Facebook “Home isn’t a phone or operating system, but it’s “more than just an app,” Facebook said last week as it launched Home which eschews apps and gives the Facebook interface across the phone. Home “is a completely new experience, where you put your friends first.” But it will only be for newer Androids like the Samsung Galaxy S3, S4, and HTC models (including One X and the new One) and any phone that runs Ice Cream Sandwich. Since Mark Zuckerberg choose the open source Android platform (home to Samsung, HTC, Sony and Motorola phones), we had to ask the question – What about iPhone? “Home is built on Android, and only available for certain devices for now,” a local Facebook spokesperson told SmartHouse. However, the Facebook rep hinted other platforms for Home may be on the horizon. “We’ll continue to test and iterate on the Facebook experience across all platforms.” “We have a great relationship with Apple,” Zucks told media when asked about Home for iPhone. “We have integration into iOS, we’ve worked with them before. With Apple, everything you want to do goes through them. With Android, it doesn’t have to.” Since it’s open source, Google’s Android was easier for Facebook to manipulate than the closed iOS platform, so it could be tricky to bring Apple ‘Home.’ Although Google Android is currently the most used mobile platform, 130 million iPhones were sold last year and the iPhone and iPad remain two of the most popular mobile devices globally, so it will leave a lot of Apples unhappy if it Droid has the Facebook Home all to itself. – Page Break –
There were also some grumbles from iPhone users in the Twittersphere after Facebook announced Android was its new Home on Thursday in the US. “Am I the only person who’s really happy that “Facebook Home” isn’t available for the iPhone?” one Twitter user wrote. Another iPhone 4 user told SmartHouse: “It wouldn’t bother me as long as we (iOS users) don’t miss out on any of the advantages. If it was never made available to iPhones, I’d be annoyed.” |
