The Facebook Phone Just Had a Big Price Slash, ATT Drops The HTC First From $99 to $0.99! Is it Due to Slow Sales?

Facebook may be trying to sweeten the deal to get Home into more hands, or AT&T and HTC might just want their money. But for some reason, the Facebook Phone aka the HTC First’s price has dropped from $99to $0.99 on contract less than a month after its debut. Considering it comes with unbloated stock Android and a speedy LTE connection, that could be a bargain.

Facebook tells me “We think this is a good move by AT&T and have highlighted the new price on our Facebook Mobile Page.” AT&T is also running a discount special on the popular HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4, so this might not be as much a reflection of the First’s momentum as an overarching move on the carrier’s part. Plus, all phones get price drops eventually.

Facebook has maintained that it’s committed to working with manufacturers on handsets, so don’t expect this to be the last Facebook Phone. But it seems Home wasn’t a strong enough selling point to convince tons people to buy a phone with a soggy camera – my main gripe about the HTC First. The 5-megapixel lens did a crummy job in low light, and Home buries the controls for the camera making it harder to catch candid shots.

Fewer than 1 million people have downloaded Home for their Android phones, and many fewer may have been willing to pay $99 for a phone with it. But Home will get better, and so will any phone carrying it. As I wrote yesterday, I expect Facebook to address the main complaints about the “apperating system” in its monthly updates. Specifically, I’d bet on a deeper onboarding flow to make Home less confusing, and a way for it to preserve your widgets and homescreen app folders rather than completely replacing them as it does now.

If Home improves soon, or HTC releases another version of the First with a better camera, I think sales of the brand could pick up. Facebook might want to draft some new commercials in the meantime, though,  as the last few made the First and Home seem like a non-stop barrage of interruptions.

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Would You Swap Your iOS or Android Devices For One of These?

If you’re buying a new smartphone, the chances are you’re looking at an iPhone or a rival running Android – or if you’re feeling adventurous, maybe Windows Phone. When it comes to picking your platform it doesn’t seem like you’re spoiled for choice, but that’s all about to change. 2013 is the year we’re set to see plenty of rivals emerge, each with their own unique skills. Read on to find out all about them.

Firefox OS

Firefox OS is a radically different take on smartphone software: like Chrome OS on a laptop, the entire experience is a web browser – apps, the dialer, games, everything. That means you’ll never have to update your phone, and better yet, it means they’ll be cheap to make as well. Mozilla’s finally revealed the very first phones running Firefox OS today (pictured above), in partnership with Telefonica and Geeksfone. They don’t have a launch date yet, but Mozilla says they’ll come with an impressive price tag.

BlackBerry 10

Of all the new rivals, RIM is the one Apple and Google must fear most: the BlackBerry maker once lead the way with smartphones, and its new BlackBerry 10 platform looks seriously polished, and will launch with thousands of apps on day one. You already know what to expect: solid email and an easy typing experience. What we don’t know is how good the hardware will be: can the first BlackBerry 10 phones match the iPhone 5 for scorching beauty, or the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 for brute hardware? We’ll find out when BlackBerry 10 launche son 30 January.

Ubuntu for mobile

Ubuntu, the popular version of free Windows rival Linux, is also going mobile. Announced earlier this month, Ubuntu for phones will stand out with a clever docking mode, so it can power a full fat PC mode and PC apps when you drop it into an accessory or monitor. Sadly, there’s no word on any hardware partners yet, but watch this space.

The Kindle Fire Phone

This one’s unconfirmed, but rumours are flying that Amazon is working on a phone to go with its Kindle Fire tablets. If it did, you can expect it to be loosely based on Android, with support for all your favourite apps, but tied into Amazon’s core services like its Kindle download store and Lovefilm for movie streaming. The ebook giant has already inked a deal with Nokia to provide maps for the Kindle Fire tablet, so this seems like the next logical step, and as we’ve pointed out, a Kindle Fire phone could be revolutionary.

The Facebook Phone

Last but not least, Facebook is rumoured to be prepping its own platform for mobiles too. Though the social network is being tight lipped, if it were to go down this route, you can bet it too would be based on open-source Android, with all Google’s services ripped out and replaced. You only have to look at Facebook’s Messenger app for iPhone and Android to see what it could offer. [GadgetShow]

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