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Facebook Recruiting Former Apple iPhone Engineers for Facebook Phone

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Apr 12, 2001
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There have been persistent rumors that Facebook may be trying to enter the mobile phone market with its own device.

The NYTimes revives these rumors this weekend with a report claiming that Facebook is planning to release its own smartphone by next year. Amongst other talent, Facebook has already recruited a number of former Apple iPhone/iPad engineers for the project:
The company has already hired more than half a dozen former Apple software and hardware engineers who worked on the iPhone, and one who worked on the iPad, the employees and those briefed on the plans said.
Click to expand...
This is reportedly the 3rd attempt by Facebook to build a smartphone. Previous plans had reportedly "crumbled" after running into technical difficulties. Facebook is now trying to recruit engineers with previous mobile phone experience to streamline the process.

Facebook has a natural interest in selling smartphones. The company already has incredibly popular mobile apps for iOS and Android, but lacks much control on those platforms.
"Mark is worried that if he doesn't create a mobile phone in the near future that Facebook will simply become an app on other mobile platforms," a Facebook employee said
Click to expand...

Article Link: Facebook Recruiting Former Apple iPhone Engineers for Facebook Phone
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2012/05/28/facebook-recruiting-former-apple-iphone-engineers-for-facebook-phone/
Facebook phone? This is exactly what they need after a failing IPO, a phone that will tank.
 
If they write software for it that's as good as the current Facebook iPhone app, then they're onto a winner....

As someone once said, it's all about the software.
 
But Mark, Facebook is just an app?!

And they should definitely enhance the performance of their apps before even thinking of developing a phone of their own
 
I just can't see why you would bother. Currently, FB is an App that your phone platform absolutely has to have, or else it is nothing. So FB exists on iOS, on Android, on WM8, on everything.

They make their new phone, it may even be good, but it isn't going to own the market, it would take 5 years at least to get to 30% of the market share if it was fantabulously good (which it won't be). Their eyes are off the ball regarding the FB App, and FB more generally, and someone else like Google+ or even a resurgent MySpace (or more likely, one of the "foreign" FB-alikes) takes over.

Of course, the same line of argument could have been used to try to tell Apple not to go into the phones biz (Symbian v WMob v PalmOS v Blackberry ... all were "very good" in their own time), and we know how that panned out. There are still 6 billion people on the planet who DON'T have a smartphone, so that's still a helluva lot of market between now and, say, 2030, when virtually everyone on the planet will have a smartphone.
 
Oh dear ... so will they be using Android OS? Writing their own OS? This just sounds like a mess to me. I don't see the facebook brand selling phones at all.
 
Quick! The stock price is tanking! Think of something new the company can do to give us some strategic goals for potential future growth!
 
I guess any disruption is possible, particularly in technology, but it occurs to me this race may too hard to enter at this point.

The problem is to compete in mobile, it is no longer about hardware and an OS.

You need:

- Apps and vibrant developer community
- Simple system to update OS and Apps
- Cloud storage for apps and media
- Content deals for books, music, and video
- Integration to Windows and Mac apps (outlook, etc.)

It's possible FB can bring all of this to bear, or change the game, but it seems like a long shot to me. Nokia, Motorola, et al. learned the hard way that better hardware and software is no longer enough.

Plus, FB brings some serious baggage. Its core offering is increasingly viewed as spyware. Do people really want an ad company to know every email, phone call, web search, picture, etc., they make and send? I sure wouldn't.

More competition is a good thing for us. No doubt about it. And again, maybe FB has a way to change the game so it can win. But looking at the playing field as it exists today, this seems like a dollar short and a day late.
 
By using a Facebook phone.... You agree that all conversations can/will be recorded and sold to affiliates and non affiliates. You also agree that anything else such as GPS location, texts, pictures and voicemails are rightfully ours to do what we please.
 
Another app.....

When has Facebook not been "Just Another App" on a phone? They could potentially offer some options that one had to pay for....

For instance: I do not like sharing photos on Facebook because they compress them. Get into the Picasa/Flickr business...give us the option to store uncompressed photos. Buy Spotify and make it part of Facebook. Maybe buy a movie service (like Netflix) and make it part of Facebook. Make Facebook a true platform/alternate Internet. My mother and my aunts really treat Facebook like it is the Internet.

Integrate social into all of those things and monetize it buy charging for these services.
 
Peace said:
Mark is no Steve Jobs.


even though he thinks he is.
Click to expand...

i don't think he thinks that, he's only trying to run a successful business. Just because he wants his company to make smartphones doesn't mean he is trying to be jobs.
 
BWhaler said:
I guess any disruption is possible, particularly in technology, but it occurs to me this race may too hard to enter at this point.

The problem is to compete in mobile, it is no longer about hardware and an OS.

You need:

- Apps and vibrant developer community
- Simple system to update OS and Apps
- Cloud storage for apps and media
- Content deals for books, music, and video
- Integration to Windows and Mac apps (outlook, etc.)

It's possible FB can bring all of this to bear, or change the game, but it seems like a long shot to me. Nokia, Motorola, et al. learned the hard way that better hardware and software is no longer enough.

Plus, FB brings some serious baggage. Its core offering is increasingly viewed as spyware. Do people really want an ad company to know every email, phone call, web search, picture, etc., they make and send? I sure wouldn't.

More competition is a good thing for us. No doubt about it. And again, maybe FB has a way to change the game so it can win. But looking at the playing field as it exists today, this seems like a dollar short and a day late.
Click to expand...

Google is a HUGE ad company and people use android,I doubt the masses know how google and facebook make money
 
MacRumors said:
"Mark is worried that if he doesn't create a mobile phone in the near future that Facebook will simply become an app on other mobile platforms," a Facebook employee said.
Click to expand...

Being an app isn't all that bad, Markie boy.
Hey, it could be worse. A lot worse. Just ask Palm, RIM, and Nokia.
 
I would love to see Facebook try to make a mobile phone, and fail.

Let's keep in mind that RIM, Nokia, Microsoft, and a few others who are well established brands are having difficulty trying to take a good piece from iOS and Android devices in the mobile market.
These companies are already late to the party, then Facebook would be that guest who just arrives before it's over only to go back home in 5 minutes.

I think Mark has realized that Facebook is just an app on a mobile device, but he doesn't want to accept it.

...try to fix your mobile app first.
 
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typical. focus on your core - communities. Facebook phone? It's not even close to your business model. Apple had a much closer step to start making phones. Hardware/software experts with history in mobility converging phones to "true smart computing devices". Facebook started a community...going where? mobile phone industry? start producing laptops in that case...
 
Go for world domination. It's what every other company is doing anyways. Power corrupts. Money corrupts. And having an obligation to share holders, well, leads to only one path.
 
When you have that much money, I don't blame him from trying something new.

I'm positive it isn't going to be amazingly successful, because Facebook isn't going to be as popular as it is forever. I believe that most people can't justify purchasing a new phone just for Facebook (unless it has competitive specs & price), but somehow, I can't see Apple / HTC / Samsung resting on their laurels... They'll go hard.
 
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