Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Facebook to Enter Mobile Phone Market in 2011

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
69,011
40,031



180852-facebook_300.jpg


Bloomberg reported today that social networking site Facebook is planning on entering the mobile phone market as early as 2011.
The devices, which will feature Facebook social-networking services, are due to be introduced in Europe in the first half of 2011 and the U.S. in the second half, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans haven’t been made public.
Click to expand...
Facebook is said to be working with mobile-handset manufacturer INQ Mobile Ltd. to produce the hardware for the device. The new phone is said to be based on a "stripped-down version" of Google's Android operating system with Facebook integration.

Despite being based on Android, a Facebook phone would be competition for Google as much as it is for Apple. Google benefits from ad revenue tied to their search and other services which would likely be supplanted by Facebook services on a Facebook-based phone.

Article Link: Facebook to Enter Mobile Phone Market in 2011
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2010/09/23/facebook-to-enter-mobile-phone-market-in-2011/
Just another 'iPhone killer' </s>

But seriously, this is the OS fragmentation that Jobs predicted. As Android is shoehorned into countless forms, witness how compatibility, usability, security, reliability, etc. suffer.

Speaking of fragmentation ... a Facebook branded phone? Really?
 
So it would be an android phone with only one app available. Facebook.

I am willing to bet his phone ends up being pretty lame
 
All I can says is

OMG...the cell-phone industry must be much more profitable than I thought.
 
Combining the two services with the worst potential for privacy violations into a device that has the worst potential for privacy violation... what a great idea!
 
ironically this is what MS was should have done

with their little phones they came out with? What were they called? I think they actually had a good idea with those phones.

A facebook phone will totally flop. Facebook is an APP. It will always be an app. No mater how much people use the app it, it isn't going to be a good phone.
OIn the end, people will just prefer REAL android with real facebook ( or real iPhone with real facebook )
 
Microsoft already tried this, and it didn't work out so well. Maybe they'll buy up all the unsold Kin hardware and shoehorn Android onto it? :p

tharoc said:
Competition is good for the consumer but come on...
Click to expand...

Perhaps it's just a personal annoyance of mine, but this "competition is good" meme got old before it started. In a sense it's (tautologically) true, but so what? Even if these devices weren't based around expensive 2-year contracts that makes it impractical to flip flop between them, crap companies make crap products, with very few exceptions. The sheer number of devices and operating systems doesn't magically advance anything. The vast majority of innovative designs and concepts are produced by very few companies (and, more accurately, small groups inside those companies), and the rest are xerox outfits. Do you honestly think that the caliber of device Facebook would produce would drive the industry to new, innovative heights?
 
I new revision every 6 months and all the people who get the new one are like "I WANT THE OLD ONE" and all the people with the old one are like "WHEN DO I GET UPGRADE"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back