After years of considering how to best get into the phone
business, Facebook has tapped Taiwanese
cellphone maker HTC to build a smartphone that has the social network
integrated at the core of its being. Facebook
has allied with Taiwan's HTC to build a customized
smart phone powered by Google's Android mobile operating system.
The project, code named " Buffy," is aimed at making a handset tailored for the California-based social networking platform. A Facebook team has been working with HTC as well as trying to make deals with telecom providers for the smartphone, which it hopes to release within the next 18 months.
The project, code named " Buffy," is aimed at making a handset tailored for the California-based social networking platform. A Facebook team has been working with HTC as well as trying to make deals with telecom providers for the smartphone, which it hopes to release within the next 18 months.
A Facebook spokesman
declined to comment directly on the "Buffy" project to Things Digital.
It is possible that the device simply known as Buffy will have a modified
version of the Android platform that will make Facebook the front and
center attraction. It is not yet clear what kind of visual changes will be
made. It is also possible that the blue button will remain somewhere on the
device. According to a Facebook spokesperson, they believe that every mobile
device is better when it is deeply social.
According to Facebook,
they have 350 million active mobile
users, and relationships with 475 global mobile operators. Although it is one
of the most popular applications on nearly every phone for which it is
available, the social network generally plays only a supporting role.
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