Earlier this weekend, Michael Arrington over at TechCrunch published a story called “Facebook Is Secretly Building a Phone.” The story posts that Facebook is deep in development on a brand-new smartphone platform, evidenced by the reports of one unnamed source and by the supposed activities of two high-level Facebook employees, Joe Hewitt and Matthew Papakipos.
The Facebook phone was allegedly going to be a low-cost, entry level phone that, naturally, deeply integrates Facebook’s social networking features. The rumor originated from TechCrunch, and was then fueled even more by AlleyInsider, who claimed that the social network was building a new phone and definitely using Android.
TechCrunch.com said Facebook wants to integrate deeply into the contacts list and core functions of a mobile phone, which it can only do if it controls the phone’s operating system.
However, Facebook quickly denied the allegations/rumors. “The story, which originated in Techcrunch, is not accurate. Facebook is not building a phone. Our approach has always been to make phones and apps more social. Current projects include include everything from an HTML5 version of the site to apps on major platforms to full Connect support with SDKs to deeper integrations with some manufacturers. Our view is that almost all experiences would be better if they were social, so integrating deeply into existing platforms and operating systems is a good way to enable this. For an example, check out Connect for iPhone and the integration we have with contact syncing through our iPhone app. Another example is the INQ1 phone with Facebook integration (the first so-called ‘Facebook Phone’). The people mentioned in the story are working on these projects“, Jaime Schopflin, a spokesperson for Facebook said.
