The rumors concerning a Facebook Android phone have been swirling for months now, but at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Facebook will officially put the rumors to rest and unveil its plans. Interestingly, though, the Facebook phone might already exist, right now, and it's possible you own the device.
Sure, there are indications that the new Facebook Android phone will be running on an HTC-branded phone when it's unveiled, but most accounts are saying that the HTC device won't be very impressive specs-wise, and whenever it does come out, it can't quite compete with what's "already available in your pocket."
So what's going on? It looks very likely that the Facebook phone will actually be more of a Facebook Android skin. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has consistently said that Facebook isn't interested in manufacturing smartphones, and at this point there's no reason to think he's lying.
"Facebook would not only look bad in comparison to Apple and Samsung, it would look bad when set against the current also-rans, who are massive and experienced players like Nokia, BlackBerry, and Microsoft," Dieter Bohn writes at The. Verge. "Facebook can't win, place, or even show in the smartphone market sharehorse race. Instead of putting its own horse on the track, it's putting a jockey on a winner: Android."
Facebook's ultimate goal is to be the portal through which you experience the Internet. It doesn't like that you need to seek it out on the Internet, and it doesn't like that you have to click its app in order to engage with it. It simply wants to be there, and the Facebook Android phone skin will more or less replace your current Android skin, if you want it to.
" 'Does anybody want a Facebook phone?' " is the wrong question," Bohn writes. "The right question is 'Do you want the phone you already have and like to become a Facebook phone?' The number of people who will answer 'yes' may surprise you."
Of course, much of the success of the Facebook Android phone will depend on the social media giant's execution. It already offers free text messaging and free calling through Wi-Fi, and if it can integrate the news feed and its potentially huge contact list in a compelling way, it might just be onto a winner.
