There has been speculation for years about Facebook building its own phone, and at a press conference today, those rumors were proved to be kind of true: The First, a Facebook-centric phone, will soon be available from AT&T. But that wasn't the main reason Facebook was hosting the press conference: They were announcing Facebook Home, a suite of apps that will basically remake any Android phone into a Facebook-branded phone. David Pierce at The Verge explains:

Home is a family of Facebook apps that overhauls your entire device, turning it into a Facebook phone. An app called Coverfeed overhauls the homescreen and the lockscreen, giving you updates on what your friends are doing without you having to launch an app, or even unlock your phone. You can comment or like posts from your homescreen — it feels incredibly native. Everything is full-screen and incredibly visual, really looking nothing like Android...There are badges and notifications on every app that let you know when something new is happening, when someone is communicating with you. Notifications are sorted by friend, rather than app — it says when your friend is doing something, rather than letting you know that an app has something new for you. Instead of navigating through a list of apps, opening Photos to see photos and Calendar to see your events, Facebook wants to make your phone a lot more like your News Feed.

There's also a new chat feature that makes the phone more messaging-friendly. If you own an Android phone, your Facebook app will prompt you when Facebook Home is ready to be downloaded. Go read the full report at The Verge for all the details. And so?