We have all been hearing (at lest to some degree) that Facebook, Inc. is "making a phone" soon, or has already made one. Thanks to all of the hype and excitement, though, I feel that the news has gotten a bit blown out of proportion over the past few months. So, I decided it was time for me to write a quick little article on this "Facebook Phone" for the sole purpose of laying down all the facts in one place.

Here goes.

First and foremost, "The Facebook Phone" is not a phone. It is, in fact, just an android app; albeit a powerful one. This app is known as "Facebook Home" and can be downloaded to most andoid phones running jellybean (a recent version of Android). Facebook Home has one purpose: to turn your phone into a Facebook-centric "Social System", allowing you to do things like post updates to Facebook right from your Android lock screen, and post images to your albums without having to switch between your camera app and Facebook App.

This sounds cool to anyone who uses Facebook, right? My first reaction would be "Wow! What a great way to add functionality to your phone!"

Unfortunately though, it isn't all roses and daisies.

You see, Facebook Home is a little more than just an "app" - it utilizes a process called "skinning". In layman's terms, "skinning" (or "to skin") means "to override a system's basic functionality with new functionality to accomplish a particular task". In other words, Facebook Home is altering the Android Operating System at some core levels . This is how Facebook Home is able to edit your lock screen, camera, etc.

So what's the problem with that? I trust Facebook to know how to work with code.

The problem with skinning is that you are bound to affect the functionality of other parts of the device you're restructuring and sure enough, Facebook Home does just that.

If you're an individual who utilizes a lot of widgets on your android phone, you may want to steer clear of Facebook Home; the app controls your widget functionality and thereby disables the use of many of your favorite widgets, including simple ones like clocks. It also changes the basic flow of certain parts of the phone, meaning that if you're not a power user, it might take you a little while to get the hang of the new Facebook Home system. Even though it is just a skin, it does make some pretty significant changes to the phone.

The changes are so significant, that according to Forbes, the app on Google play is getting some pretty low marks. In the end, what Facebook Home really does is asks you to sacrifice a good chunk of existing Android functionality in order to utilize it's system and a lot of Android users simply aren't willing to do that. Granted, Facebook Home may be wonderful for the Facebook Power user, but aside from that small target group Facebook Home may be a bit to extreme of a change to swallow.

Hey, wait a minute. I could have sworn I heard about a real phone coming out!

There is a new HTC phone being released soon, called the HTC First, with Facebook Home Pre-installed. This is the phone you have been hearing about.

In the end, what you need to know is this: Facebook Home can be used on most Android Smartphones. It does change the phone. A lot. If this is right for you, then try and install it - you can always reverse the damage by uninstalling it later. 500,000 people have already done so in the last five days, so this seems to be a safe bet. However, I wouldn't recommend wasting your money on the HTC First. Why? Simple. You can just as easily turn your Galaxy SIII into a "Facebook Phone" - for free. Do it that way, and you won't have buyer's remorse when you realize your phone doesn't have that cool lighter widget you live so much.

This is my advice to all Facebookers out there right now, as it stands.
Hope this post sheds some light on the whole situation. Cheers, and happy reading!

-Joe