Rumour: Facebook Phone May Feature Fully Customized Interface – Could Be Unveiled April 4
The Facebook phone is not new news by any means. Rumours about this have been circulating for years but we have yet to really see anything come into fruition. Well it looks like that could change within the week as a new rumour points to April 4 as the date in which the Facebook phone will be unveiled.
It looks like HTC is still the partner in this endeavor however the level of customization to Android is still a little bit in question. Some rumours point to this simply having all the Facebook specific apps re-loaded onto the phone while others point to an actual Facebook launcher.
The most interesting rumour is the possibility that this will be a fork off of Android. In other words, it’ll follow Amazon’s model of using Android’s base code but opting out of the Google Suite. That means no Play Store, no Gmail, etc. Instead, Facebook will put together its own alternatives for the customer to utilize.
The latter model is the most intriguing to me but also seems to be the most daring model (which could lead it to be a flop). No alternative app store has matched the Google Play Store and many people are choosing Gmail as their e-mail of choice. So to remove that integration could deter a lot of potential buyers.
What do you guys think? Which model would work best? Would you buy a Facebook phone?