Facebook phone will be launched shortly in the market. Estimated time of 12 to 18 months in Facebook will be in the phone market.
Facebook has approached Taiwanese cellphone maker HTC to build a smartphone that has Facebook integrated at its core.
According to a latest report by AllThingsD, the Facebook phone will be manufactured by HTC under the codename Buffy. The phone would run on a modified version of Android that Facebook has tweaked heavily in order to deeply integrate its services, as well as to support HTML5 as a platform for applications.
Facebook Chief Technology Officer Bret Taylor is said to be leading this project of further build on the previous ‘Facebook phones’ that have a dedicated button to access the social network. Buffy would be out in the market in 12-18 months, the report says.
When asked about the new phone Facebook declined to comment. A spokesman for Facebook told AllThingsD, Our mobile strategy is simple: We think every mobile device is better if it is deeply social. We’re working across the entire mobile industry; with operators, hardware manufacturers, OS providers, and application developers to bring powerful social experiences to more people around the world.
Facebook has more than 350 million mobile users across all platforms. Although it is one of the most popular destination on the phones with which it is available, the social network just exists as an app where people can view their friends’ feeds and post status updates. With Buffy, Facebook can bring friends and social activities deep into the mobile interface and further enhance the social networking experience of mobile users.