Facebook, HTC building Android smartphone: report

November 22, 2011

The project, code named "Buffy," is aimed at making a handset tailored for the Facebook platform

Enlarge

People walk past High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC) logos in Hsintien, Taipei county, 2010. Facebook has allied with Taiwan's HTC to build a customized smartphone powered by Google's Android mobile operating system, according to technology blog All Things Digital.

Facebook has allied with Taiwan's HTC to build a customized smartphone powered by Google's Android mobile operating system, according to technology blog All Things Digital.

The project, code named "Buffy," is aimed at making a handset tailored for the California-based social , according to the blog, which is owned by Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal.

The device would "deeply integrate" , which has more than 800 million members, "at the core of its being," All Things Digital said.

A Facebook team has been working with HTC as well as trying to make deals with telecom providers for the smartphone, which it hopes to release within the next 18 months, the blog said.

A Facebook spokesman declined to comment directly on the "Buffy" project to Things Digital but said: "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 to bring powerful to more people around the world," the spokesman said.

HTC already builds phones with dedicated Facebook programs.

(c) 2011 AFP

1.7 /5 (3 votes)  

Rank 1.7 /5 (3 votes)
Relevant PhysicsForums posts

More news stories

Nvidia trumpets Tegra 3 phone design wins for 2012

(Phys.org) -- Nvidia’s competitive war paint has a name, Tegra 3. On the heels of Nvidia announcements about lowering costs of its Tegra 3 processors and Nvidia-enabled tablets running Android Ice Cream ...

Electronics / Hardware

created 9 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1 | with audio podcast report

Dell tablet leak: 10.1-inch display, two-battery choice

(Phys.org) -- Headline after headline talks about vendors’ tablets in the wings as likely number-one contenders for the iPad. Such claims have justifiably been taken with a grain of salt, considering ...

Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets

created 20 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 9 | with audio podcast report

Nvidia says Kai platform will turn price tide for tablets

(Phys.org) -- In March, Nvidia gave some signs that they were working to lower the cost of their Tegra 3 processors and they suggested consumers might see prices for Android tablets as low as $199. Connect ...

Electronics / Hardware

created May 24, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (4) | comments 3 | with audio podcast report

OmniVision tops up sensors for cameras, phones

(Phys.org) -- OmniVision has announced two high-resolution image sensors for the digital still and digital video camera market (DS/DVC) and higher end smartphones. In end-user language, it is a claim for superior ...

Electronics / Hardware

created May 25, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 3 | with audio podcast report

MIT researchers devise new means to synchronize a group of robots (w/ Video)

(Phys.org) -- For several years, roboticists have been working out ways to get a group of robots to perform synchronized activities as demonstrated most often in dance routines. It’s not just about trying ...

Electronics / Robotics

created May 25, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1 | with audio podcast report


Land and sea species differ in climate change response: study

(Phys.org) -- Marine and terrestrial species will likely differ in their responses to climate warming, new research by Simon Fraser University and Australia’s University of Tasmania has found.

Almost half of new vets seek disability

(AP) -- America's newest veterans are filing for disability benefits at a historic rate, claiming to be the most medically and mentally troubled generation of former troops the nation has ever seen.

'Unzipped' carbon nanotubes could help energize fuel cells, batteries

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes riddled with defects and impurities on the outside could replace some of the expensive platinum catalysts used in fuel cells and metal-air batteries, according to scientists at ...

T cells 'hunt' parasites like animal predators seek prey, study shows

By pairing an intimate knowledge of immune-system function with a deep understanding of statistical physics, a cross-disciplinary team at the University of Pennsylvania has arrived at a surprising finding: T cells use a movement ...

Computer model used to pinpoint prime materials for efficient carbon capture

When power plants begin capturing their carbon emissions to reduce greenhouse gases – and to most in the electric power industry, it's a question of when, not if – it will be an expensive undertaking.

Change in developmental timing was crucial in the evolutionary shift from dinosaurs to birds: study

At first glance, it's hard to see how a common house sparrow and a Tyrannosaurus Rex might have anything in common. After all, one is a bird that weighs less than an ounce, and the other is a dinosaur that ...