No seriously folks. The NY Time poses the question: can a software company build its own smartphone? We may find
out soon. This past week, Google
completed its acquisition of the hardware maker Motorola Mobility for $12.5
billion, which could lead to the search giant’s making its own smartphone. But
another software titan might be getting into the hardware game as well:
Facebook.
Employees of Facebook and several engineers who have been
sought out by recruiters there, as well as people briefed on Facebook’s plans,
say the company hopes to release its own smartphone by next year. These people
spoke only on the condition of anonymity for fear of jeopardizing their
employment or relationships with Facebook.
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.
This would be Facebook’s third effort at building a smartphone,
said one person briefed on the plans and one who was recruited. In 2010, the
blog TechCrunch reported that Facebook was working on a smartphone. The project
crumbled after the company realized the difficulties involved, according to
people who had worked on it. The Web site AllThingsD reported last year that
Facebook and HTC had entered a partnership to create a smartphone, code-named
“Buffy,” which is still in the works…..
Curious? Check out http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/27/facebook-tries-tries-again-on-a-smartphone/?ref=technology
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