Sunday, March 31, 2013

Post 18 Facebook Phone!?

If you think Samsung, HTC, Motorola and LG would still be the main smartphone bands for android phones in the next few years, you may be wrong. On Mar 28, Facebook invited members of the press to attend a media event at its Silicon Valley headquarters. The invite said, "Come see our new home on Android."

Facebook is working closely with HTC on this first device, according to anonymous sources cited by The Wall Street Journal, though other manufacturers are on deck, too. It is not surprising that HTC would be Facebook's first choice so far. In 2011, HTC released the Status, a QWERTY-equipped Android smartphone that had a dedicated Facebook button. Using the Facebook button made it easy for Status owners to share content such as pictures, video, Web links, and so on, directly to the social network. Sure Samsung, as the largest android phone producer, is in the mix.

It will be very interesting to see how the joining of Facebook will stir the smartphone market, especially on the patents end. I am pretty sure that Facebook does not have many patents involving smartphone hardware/software. But will Facebook be subjected as the hottest target of the heated smartphone patent war which involves Apple, Nokia, Microsoft and RIM? It's still too early to judge. But I am sure we will have more insight after Facebook's press conference on April 4.


This is not an actual Facebook phone design. Just a concept art by Michal Bonikowski
(Source: http://www.designscene.net/2012/08/facebook-phone.html)
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3 comments:

  1. JessicaMarch 31, 2013 at 10:00 PM

    I find myself skeptical as to the impact that a Facebook Phone would have on the smartphone market. The market is already full of phones that have well integrated social media technology, I would attribute possible success of the phone to HTC rather than to Facebook being behind it.

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    1. UnknownMarch 31, 2013 at 10:12 PM

      Maybe it won't be too successful, but Facebook won't lose much if they decide to get involve in the smartphone market. They don't need to invest much when partnering with HTC/Samsung. The only concern, to me, is that they may now be part of the patent war. That may cost Facebook a fortune if they are now careful.

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  2. UnknownJune 4, 2014 at 2:47 PM

    I'm thinking that the effect of this Facebook button on dedicated Android devices will not so much affect Facebook as affect the manufacturers of the devices, given the focus on hardware that so many mobile patents seem to have. I'd be curious to know what the hardware implications of this additional button might be, and if any patents exist in that space.

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