 4G LTE network.** In addition, independent mobile research firm RootMetrics® has published a special report on 4G LTE in the U.S. which notes that AT&T wireless customers in our 4G LTE markets that were tested by RootMetrics have access to the fastest mobile speeds on their smartphones. AT&T also has the nation’s largest 4G network, covering 288 million people.

“The HTC First will offer the best Facebook Home experience on mobile, right out of the box. That’s why we’re committed to this phone and making it exclusive in our stores,” said Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO, AT&T Mobility. “Because AT&T offers the fastest 4G LTE** in the nation, it’s the best network for Facebook Home. And the best device for Facebook Home is the HTC First.”

“HTC has a track record of providing beautiful hardware design, and of being first-to-market with smartphone innovations,” said Peter Chou, CEO, HTC Corporation. “The HTC First continues that track record, providing AT&T customers with a unique home experience that puts a user’s friends and family at the center of their mobile experience.”

“Home is a completely new experience for your phone,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s Founder and CEO. “With Home available right out of the box, you’re getting the best quality experience for connecting with your friends.”

Facebook Home brings your News Feed to the surface, immediately giving you the content you care about right on your home screen when you turn on your phone without having to open an app or access a mobile website. Just sign into your Facebook account and begin using Home – no need for download or configuration. Facebook Home connects you directly with your friends, whether it’s their real-time updates and newest photo uploads being streamed on your cover feed or the ability to chat with friends without jumping in and out of apps.

Facebook Home is built around your friends and puts them at the center of your phone:

· Cover feed: A constant, fresh stream of photos and updates from your newsfeed, cover feed is always present when you wake up your phone. It lets you stay up-to-date on your friends’ latest activities in real-time, all the time. You can swipe through to see more photos and updates, double tap to “like” a post and comment right from cover feed. To learn more about cover feed, check out this video.· Notifications: Notifications from apps and friends appear right on your home screen. It’s easier to see when you have a missed call, calendar reminder or new message. Open a notification with a double tap or clear them away to see your Cover Feed. To learn more about notifications, check out this video.

· Chat Heads: The mobile messenger lets you jump in and out of conversations while you do other things, like watch a video and browse the web. Reply right from chat heads, or move them around if you’re not ready to respond. Plus you can send and receive texts and Facebook messages from the same spot. To learn more about chat heads, check out this video.

· App Launcher: See your favorite apps and post right to Facebook from the same spot. You choose what’s on your app launcher-press and hold an app then drag it anywhere.

· Instagram: HTC First is the only phone that comes with Instagram pre-loaded.

HTC First will be available in four colors: black, white, red and pale blue. The hardware is thin, modern and seamless, with soft edges to draw your attention to the updates from friends and family on the 4.3-inch glass display. Inside, the smartphone runs Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) with the new Facebook Home experience and incorporates a Qualcomm Snapdragon™ 400 processor with dual-core CPU and 3G/4G world and multimode LTE so you can enjoy the richest content on AT&T’s blazing fast 4G LTE network.

For more information, or to pre-order HTC First, please visit www.att.com/facebookhome.[/toggle]

April 4, 2013
Watch The Facebook “New Home On Android” Event Live

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will take the stage in Menlo Park, Calif., this morning (evening for us Indians) to show off his company’s “new home on Android,” and you can watch a live stream of the event in the widget below.

In just a few hours from now, the social networking giant Facebook will unveil it’s “new home on Android”, but thanks to all the leaks we’ve got till now, we already have an idea of what it might be like.

Yesterday, we saw a rendered imaged, which showed us a glimpse of the HTC-manufactured Facebook phone, the HTC First and today, a new set of leaked images from 9to5Google shows how the Facebook Home might be like.

The video should auto-play shortly.

Join us here for the live streaming of the event.

April 4, 2013
‘HTC First’ Render Leaked, Points To Facebook Home

Days before a scheduled Facebook event, a render of a new Facebook-centric phone has appeared. The HTC first, previously known by other names, seems to have been repurposed for the device.

Trustworthy Twitter account @evleaks posted a render of the ‘HTC First’, a plain-looking smartphone with a few signs of Facebook integration. While there are no obvious marks to indicate the social network’s branding, the phone’s colour scheme and rounded home button point to possible integration with Facebook Home, the name of the launcher expected to be bundled with the HTC-made device.

The device shares few design traits with HTC’s recent handsets with its rounded corners and left-side volume rocker, but this render is unlikely to resemble the finished product. Then again, ‘HTC First’ sounds like a fishy name to begin with, so we’ll take the leak with a grain or two of salt.

The HTC first is known by another name from previous rumors, HTC Myst, and it’s reportedly going to be a 4.3-inch device that will feature a 720p display, Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 4G LTE, 5-megapixel camera, 1.6-megapixel front-facing camera, Bluetooth 4.0, Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean and Sense UI 4.5 on top which will include the new Facebook Home.

What do you think? Could the HTC First be the Facebook phone everyone has been waiting for?

[EVLeaks]

April 3, 2013
Facebook’s Timeline Trademark Lawsuit To Go To Jury Trial

A U.S. District Court Judge has ruled that a lawsuit between Facebook and Timelines.com will in fact go to trial, after denying Facebook’s notion that the trademark-infringement lawsuit should be killed due to overly-generic trademarks, Bloomberg reports.

Timelines, a website to collaboratively record and share history, filed a complaint against Facebook in September, 2011, and sought a restraining order to bar Facebook from offering its Timeline service, but this was denied, according to records of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.

The company was set up in January, 2007 and launched its Timelines.com website in 2009. It owns U.S. federal trademark registration numbers for “Timelines,” “Timelines.com” and for its “Timelines” design mark, according to court papers. It also operates a website called LifeSnapz.com and other services.

Facebook filed for a summary judgment on each of the claims of the plaintiff and on its own counterclaims, including cancellation of Timelines’ registered marks, which was refused by the judge on Monday.

Facebook “has failed to demonstrate, as a matter of law, that the marks are generic,” U.S. District Judge John W. Darrah in Chicago wrote in a ruling today. “At this stage in the proceedings, it is not unreasonable to conclude that as to this group of users, ‘timeline(s)’ has acquired a specific meaning associated with plaintiff.”

The judge said Timelines had millions of dollars invested in its business and more than a thousand active users.

The case is now set to proceed to trial before a jury on April 22.

[Bloomberg]

April 2, 2013
Facebook Modded Android OS To Be Called “Facebook Home”

Facebook is set to unveil something Android-related on Thursday. Some think it is a Facebook phone, others a forked version of Android with the social network’s paw prints all over it.

According to a few new specks of leaked data, it looks to be a bit of both. Facebook will unveil an HTC-built “Myst” device, recently leaked as a 4.3-inch smartphone roughly the same size as the the iPhone 5. The entire experience, which includes a new version of the official Facebook app, as well as custom Messenger and Contacts apps specially designed to integrate with Android, will also be available.

Evleaks, the often-correct source behind many previous leaks, posted a blurb from a device that doesn’t yet have the updated app: “The version of Facebook for Android currently on this device needs to be upgraded to support Facebook Home.”

Facebook Home. Seems fairly plausible. Facebook also put out a version of Messenger a few months ago that integrated with the SMS data for a few supported devices. While it never really broadcast that feature to the world, it gives us pause now; could it have been due to the eventual integration with a Facebook-centric device?

There is obviously no way to authenticate these reports, but they do seem to make sense. Earlier reports have also added that HTC isn’t going to be the only manufacturer to launch Android phone with “Facebook Home.” Apparently, the social giant is in talks with other companies too.

[EVLeaks, 9to5 Google, MobileSyrup]

April 1, 2013
Facebook Gets go ahead for new Campus at California.

After many a tech giants like Google and Apple, Facebook is now all set to upgrade the campus at the original headquarters in California. The new design envisioned by Frank Gehry will become a reality now that it has a go ahead from the Menlo Park authorities. The new campus will be 434,000 square feet in total and be built across 22 acres or premium real estate in the area already owned by Facebook.

The council is also happy to play sport and a member stated : “I feel very lucky that we’ll have a Frank Gehry building here.”. Looks like Facebook new construction facelift does not need a like button after all.

April 1, 2013
Not Android Phone, But Android Homescreen Is On Facebook’s Agenda

There is no Facebook phone. According to the Wall Street Journal, Facebook’s upcoming Android announcement is actually more of a home screen experience and not an actual device. That rumored HTC Myst? It’s just the first device to come from a partner, which, in this case is HTC.

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 smartphone’s home screen–the first screen visible when they turn on the device, people familiar with the situation said.

From the sounds of it, you’ll be thrown right into Facebook the moment the phone powers on. Reportedly, Facebook is working with other handset makers with hopes to bring the experience to additional devices.

Facebook will initially demonstrate the capability on smartphones from HTC, these people said, but has been working to reach similar arrangements with other device makers.

Facebook, which has said it has more than 650 million mobile users, is planning to make the app broadly available for all Android devices, these people said. Manufacturers must make some tweaks to the Android software to allow the Facebook app to take over the device’s home screen, they added.

Such changes by the manufacturer don’t violate the agreements those companies made with Google to preserve the consistency of the Android user experience, one of the people familiar with the matter said.

On Thursday, Facebook sent out invitations to a media event next week requesting recipients “come see our new home on Android.” Facebook and Google spokesmen declined to comment.

HTC declined to comment on its business relationship with Facebook. However, HTC noted that it previously launched the ChaCha phone, which had a button designated to posting photos directly to Facebook. That wasn’t really successful. HTC’s proprietary Sense interface for Android also included quite a bit of Facebook functionality in the past.

All will be revealed on April 4 now.

[WSJ]

March 30, 2013
Facebook Pushing Android App Update Outside Play Store

There are reports that Facebook is pushing updates to its Android App outside of the Google Play Store, meaning users would still install the app initially through Play, but updates after that would come straight from Facebook. This functionality would only be for Android users, because this sort of thing would be impossible on iOS.

As Liliputing first reported, users are receiving a persistent notification letting them know that an update is ready, and on clicking the notification are taken directly to the Facebook app to download the new version, known as 141046.

This Facebook update is reportedly talking about adding some new and seemingly expected features such as being able to change your profile picture as well as being able to download files without notification.

The updates would only be downloaded over WiFi, and won’t use your data plan.

According to Facebook product manager Ragavan Srinivasan, “We’re working quickly to improve Facebook for Android and want to make sure everyone is using the best version of our app. You’ll experience these updates when you are on Wi-Fi, and they won’t rely on your data plan.”

One reason for this update to be pushed outside of the Play Store could be that Facebook is just trying it out, and it isn’t the final version yet.

It is interesting to note that Google’s terms of service does not give permission for apps “that cause users to unknowingly download or install applications from sources outside of Google Play.” Will the legal eagles there deem Facebook as crossing the line this time around?

March 16, 2013
Skype iOS App Updated With “All New Calling Experience”

Skype has just received an update that adds a better designed calling experience along with some other enhancements and fixes. If you frequently use Skype for messaging, the update also brings with it quicker ways to clear out messaging histories.

Skype for iPad v4.6 is compatible with the iPad, iPad 2, iPad mini and the latest iPad with Retina Display. The app has been updated to include a new calling experience. Users can mark all their recent chats as “read” in a matter of a few taps. One-to-one chats appear in the correct order in the app now.

The updated iPhone app too includes the above mentioned features. Skype for iPhone v4.6 is compatible with the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 5, plus 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation iPod touch. iOS 5.0 or later is required on all devices.

Skype describes its new interface as a “beautiful new calling experience.” And it’s true, the new look is cleaner and more modern than before. Though functionality-wise, it’s not that different.

[toggle_box title=”Change Log” width=”Width of toggle box”]

What’s New In This Version:

? Beautiful new calling experience

? Mark all your recent chats as read with just a few taps.

? General fixes and improvements

?One-to-one chats now appear in the correct order.

[/toggle_box]

You can download Skype from the App Store for free.

March 8, 2013
Instagram Now Has 100 Million Users

Instagram has officially announced it’s hit the 100 million active users mark.

The social photo sharing app remains the most prevalent network for sharing images worldwide. Launched in October 2010, the platform has seen exponential growth since. The app actually reached the 100 million registered users mark by September 2012, according to Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, which purchased Instagram at a $1 billion pricetag in April of last year. Today’s 100 million users number refers to those who post images via the app on a monthly basis.

[quote]”It’s easy to see this as an accomplishment for a company,” co-founder Kevin Systrom wrote in a blog post, “but I think the truth is that it’s an accomplishment for our community.”[/quote]

Even after the whole controversy a few months ago where many misread a change in Instagram’s terms of service as saying user photos would be used in advertisements, the network continues to grow like crazy.

Instagram is only available on two platforms, iOS and Android, with a third possibly coming in the form of BlackBerry 10. Whether it will be as a port of the Android version (more likely) or as a native app (far less likely) remains to be seen. There is no sign of Instagram for Windows Phone, nor has the company alluded to it.

February 27, 2013