'Facebook Home' by Facebook

Facebook has unveiled a new product, Facebook Home, at an event everyone knew would have something to do with phones and apps and operating systems.

"We're not building a phone and we're not building an operating system," CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday. "But we're also building something that's a whole lot deeper than just another app."

Um, OK. Thanks for clarifying that, Zuck.

In all seriousness, though, here's the breakdown on Home, a feature Facebook hopes will make it part of everything you do on your phone.

What is it?

As described by Zuckerberg and others, Home is a "family of apps" that essentially push Facebook content front and center on your Android phone.

Once the phone "wakes up," the home screen and lock screen are replaced with something called "Cover Feed." Images and posts from friends will appear as the new screen's background. Users can flip through and interact with them -- "like" an update, or post a comment -- immediately without having to open a specific Facebook app. One touch takes the user to their apps, or back to the last app they were using.

Home's other big feature was called "Chat Heads," which is a basically a tool that combines Facebook Messenger with the phone's regular SMS text-message tool. Messages pop up regardless of what the user is doing at the time, along with the sender's profile picture, enclosed in a little circle.

The user can decide whether to open the message (without leaving the app or other screen they're on), dismiss it or save it for later with a single touch.

When and where can I get it?

Home will be available in the Google Play mobile store on April 12 for at least some Android phones. Users will be able to choose whether to install it permanently, or for a one-off trial session.

At release, it will only be optimized for Samsung's Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II and the HTC One line of phones. It will run on the Galaxy S 4 and the HTC One when those phones are released, with other phones being added in the coming months.

Facebook said a version for tablets will be released "within several months."



/CNN/