Android

MENLO PARK, Calif. - Mark Zuckerberg has set into motion his most ambitious plan yet to make Facebook Inc. the world's dominant form of communication. Facebook's chief executive on Thursday unveiled Facebook Home, software that transforms smartphones and tablets into devices ruled by the giant social network. It digitally shoves aside every other app on the device and allows Facebook to take over the home screen with status updates, photos and messages. For years it was rumored that Facebook - spurred by a firestorm of doubt about its ability to make the business leap to mobile devices - would design and manufacture its own phone.

The 1-billion-member social network is to be live streaming the event at live.facebooklive.com. The broadcast is set to begin at 9:50 a.m. PDT. Also expected is a new version of the Android mobile operating system. Last week, Facebook sent out event invitations to members of the media, saying "Come see our new Home on Android. " That tagline now appears to be alluding to the name of the new Android version, rumored to be called Facebook Home. PHOTOS: Top 10 must-have smartphone apps Numerous reports say Facebook Home will be similar to other types of the Android operating system, but will be focused on the social network.

It's hard not to detect a whiff of desperation in Facebook's new please-don't-go interface, which is determined to keep people within the social network as long as it can. Facebook Home is intended to dominate Android smartphones, making Facebook your first and last port of call as you traverse the wireless wonderland. It will keep Facebook features front and center, rather than require users to use an app. As the company's hoodie-wearer-in-chief, Mark Zuckerberg, said at the unveiling of the software Thursday, "We're building something a whole lot deeper than an ordinary app. " Or as bunny-stewing Glenn Close put it in "Fatal Attraction": "I'm not going to be ignored.

MENLO PARK, Calif. -- The Facebook phone is the technology world's version of a unicorn, a mythical device rumored for years but never to materialize - until now. On Thursday morning, Facebook Inc. is expected to unveil the first phone that puts Facebook front and center, using a modified version of Google Inc.'s Android mobile software. What other announcements does Facebook have up its hoodie? Join us at 10 a.m. live from Facebook headquarters for news and analysis. ALSO: What to expect from Facebook's event Thursday Facebook to unveil HTC phone with Google's Android software Facebook's U.S. mobile ad revenue is expected to soar in 2013   Tweets from @latimes/live-tech-coverage

Facebook has officially announced Facebook Home to make Android-powered smartphones more Facebook-centric. It's a free interface Android users can download as of April 12. "With Home you see your world through people, not apps," Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday at the Facebook Home launch. LIVE DISCUSSION: Join us as we talk about Facebook Home at 2 p.m. With Facebook Home, users see the latest content shared by their friends on the lock screen of their phones.

SAN FRANCISCO - Get ready for the Facebook phone. The company is close to unveiling a smartphone whose software keeps the social network front and center. It is part of an overall strategy to advance Facebook's ambitions to dominate mobile devices the way it has desktop computers. Facebook Inc. has scheduled a news conference Thursday at its Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters to show off an HTC smartphone that operates on software called Facebook Home. The social network's News Feed, messaging, photo uploading and other features will be integrated into the phone, according to reports.

Microsoft's mobile platform has gotten off to a good start in early 2013 -- and that's no April Fools' joke. Windows Phone 8, led by the Nokia Lumia 920, had the third-highest market share for smartphones sold in the U.S. during December through the end of February. Still, the platform got only a small slice of the market -- 4.7%, according to Kantar Worldpanel , an analytics company. It was 1.4% more than during the same period a year ago, and it knocked BlackBerry to fourth place.

The City of Los Angeles rolled out a new smartphone app Monday that lets users submit 311 service requests, such as to fix potholes and remove graffiti. The new app, called MyLA311, is available for the iPhone and smartphones running on the Android operating system. Besides being used to submit service requests, the app can also be used to pay water and power bills in a tab titled "Pay My LADWP Bill. " “Angelenos now have a direct mobile portal to vital services and key city information," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said in a statement.

As a parent, you could assume that your teens have taken all of your lectures about the ills of distracted driving to heart. Or you could turn to a growing number of apps designed to let you know exactly what your teens are doing behind the wheel. Canary (for iPhone and Android) is one. It is installed on a teen's phone, and parents will be alerted whenever their sons and daughters are texting, tweeting or using Facebook while they are driving. Canary can also be set to send an alert when a designated maximum speed is exceeded.

Bandai's popular Tamagotchi pets are now available for Apple users. IPhone and iPad users can now take care of the popular digital pets just like they did on the small, egg-shaped devices sold by Bandai back in the 1990s. The app, formally called "Tamagotchi L.i.f.e.," can be downloaded from the Apple App Store. Bandai resurrected its Tamagotchi pets earlier this year when it launched the app for Android devices just before Valentine's Day. The Japanese company said that the Android version of the app has been downloaded more than 600,000 times.