AGL 40.10 Decreased By ▼ -0.90 (-2.2%)
AIRLINK 127.80 Decreased By ▼ -0.34 (-0.27%)
BOP 6.60 Decreased By ▼ -0.10 (-1.49%)
CNERGY 4.60 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (1.77%)
DCL 8.58 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.35%)
DFML 41.40 Increased By ▲ 0.31 (0.75%)
DGKC 86.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.63 (-0.72%)
FCCL 32.13 Decreased By ▼ -1.26 (-3.77%)
FFBL 65.40 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.02%)
FFL 10.27 Decreased By ▼ -0.20 (-1.91%)
HUBC 110.60 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.03%)
HUMNL 14.70 Decreased By ▼ -0.60 (-3.92%)
KEL 5.15 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (3.41%)
KOSM 7.15 Decreased By ▼ -0.28 (-3.77%)
MLCF 41.69 Decreased By ▼ -1.30 (-3.02%)
NBP 60.20 Decreased By ▼ -0.22 (-0.36%)
OGDC 194.48 Decreased By ▼ -3.16 (-1.6%)
PAEL 27.95 Decreased By ▼ -1.06 (-3.65%)
PIBTL 7.98 Decreased By ▼ -0.28 (-3.39%)
PPL 150.52 Decreased By ▼ -3.64 (-2.36%)
PRL 27.08 Increased By ▲ 2.08 (8.32%)
PTC 16.08 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.06%)
SEARL 78.20 Decreased By ▼ -0.25 (-0.32%)
TELE 7.42 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.68%)
TOMCL 35.70 Decreased By ▼ -0.39 (-1.08%)
TPLP 7.90 Decreased By ▼ -0.17 (-2.11%)
TREET 15.87 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-0.56%)
TRG 52.70 Decreased By ▼ -0.66 (-1.24%)
UNITY 26.65 Decreased By ▼ -0.06 (-0.22%)
WTL 1.28 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.79%)
BR100 9,920 Decreased By -52.1 (-0.52%)
BR30 30,751 Decreased By -346.3 (-1.11%)
KSE100 93,225 Decreased By -423.8 (-0.45%)
KSE30 28,885 Decreased By -132.9 (-0.46%)

Facebook said on April 16 that features from its new Home software for Android-powered smartphones will begin spreading this week to Apple's popular iPhones. "Home was about our ability to demonstrate what you can do when you own the whole experience," Facebook's chief technology officer, Mike Schroepfer, said during an on-stage chat at the All Things D conference devoted to mobile technology.
"We are working closely with Apple; with Microsoft, with everyone to try to get as good a Facebook people-first experience you can across all devices." The first Home feature to arrive on iPhones will be "chat heads" that let message exchanges with friends follow people as they navigate the social network.
Facebook last week staked out a "home" on Android smartphones as it stepped up its challenge to Apple and Google in the booming mobile market. The software weaves the social network into the homescreen of HTC and Samsung phones powered by the latest versions of Android to focus experiences on "people and not apps." "We're not building a phone and we're not building an operating system, but we are building something that's a lot deeper than an app," Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg said at the company's Silicon Valley headquarters early this month.
The Android software, which allows users to see Facebook's "Cover Feed" when they turn on their phones, became available for download last week from Google's online Play shop in the United States. A version should be available in Europe in the coming months, according to Facebook, which said it was in the process of tailoring Home for tablet computers.
Taiwan-based electronics firm HTC launched a Facebook homescreen smartphone called HTC First, released through US carrier AT&T at a price of $100. Users can start with Facebook on the homescreen and navigate and switch back and forth between apps, as well as simultaneously send and receive messages through "chat heads" overlaid on the screen.
Facebook customised Home for Android-powered smartphones because the operating system made available free by Google can be openly tweaked by hardware makers as opposed to the tight grip Apple keeps on iPhone innards.
Facebook software for Android takes over smartphone home and lock screens, but the version for iPhones requires users to click into the social network's mobile application.
Zuckerberg was careful not to throw down overt challenges to Apple or Google. "Google is aware of what we are doing; we have talked to them... We are committed to doing our best on every platform." The iPhone app update comes as Facebook tries to connect more with mobile users, and deliver more ads in the fast-growing segment.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2013

Comments

Comments are closed.