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Facebook Rethinks Mobile

Facebook on Monday announced plans for separate coalitions aimed at unifying mobile Web standards, as well as and enabling simpler carrier billing for Web apps. Why? Well as AllThingsD explains, “Facebook initially thought if it offered to send mobile developers lots of traffic, they would bring their apps to the mobile Web.” Unfortunately for the social network, it wasn’t that easy.

“Even with Facebook, mobile developers still need a consistent Web platform as well as a simple means to get paid … And, since that is a problem Facebook can’t solve alone, the company is asking for help.” While Facebook CTO Bret Taylor wouldn’t discuss the company’s plans to build its own phone, he admit to AllThingsD that mobile is a tough rode, which requires all the support you can get. “Our interests are really aligned with a lot of our partners,” he said.

Regarding Facebook’s mobile ambitions, Taylor told AllThingsD that he would be happy if the company were seen as a major place to discover mobile apps. “If we can accomplish that, Facebook is really the mobile company we want it to be,” he said. It is not clear to AllThingsD, however, whether that would be enough to let Facebook replicate the huge financial success it has had on the desktop.

Read the whole story at All Things D »

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