wraggster
May 28th, 2012, 20:31
The New York Times reports that Facebook has resumed its stealthy efforts to create a smartphone (http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/27/facebook-tries-tries-again-on-a-smartphone/), apparently to assert its position in an Internet increasingly accessed via mobile devices (http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/12/05/25/2236201/dark-days-ahead-for-facebook-and-google), and to counter products and moves made by major competitors Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon. The Times reports that Mark Zuckerberg has gotten personally involved in the project, which has recently landed several iPhone/iPad engineers from Apple. Wired ran a similar story a month ago, reporting that Facebook has ramped up its "Buffy" code-named collaboration with HTC (http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/04/what-a-facebook-phone-will-look-like-features-and-os/)on a phone which will probably be Android-based, support HTML5 and include a large touchscreen and high-quality camera (for Instagram). Facebook won't confirm or deny these reports.http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/12/05/28/1632226/is-facebook-working-on-a-smartphone