Plenty of people were shocked when the mythical Facebook Phone turned out to be, well, not a phone. Yes, there was the HTC First, but the spotlight during Facebook's recent press conference really belonged to a previously unseen hybrid between app and UI that transforms some Androids into people-powered Facebook machines. The smooth, picture-heavy interface was christened simply, "Home." Critics have been able to spend some time with Home, and the reviews are in. What you need to know before it's released April 12:
Dieter Bohn at The Vergeis a fan of the update stream:
Brad Molen at Engadgetsays messaging — or "Chat Heads" — is one of Home's "greatest strengths":
Harry McCracken at TIME thinks Chat Heads is "nicely done," but had a problem with the feature…
While Home definitely has potential, says McCracken, for now the people-centric software layer is pretty basic:
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Walt Mossberg at All Things D had plenty of nice things to say, and concludes that Home will probably find its intended audience:
David Pogue at The New York Times was left questioning what exactly Home is supposed to accomplish, summing the whole experience up nicely:
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Chris Gayomali is the science and technology editor for TheWeek.com. Previously, he was a tech reporter at TIME. His work has also appeared in Men's Journal, Esquire, and The Atlantic, among other places. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.