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Bloomberg Reports Facebook Building Android Smartphones
destinyland writes "Reports are surfacing of a Facebook-backed smartphone running Google's Android system, built by INQ (who also manufactures a phone for Skype). GigaOm's Om Malik says he's been aware of the project 'for quite some time,' and Bloomberg News (linked above) reported that Facebook will release two AT&T smartphones in 2011, first in Europe and then in America. (Adding that 25% of Facebook users access the social networking site with their wireless devices.) " Whether it's pure semantics or pure misdirection, as of yesterday, Facebook acknowledges work with INQ, but describes the collaboration as customization, rather than a phone of their own.
Does this mean that Facebook is finally going to build a mobile phone interface that doesn't just outright suck?
I used the Facebook client for the iPhone when I had an iPhone. It was buggy as hell and left something to be desired. It improved towards the end of my using an iphone, but I must say it still wasn't that great, still had caching and sync issues. I found I was much better off using Safari on all but a few specialized task, but that sucked also.
Now I'm using an EVO 4G. The Facebook program that came with it sucked rocks. It was arguable worse than the iPhone one, because instead of giving me out of date garbage cache, it gave me nothing most of them. That or code errors. I updated to a newer version yesterday, seems to be a little better but I haven't really put it to the test. I've been doing just like I did with the iPhone with my Android phone, using one or the other depending on my task at hand. Still at the end of the day it's sort of random as to getting everything or not.
BTW - I've never been happier to ditch Apple, I far prefer Android.
I think it's going to be hilarious if Facebook releases a phone that does everything but Facebook well.
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I believe the customization part.
Considering there audience though, I find it really, REALLY, hard to believe there will not be "feed your chickens" and "harvest your crops" buttons directly on the phone itself.
Thinking about push communications technology I can further see that the buttons would be backlit when it was actually needed. Ohhhh! We could even make hungry chicken noises as alerts!
They've got 500 million users; even if just 0.2% of those users decide that they love FB so much they need the official phone, that's a million sales. Probably more profitable than if they tried to sell Mark Zuckerberg bobble head dolls.
The CB App. What's your 20?
Your wife just commented on a picture posted on your secretary's MMS
kjsmith and 6 other lawyers like this
Modest doubt is called the beacon of the wise. - William Shakespeare
I can see it now. You'll have to link your Facebook account to your phone.
"John Q called Sally A. 12:05AM - 1:22AM. Three people like this. Two comments."
"Suzie Q: OMG why were you calling that slut after I went to bed?? 9:32AM."
"John Q: We were just talking about work, I swear!"
Job? I don't have time to get a job! Who will sit around and bitch about being broke and unemployed then?