Facebook Phone – code-named Buffy

Facebook Phone : 'Buffy'
  
Now be ready for a smartphone that lets you check your Facebook account anytime you like. Cool..! we're not talking about any third party phone with Facebook integration —we're talking about a brand new phone from Facebook itself that will be in the market in next 12 to 18 months, according to AllThingsD.

facebook,who has been kicking around the idea of entering into the smart mobile phone business for years, is working with Taiwanese cellphone maker HTC to create a Facebook branded smartphone.The new phone, which is code-named “Buffy”,will be designed to transition Facebook from a popular mobile app to a fully integrated phone experience.

Facebook has selected HTC over Samsung to make a heavily modded Android phone that "has the social network integrated at the core of its being." with code named "Buffy."

As per the Facebook’s mobile strategy- “Our mobile strategy is simple: We think every mobile device is better if it is deeply social. We’re working across the entire mobile industry; with operators, hardware manufacturers, OS providers, and application developers to bring powerful social experiences to more people around the world.” told to AllThingsD.

The project," which is being run by Facebook CTO Bret Taylor, the company plans to build the phone around a version of Google's Android mobile operating system that Facebook "has tweaked heavily to deeply integrate its services, as well as to support HTML5 as a platform for applications."

The Buffy phone would weave the various features and services of facebook available on different smart phone platforms throughout the functionality of the device,allowing users to directly upload photos from the picture-taking app, or to integrate Facebook contacts with the phone's address book.

 

Facebook, with its over 800 million users worldwide and 350 million active mobile users,is planning to enter in the world of smart phone and at the same time utilize the new "Buffy" handset to continue and spreading its the social network’s dominance.The proposed Android phone will come with a pre-installed Facebook client, full Facebook integration, and will probably offer a dedicated button to quickly access Facebook at any time.

The long-term success of the Facebook phone will depend on whether the phone can offer a significantly more social experience than other Android phones with the Facebook app, along with other smart features and apps provided by highly competitive smart phone service provider.

Buffy also makes sense in the context of Google CEO Eric Schmidt's famous declaration that Google, Facebook, Apple, and Amazon represent a "Gang of Four" that dominates consumer technology. Each of those companies has a core area of strength that differentiates it from the other three, but each has also been increasingly expanding into the prime turf of its rivals.

So you have Amazon moving into Apple's iPad territory with the Kindle Fire, Google taking on Facebook with Google+ and trying to add some content muscle with a new music service to counter Amazon and Apple's iTunes, and perhaps Facebook finally joining the other three as a hardware player.

It sounds like a smart move for Facebook—but only time will tell where this all setup lands.While Apple and Google are currently the dominant players in the mobile market, Facebook may be able to leverage its loyal user base to win over mobile customers.

So now wait for Facebook's move.


[Sources Include: AllThingsD,PCMAG & SEJ ]