• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, June 16, 2011

Out to displace Apple's mobile underpinnings, Facebook is reportedly about to launch an entirely HTML5-based mobile platform, which will serve as a distribution mechanism for Web applications through Apple's mobile Safari browser. "While it's not quite as sexy as the new Photos app, the ramifications of it are much larger," TechCrunch writes regarding the secret plan, codenamed "Project Spartan."

"Facebook will never admit this, but those familiar with the project believe the intention is very clear: to use Apple's own devices against them to break the stranglehold they have on mobile app distribution," TechCrunch adds. "The project's goal is to undermine Apple's App Store with a web application that can infiltrate millions of iOS devices," explains Gizmodo. "Forget the buggy Facebook app, iPhone owners could use a mobile version of Facebook that is lean, mean and outside the reach of Apple's control."

Really, though, "Can Facebook unseat Apple at its own game, within its own ecosystem?" asks ReadWriteWeb. Well, "In many ways, this is what people have been predicting for a while -- HTML5 will kill the native mobile application." What's more, with its scale and developer base, "There are few better companies than Facebook to take up the mantle of HTML5 to foster an environment of Web applications," ReadWriteWeb adds.

Still, "Facebook may be great at social, and social gaming, but if it really is planning this, it doesn't yet have a good grasp on what mobile users are looking for," according to GigOm. "If Facebook does decide to launch an App Store competitor for iOS-based devices, it would be the latest chapter in a brewing battle between the giant social network and Apple," writes CNet.

"Some analysts view Apple's recent partnership with Twitter to provide system-wide integration in iOS 5 as a snub to Facebook," AppleInsider notes.