HTC Myst: Facebook Home for Android Surfaces Online Ahead of April 4 Launch

| Updated: Tuesday, April 2, 2013, 17:36 [IST]

A system dump of the Facebook Phone from HTC and the social media giant has leaked, giving us an indication of what will be announced at the April 4 media event, schedule to take place at California. Android Police was able to score the software, but was unable to sign in to some key areas given its pre-release nature requiring Facebook employee credentials.

According to the report, Facebook's new Home on Android will debut on a mediocre HTC handset codenamed Myst but will be available on standard Android phones, according to the leaked developer build of the Facebook phone software.

"Despite being unable to login, the source did find evidence that the launcher will run on other devices besides HTC's, with permissions suggesting it will also be able to run on Samsung's TouchWiz, as well as stock Android firmware. Once the initial fanfare has died down after Thursday, this is certainly something we could see ending up at the Google Play Store, but initially, it will likely just run on the new HTC device, " notes Redmond Pie report.

As per the report, the Facebook phone application package reveals all the details of HTC Myst scheduled to come on April 4 including a 4.3 inch 720p display, dual core Qualcomm MSM8960 processor, 1GB RAM, Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean OS, 5MP rear camera, 1.6MP front camera, no micro SD card slot, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0.

Further, when it comes to the special features of the Facebook Home software, it includes the ability to spawn windows that stay on top of all other windows, turn off the lock screen, activate as soon as your phone starts, monitor what other apps are currently running, control the phone's Wi-Fi connection and change the system settings.

Also, Facebook Home will let allow users to view Facebook news feed stories, a more standard clock screen, shortcuts for launching apps, and search via Google.

One of the most fascinating features is referred to as Chat Heads in the APK. It comes with the ability to pop out chat head and the Facebook Chat conversations have the ability to float above the currently viewed screen and remain visible even while you use other apps.

Anyways, building a slightly modified Android operating system for an HTC handset would give Facebook the freedom to customize its user experience in ways iOS and stock Android will not allow.

Click here for Facebook phone concept images...