Tech Watch: Could 'Facebook Phone' Be Ready For Unveiling?
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) - The long rumored "Facebook phone" might be coming at a Thursday morning event at the company's offices in Menlo Park. Or it might not be coming at all. It all depends on your definition of a "Facebook phone."
The expectation is that the company will create a new, deeper integration into the Android operating system. Whether that means something rooted to a given model of phone, or just a new Facebook app for Android that is highly integrated into that operating system is a key point of contention.
Even if it is a phone model that uses Facebook as its main screen -- making communication, photos, music and calendar functions -- all Facebook-centric, Wall St. is seeming rather unimpressed at the outset. Facebook has a history of big events that are, shall we say, not exactly Apple caliber in what they announce and investors just want to see Facebook make money on mobile the way it does on computer based usage. Whether they do that with a "Facebook phone" or not is less important.
The world is rapidly shifting to mobile devices. Smartphones already outsell computers by a good margin, and tablets will do so on their own in a couple of years. Combine those two mobile categories are you can see how any company that makes the vast majority of its revenue on computer-based usage is in trouble not too far in the future.
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