Facebook plans to announce an Android phone on 4 April that is built to showcase the social network. Facebook's invitation to the event says "Come see our new home on Android". Two people briefed on the event told the New York Times that the phone was built by HTC and uses a version of Android designed so that some core features, including its camera, are built around Facebook's services.
A Facebook employee told the newspaper that the Facebook phone displays the user's home screen as soon as it is switched on. A former Facebook employee said Facebook's approach to modifying Android is like that of Amazon, which removed Google apps and promoted its own store and services on Kindle Fire tablets.
Facebook has been considering making its own phone for two years, but the project once code-named Buffy stalled because the company could not decide whether to make its own handset or to collaborate with a manufacturer.
