Well, the Olympics haven’t even started yet, but it seems as though the long jump competition is already off to a kick start. Facebook has certainly captivated headlines recently, with its $1 billion Instagram purchase in April, its sudden comment-censorship in May and of course the much deliberated IPO just last week.
However, with the latest unveiling of a camera app for the iPhone , as well as a universal app store (https://www.facebook.com/AppStore) it’s becoming rather clearer that Facebook is heading in the unsettling direction of the Mobile phone platform.
The New York Times says the social network has hired six hardware and software specialists with iPhone experience with the aim to get a Smartphone to market by next year.
“Mark is worried that if he doesn’t create a mobile phone in the near future that Facebook will simply become an app on other mobile platforms,” said an anonymous Facebook employee in an interview with Nick Bilton.
This attempt is marked as the company’s third at actualizing a Smartphone into its core business; initial rumors in 2012 put the Fb Smartphone on the spot, yet the company deviated from mobile development, ostensibly due to the realization of just how difficult it actually is to plunge into building mobile hardware.
The fact that Facebook’s mobile experience can be accounted for as novice, this rumor might be a bit too farfetched, at least for now. For starters, for this to actually work out, Facebook would need to find a suitable partner to manufacture the physical device, while improving their current mobile apps excessively. Having a set of core apps, when all is said and done, is not enough; they ought to be popular, and with the not so rave Facebook-mobile app reviews, this might be a bit difficult to achieve. Sure, Facebook would have a great advantage leveraging its strengths to make a superior contact list, but it’s doubtful that will excite enough people to get on board with a Facebook phone.
What’s next? Fb TV most probably, so that everyone will be able to enjoy social updates and sitcoms.
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