Facebook Reveals Android Home 'Wrapper'

Facebookhas unveiled its ambitious new Home software for Android-based mobile phones.

The social networking giant will be offering a "wrapper" for the popular operating system - promising users more immediate integration with its services.

FB head honcho Mark Zuckerberg declared that the service would provide "a new category of experiences" to smartphone owners.

The company had been expected to launch its own smartphone, but Zukerberg explained that rumours had been a little wide of the mark.

"We're not building a phone and we're not building an operating system, but we're building much more than an app."

Available to download from 12 April, the software will initially be offered to users of the HTC First with A&T America.

Versions for the Samsung Galaxy S3 and HT One X will follow, with the HTC One and S4 models after that.

The software will push FB notifications to the homescreen and lockscreen of phones, with a new service named Chat Heads combining SMS and Facebook messaging.