AfterDawn: News

Report: Facebook hiring former Apple engineers in hopes of releasing smartphone in 2013

According to a new report by The New York Times, Facebook is frantically expanding it efforts to create their first branded smartphone, and hopes to have one available in 2013.

Codenamed 'Buffy,' the project has been adding group members, including seven former Apple software and hardware engineers. The engineers worked on the iPhone and one worked on the iPad during their time with the company.



Apparently, CEO Mark Zuckerberg "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."

Facebook is partnering with HTC to create the device, which will have its own exclusive platform. The OS itself will be based on Google's Android, says the report.

With the recent acquisition of Instagram and the creation of Facebook Camera, the company already has the basics for an Android-based Facebook ecosystem. Additionally, the company is purported to be looking into purchasing Opera Software, the maker of the popular Opera browsers, to create its own browser.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 27 May 2012 20:55

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• 3 comments

• xaznboitx

  He always wants to add fb to things or buy things for fb.... the way this going, he will loss another billon dollars if he doesn't slow down and take one thing at a time.
  

  28.5.2012 15:46 #1

• SomeBozo

  I wonder how many people f4c3b00k will hire that are still under an NDA would be violating it by working on any other phone. All depends on how prohibitive of an NDA the developers had to sign when they worked at app1e, will be interesting to see how this turns out.
  
  
  
  

  28.5.2012 17:01 #2

• LordRuss

  joining up with Apple probably will lose a billion dollars... Of course I doubt the phone will be labeled "Facebook Phone", but simply having another phone out there for the sole purpose of running basically one app doesn't really seem to cut it these days.
  
  Nor is it very future friendly at that. At least Google is doing the tablet thing with their app store somehow at the root of their evil. Equally so, I don't see Apple 'sharing the wealth' in making a device that would also compete with their own products either.
  

  http://onlyinrussellsworld.blogspot.com

  29.5.2012 09:48 #3