The World Doesn't Need A Facebook Phone
June 5, 2012
You’ve heard the rumors, now we’ve got our first glance at what a Facebook phone could look like, courtesy of NowhereElse.
First whispered about in November and code-named Buffy, the Facebook phone is said to be getting closer to becoming reality. In fact, the social networking giant’s “iPhone killer” could launch as early as next year.
Today, we’ve got these Facebook phone mockups that look surprisingly stunning.
Looking very much like a cross between an iPhone and a Nokia Lumia 900, this likeness is sleek, thin, and as iDownloadBlog suggests, sexy. It includes a 4.2-inch display and an eight-megapixel camera on the back.
An "iPhone killer?"
All this begs the question: does the world actually need a Facebook smartphone? To answer this, let’s look at the cell phone landscape circa 2006. At that time, smartphones were a relatively new concept with BlackBerry leading the way. However, that didn’t stop Apple from introducing the iPhone, with Google joining the mobile parade later when they introduced the world to Android OS. Apple’s entry into the cellular market was controversial at the time and came with risks. However, they came prepared. After all, for six years prior they had created the iPod market and that says nothing about their experience in creating operating systems, which extended back 20 years. Facebook, on the other hand, arrives at the table with no hardware experience, let alone knowledge in how to create a mobile operating system. Plus, there is much more competition today than when Apple introduced the first iPhone in January 2007. This doesn’t mean Facebook would be unsuccessful. In fact, last month we reported that Facebook was actively hiring Apple engineers to help them bring Buffy to fruition. Plus, despite their recent financial woes, Facebook has plenty of resources at their disposal to at least get the product launched.
