Facebook手机既不是手机也不是操作系统。扎克伯格带来的是一整套可供下载的应用程序包。它将于4月12号正式发布，最初只支持少数几个型号的Android手机。售价99美元的宏达电（HTC）First有幸成为第一部Facebook手机，它将预装这个名为Home的软件包。Home系统不会替换Android，它只会对Android进行适当修改。例如：更改手机的锁屏界面和主界面，以便用户能更便捷地查看Facebook更新和通知；增加了一套名为“Chat heads”的通信机制，将Facebook消息和手机短信整合到一起。

    Facebook首席执行官马克•扎克伯格接受了《财富》（Fortune）杂志专访，在谈到Android的功能时，他说：“我们希望重塑某些核心功能。Android系统能不能更进一步？Facebook的理念是一切以人为本。”

    当然，重塑人们的交流方式正是社交网络的本分。无论Facebook Home的结局如何，是成为10亿多Facebook用户心所向往的神器，还是另一个悲剧的试验品，我们不可否认的是，扎克伯格的Home将智能手机上的社交网络带到了前所未有的高度。

    即便苹果（Apple）这样如此伟大的公司也不曾做到这一点。Daring Fireball是一家专注苹果新闻的科技博客，博主约翰•格鲁伯撰文指出，苹果最新的iOS 7系统已经落后进度了，新系统将全面彻底地更新用户界面。虽然伊夫（苹果灵魂人物，首席设计师——译注）对此胸有成竹，但为了以防万一，苹果还是应该从Facebook这里学点什么。以下是4条经验之谈：

    不要强行把桌面平台和移动平台合二为一。正像扎克伯格向《财富》所说的，Facebook没有把桌面平台的体验一成不变的带上移动平台。这条策略看来奏效了，Facebook在智能手机和平板电脑领域持续扩张。（截止今年1月，每天有1.57亿用户通过移动设备访问Facebook。）这点和苹果截然不同，看看后者去年7月发布的Mac OS X系统“美洲狮”。它融入了许多之前只有iOS具备的功能，其中有些功能看上去浑然天成，另外一些则有画蛇添足之嫌，例如为启动面板（Launchpad）应用程序单开一屏。

    Now we know: The Facebook Phone is neither a phone, nor an operating system. Instead, Zuckerberg unveiled a downloadable collection of apps, available April 12, that will be supported on select Android phones to start, including the $99 HTC First, the first device to come pre-loaded with it. Home, as the whole kit of software is called, doesn't replace Android but modifies parts of the operating system like the phone's lock screen and home screen so users can more readily check Facebook updates and notifications, and communicate with other users by way of a new unified messaging feature combining Messenger and text called "Chat heads."

    "We wanted to start off trying to rethink some of those core things," CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in an interview with Fortune, talking about Android features. "How could these be better if, instead of the current system you have, they were people-centric in all the themes that Facebook stands for."

    Of course, rethinking the way people communicate is standard for the social network. And whether Facebook Home winds up in the hands of a significant number of Facebook's (FB) 1 billion-plus members, or becomes another failed experiment, there's no denying Zuck's app offers an unprecedented degree of social on the smartphone.

    That's something even a successful company like Apple (AAPL) has yet to manage. According to John Gruber, writer of the Apple-centric blog Daring Fireball, the company's latest version of its mobile software, iOS 7, is allegedly running behind schedule but will sport a systemwide overhaul of the its interface. Ive knows what he's doing. But just in case, here are five things Cupertino can learn from Facebook this week:

    Don't force the marriage of desktop and mobile. As Zuckerberg told Fortune, Facebook on mobile doesn't closely resemble the desktop experience -- a strategy that seems to be working as the social network continues to expand its footprint on smartphones and tablets. (Indeed, 157 million Facebook users checked the social network daily via mobile devices as of last January.) That's a different approach from Apple's, which as of the release of Mac OS X "Mountain Lion" last July, saw a serious infusion of features once found solely in iOS. Some of those features feel organic, but others, like a separate screen for apps called Launchpad, seem superfluous.

    如果不擅长，千万不要勉强。苹果在许多领域相当精通——工业设计、优雅的界面、平板电脑——但事实是：社交网络从来就不是它的强项。iTunes社交服务应用Ping的失败就是个鲜明的例子，首先它的名字本身就不讨喜。虽然苹果目前允许Twitter和Facebook和iOS有限整合，但苹果接纳这两家公司——尤其是Facebook——的步伐还是太慢。扎克伯格暗示iOS系统最终将提供类似Android Home的体验。我们认为苹果需要进一步依靠Facebook。Home上的统一消息系统就是个挺新奇的点子，至少对热衷Facebook消息的用户而言是如此。

    稍稍放松一下。既然Home登陆iOS是众望所归，但为何现在会止步不前？苹果在iOS开发上的强势地位很可能是罪魁祸首。虽然扎克伯格向《财富》表示，Facebook与苹果关系良好，但他也提到，进行iOS开发时，必须与苹果配合。“我们很希望在iPhone上提供Home，但现在还做不到。”扎克伯格解释道。“我们将与苹果密切合作，一如既往地向用户提供最好的体验。看看那些热爱Facebook的用户吧，这些人每天要花五分之一的时间在手机上浏览Facebook。这些用户数量相当庞大。”

    不要忽略硬件。对于搭载Home的手机而言，社交网络Facebook是前沿和中心。这也可以理解——Home希望登陆尽可能多的Android智能手机。但即将推出的、预搭载了Home的宏达电手机看起来实在不够尖端。（很能说明问题的是：在公告中没有提到它的硬件参数。）老实说，一款在乏善可陈的硬件上运行的软件实在难以令人兴奋。我们的看法是：随着苹果开拓新的收入来源——尤其是在中国这样的市场，同时考虑推出低价iPhone机型，它应该保持自己一贯的对硬件的强调。因为在我们看来，宏达电手机过于普通的外形令Facebook错失了机会。（财富中文网）

    译者：项航

    If it's not your strong suit, look elsewhere. Apple is master of many things -- industrial design, elegant interfaces, tablets -- but let's face it: Social has never been one of them. One need look no further than the failed, awkwardly named iTunes social networking service Ping for proof. Although Apple now allows some degree of Twitter and Facebook integration, the company was slow to embrace the two companies -- particularly Facebook -- and Zuckerberg hints the Home experience on Android will eventually come to iOS. We think Apple could do with leaning on Facebook even further. A unified messaging system like the one Home sports is a novel idea, at least for avid Messenger users.

    Relax -- just a little bit. A Home-like experience for iOS would likely be great for users who want it, but why the hold-up? Apple's tight reigns over iOS development is likely the culprit. Though Zuckerberg told Fortune Facebook has a good relationship with Apple, he also suggested when it comes to iOS development, you really need to work with them. "We'd love to offer this on iPhone, and we just can't today," he explained. "We will work with Apple to do the best experience that we can within what they want, but I think that a lot of people who really like Facebook -- and just judging from the numbers, people are spending a fifth of their time in phones on Facebook. That's a lot of people."

    Don't commodify the hardware. With Home, the social network is front and center. That's understandable -- it wants to get on as many Android smartphones as possible. But the HTC handset that will launch with the app pre-loaded hardly looks cutting edge. (Very telling: No hardware features were given during the announcement.) And let's face it, it's hard to get excited over a piece of software running on ho-hum hardware. Our point being this: As Apple explores new revenue streams, particularly in areas like China, and mulls over more inexpensive iPhone models, it shouldn't treat its hardware with any less emphasis than it already does. Because for Facebook, HTC's average-seeming handset sounds to us like a missed opportunity.