Have a hankering to use the HTC First, the new (possibly discontinued) Facebook phone on T-Mobile or a pre-paid carrier? AT&T is not releasing unlock codes to their customers for the HTC First until it is past its exclusive period but you can SIM unlock it on your own. Instead of paying for an unlocking service, follow the below trick to unlock the HTC First yourself, for free.

Prerequisites:

(1) Must be rooted
(2) Must have a terminal emulator on your phone
(3) Must have a hex editing program

The steps:

Open the terminal emulator on your phone and enter the below commands. Be sure to grant superuser user permissions in the pop-up dialog after entering the su command.

su
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p6 of=/sdcard/mmcblk0p6

After it is done copying the partition containing the SIM unlock code to your phone’s memory, plug in your usb data cable to your HTC First and computer access internal storage. Look for the file named mmcblk0p6 and copy it to your computer.

Open mmcblk0p6 with a hex editor. Your SIM unlock code is the 8 digits starting at offset 00008939. Write this down for the next steps.

Power off your HTC First and insert another carrier’s SIM card (not AT&T.) When you power the phone back on, a screen will open where you may enter the unlock code just retrieved from mmcblk0p6. Follow the prompts to enter the unlock code.

When done, hit the “Unlock” button and the phone will power off.

When you turn your HTC First back on, it will automatically connect to your carrier’s network.

One last step:

Enter your carrier’s specific access point name (APN) information at Settings > More > Mobile Networks > Access Point Names to get mobile data and text messaging working. (Your carrier’s customer support page will have this information available.)

The post FREE SIM unlock for the HTC First Facebook Phone appeared first on Android Fan Network.

The HTC First or other wise known as the ‘Facebook Phone’ for under a buck with a new  AT&T 2 year  contract.

If you have an upgrade available, have a buck in your pocket and the HTC First is your cup of tea (See Megan’s thoughts on Facebook Home) then head on over to AT&T and pick one of these bad boys up.  The HTC First is running Facebook’s Home’s software over vanilla Android.  Only today you can get the HTC First for $.99 with a 2 year service agreement online.

Not a bad price for a mid ranged phone – and I’m pretty sure this phone should get some fun development love.

AT&T link

The post Deal Alert! AT&T’s HTC First ‘Facebook Phone’ 99 cents on contract appeared first on Android Fan Network.

Facebook Home available internationally today

If you had one of the supported devices (or unsupported) in the U.S. and were unlucky enough to take it for a spin on your device – well now the rest of the world has the pleasure of putting that mess Facebook Home on their devices (can ya tell I’m a fan?).

Starting today Facebook Home is internationally available.  The same devices supported in the U.S. are supported internationally – HTC One X, X+, HTC One; Samsung Galaxy S3, S4, Note 2, and the one and only HTC First.

Let us know when this 2.3 out of 5 star launcher hits your area and how many hours go by before you uninstall it

Google Play Store link for Facebook Home

The post Facebook Home has gone international appeared first on Android Fan Network.

Okay – so let’s put this in perspective – this is my first time writing about anything even remotely technological….I am Chef Dave’s Wife — I am a mother of four working full time and then some…….and every night my brilliant husband talks about his passion for all things Android (notice I didn’t say Droid…) three quarters of it goes right over my tired head….

I love my Galaxy SIII…..I love how I have it set up…..last Mother’s Day I was given an IPhone 4S – and it was great – but two months later I was back to an Android something or rather — I am an Android girl…..I love my big clock, my widgets (honey aren’t you proud of my terminology ….I do pay attention)  and my BIG ASS calendar that tells me for which meeting I am always running a little late for……….and, of course, currently, my Candy Crush Saga…

I love my Facebook – I check it every morning if for nothing more than  to see who else is doing more with their life than I am, which posts Dave and I will obviously discuss over coffee or if I am going to come in to a big sum of money for sharing a status…

Last night Chef Dave excitedly installed the Facebook Home App on my phone……24 hours later here is what I am thinking…again keep it in perspective…a thirty something professional on a Saturday night after afew cocktails so you are getting it straight up….

1) I like the big pictures.  Okay — cool.  Very pretty on my big screen.

2) The big pictures don’t seem to even be in chronological order – come on – I already saw that Carrie was going to get her haircut yesterday – where are the results???

3) TOO MANY STEPS!!!!  I have a password on my phone for no other reason then my network at my job won’t communicate with my phone for my favorite phone thing ever – my calendar – unless I have a password – so now I need to figure out how to get off the big pictures and find my perfectly organized home screen to check where I am supposed to be –  to know what time it is…..or even more importantly figure out if I have any more lives in Candy Crush……..I need that three second time period!!!  If I am even looking at my phone it is because everyone is at least satisfied – no one needs a diaper change, a referee with the XBox controller or a refill on the healthy snacks…….Those three seconds are MINE dammit!!!!

4) I also can not figure out who is messaging me when……..I have very important things to discuss, like who actually broke free and made it out last night, or what time I need to pick Laura and the boys up for the birthday party tomorrow — again – refer to number three – now I am just pissed and confused by the time I get where I need to be……..

5) For the first time tonight I bought clothes for our two year old off the ever popular Mechanicville – Stillwater Clothes buying page on Facebook — and the messages that were popping up were so two hours ago!!! I might have missed out on the $20 lot of 3T summer clothes simply because Facebook Home refused to update to where my actual Facebook app was…thank goodness I know the woman that is selling and the clothes are secure for a Monday transaction…phew

6) Sometimes when I pick up my phone the cool big pictures are there…..sometimes they are not and I am taken to my usual lock screen…….I like consistency and this is not……..go figure….

7) I am imagining sitting at the end of a meeting when everyone is trying to schedule a follow up meeting to this meeting to discuss the last meeting…….I envision myself pulling out my cool phone with my kick-ass owl cover and having to navigate through a girlfriend who has found the root of all her problems through posting some inspiring quote and having to get to my favorite feature ever –  my big calendar – or at the doctor’s office with three kids sneezing and pulling on my legs with four people behind me after having already been there for two hours and oh – imagine that – someone decided to post the newest dirtiest lyrics out there and they are showing up on my phone before I can figure how to get to my calendar…….

8) Graphically – I love this – is it an app?? – as I said before, love the big pictures, the font is perfect in size and type, overall it looks really nice – but the functionality does not suit my life at this point…….

So maybe I am old.  Maybe I am not the typical Facebook fan – I only accept friend requests from people I at least have some connection with……..maybe with another week I would adjust to it…..but overall….I don’t  care enough about Facebook or its big pictures and font selection to keep this on my phone or purchase a phone centered around this app…..

I told Chef Dave I would try it for the weekend, but I am off to refill my cocktail and ask him how to take it off my phone…24 hours is enough……no worries – I still love my Facebook………maybe a Candy Crush Home would be worth the navigation…….Damn you chocolate squares

The post David Quillinan’s Wife’s review of Facebook Home thingy…after a couple of cocktails……TOO appeared first on Android Fan Network.

The excitement over the announcement of Facebook Home was slightly dampened by the short list of supported devices. Currently, only those with a Galaxy S3, HTC One X, HTC One X+, or Note II can enjoy Facebook’s latest venture. Technically. Facebook addicts rejoice!  This is Android, there is always a workaround!

If you are rooted:

For those who are rooted, simply download a root enabled file browser(I use Root Browser Lite) and change a line in the following file:

System/build.prop

Open that file and edit the line “ro.product.model=yourphonemodel” to  ”ro.product.model=GT-I9300″

If you aren’t rooted or you are in an unsupported country:

Follow the instructions in this post: http://www.modaco.com/topic/361924-facebook-home-download-including-patched-apk-version/

The post Install Facebook Home on Unsupported Devices appeared first on Android Fan Network.

If you’ve been itching to take Facebook Home for a spin you’re in luck.  It just hit the Google Play store minutes ago and ready to be your daily launcher if that’s your thing.

As of now its only available for the Samsung Galaxy S 3, Galaxy S4, Galaxy Note 2, HTC One, HTC One X and the HTC One X+ (until the brilliant devs get their paws on this of course).

If you own one of the above phones, hop on over to the Play Store and try her out. Keep in mind Mark Zuckerberg told us tablet support should be coming soon also.

Google Play Store link for Facebook Home

The post Facebook Home now available for download from the Play Store. appeared first on Android Fan Network.

Please note this is from a pre-release build and one of the know bugs is that chat heads are not working, although there may be other things which are not working. These are 3 apks which can be installed like any Android app. Download and install at your risk.

Download links are available here.

Source – modaco.

The post Facebook Home Leaked appeared first on Android Fan Network.

HTC First is a mid end phone having the below specs:-

• Qualcomm 1.4 Ghz Dual Core Processor
• Facebook Home based on Android 4.1
• 1 GB Ram
• 16gb Internal Memory
• 5MP rear camera and 1.6MP front camera
• 2000 mAh battery

In the United States the phone is an AT&T exclusive , pre-orders are up here. The cost is $99 with a 2 year contract and multiple color options are available (black, white, pale blue & red).

Let us know if you are getting one.

The post Facebook Home & HTC First Announced Officially appeared first on Android Fan Network.