Microsoft Rips Facebook's 'Home' Android App

Microsoft communications leader Frank Shaw has taken a swipe at Facebook over 'Home,' its new mobile application for the Android platform. According to Shaw, it's an old idea.

Home was recently unveiled by Facebook. It turns an Android device's screen into one big Facebook News Feed, thereby limiting applications to the background. Overall, it's designed to make accessing news easier than before.

According to Facebook chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg, it's part of Facebook's plan to put people ahead of apps.

Idea Two Years Old, Microsoft Exec Says

But Microsoft's Frank Shaw thinks the idea is getting stale. In a recent blog post, Shaw said that Microsoft already came up with that idea when developing the Windows Phone platform.

"The content of the presentation was remarkably similar to the launch event ... for Windows Phone two years ago," Shaw said in the blog post. (Source: slashgear.com)

"When we sat down with a blank sheet of paper and designed Windows Phone, we put three words on the wall to guide the team: 'Put People First'," Shaw said.

Shaw then went about addressing everything that Facebook has introduced with Home and suggests that they were all done earlier and better by Microsoft with Windows Phone.

For example, Shaw said: "Instead of having SMS and Facebook Messaging as separate chat threads, why not bring them together in one conversation? Instead of having separate address books for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Skype, why not bring those together in one place?"

Microsoft Windows Phone: Desperation Detected?

"While we applaud Facebook for working to give some Android owners a taste of what a 'people-centric' phone can be like, we'd humbly like to suggest that you get the real thing, and simply upgrade to a Windows Phone," Shaw added. (Source: businessinsider.com)

Overall, the theme of Shaw's post was this: Facebook isn't an innovator. In fact, it may be 'borrowing' ideas from Microsoft. The intention will be to draw consumers away from Android and to the Windows Phone platform.

However, the post also seems to indicate that Microsoft is getting frustrated with consumers' lack of interest in Windows Phone. The platform continues to struggle against competition from Google and Apple.