On my previous post, Facebook recently is very active in further development on the Android platform. Now Qualcomm, as the world leader in 3G, 4G and next-generation wireless technologies, extends its collaboration with Facebook to improve performance on the Facebook App for Android.
The improvement will be applied to all Qualcomm Snapdragon-powered devices, which are mainly Android smartphones. Facebook Home optimizations are designed to enable better overall performance, lower power consumption and improved data efficiency for consumers using Facebook Homeand Facebook for Android. The vice president of the mobile & corporate development for Facebook had shared what this collaboration provides:
"By working with Qualcomm Technologies, a leader in the mobile industry, we are able to offer Facebook Home and Facebook for Android utilizing the capabilities of the Snapdragon platforms that power a large portion of commercial 3G/4G devices," said Vaughan Smith, vice president of mobile & corporate development for Facebook. "We are excited about our collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies and our ability to jointly improve consumers' Facebook experiences."
It's not surprise that Facebook are allied with Qualcomm, which is one of the largest patent holders for mobile technologies (In fact, the Qualcomm's licensing business is so huge that it is managed by an independent company). The collaboration would allow Facebook to design its software without worrying too much about patent infringement, which ultimately encourage technological product improvements.
I've seen a bit of the Facebook mobile, and it seems to be quite different from most other operating systems. It is, as you say, very wise of Facebook to partner up with Qualcomm given their large portfolio of relevant patents. I can imagine though that now Facebook will be involved in the messy patent litigation web at some point.
ReplyDeleteiOs has integrated with Facebook in their latest software as well, so I am curious to see why Facebook chose Android development.
ReplyDeleteFacebook probably chose Android because it is more open to developers. Given Apple's history of shutting out long term partners (see the Apple Maps/Google Maps fiasco), Facebook was probably dissuaded from working with iOS.
DeleteFacebook knows what they are doing and how to do it. I feel that a collaboration with Qualcomm with provide them with access to many more patents they could use to boost their intense push into the mobile phone market.
ReplyDeleteIt's clear that Facebook benefits greatly from this deal, being able to utilize Qualcomm's patent portfolio to forestall any IP litigation that is filed against it. However, I'm curious as to what effect this partnership has on Qualcomm. I would assume some sort of licensing deal has been put in place, but I am curious to know how much Facebook would be paying for this, given its huge scale and implementation across a variety of mobile, laptop, and tablet devices.
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