Around the Net

"Facebook Phone" Rumors Alive & Well

  • CNET, Wednesday, April 25, 2012 12:06 PM

We’ll excuse you for not getting overly excited about the latest reports that Facebook is building its own smartphone. Yes, you’ve heard it many times before, and the source of the report, DigiTimes, has a so-so track record. Anyway, even if true, it sounds like the phone will be mostly HTC’s doing. According to DigiTimes, Facebook is working "in cooperation" with HTC on a customized smartphone, due out by the third quarter of the year -- at the earliest."The new Android smartphone being developed by HTC will have a platform exclusive to Facebook to enable and integrate all functions available on the social networking site,” DigiTimes writes, citing a source. 

Not an unlikely choice for such a partnership, “It makes perfectly good sense for HTC to climb back up the ladder and find its own niche,” CNet writes. “If Samsung has Nexus, and Apple has the iPhone, HTC can go an entirely different direction and build a dedicated Facebook phone.” Previously, as CNet recalls, HTC worked with Google on the original Nexus One, but the search giant eventually took its relationship to Samsung to develop its Nexus branded smartphones. “HTC was left out in the dark, and its market share has fallen, and its profits dropped by 70 percent in Q1 2012 alone.” By comScore’s count, Samsung currently has the most market share, while HTC holds out in fifth place.

 

Read the whole story at CNET »

Next story loading loading..