Facebook: We Are Not Building a Phone

http://mashable.com/2010/09/19/facebook-we-are-not-building-a-phone/

by hasanove • 16 years ago

42 21 16 years ago

mashable.com

sahillavingia• 16 years ago

That's what Apple said.

baddox• 16 years ago

Did they?

p01nd3xt3r• 16 years ago

Yes. And so did google.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1706814

mortenjorck• 16 years ago

No video iPod: http://www.engadget.com/2004/04/29/steve-jobs-says-it-again-...

"People don't read anymore": http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2008/01/steve-jobs-peop/

I'm pretty sure Jobs was quoted at some point shooting down the idea of an Apple phone, but it's nearly impossible to Google for that amid the Antennagate results.

lotusleaf1987• 16 years ago

And Google about the Nexus One.

gregable• 16 years ago

Hard to say whether Apple (and the other companies mentioned below) were lying or not. You could imagine that Apple was not working on X at the time but later decided to work on X. And no, some individual engineer tinkering away in the corner inside the company without any support is not the same thing as the company working on X.

dotBen• 16 years ago

From http://www.businessinsider.com/facebooks-non-denial-denial-w...

"...no one actually thinks Facebook is building an ACTUAL phone, or that it's manufacturing anything.

What people are saying is that Facebook is doing some major work with Android software to make it a Facebook-flavored platform, so Facebook could have much more control over the mobile industry than it does today. This is probably being done entirely inside Facebook, without any help from Google, which is the enemy.

And I don't see any denial of that in Facebook's statement -- just that the company admitting that Facebook is "integrating deeply into existing platforms and operating systems," which is the story in the first place."

So yeah, seems plausible that the PR spokesperson was just putting up interference.

sprout• 16 years ago

I made a similar comment in the thread on the TC article, but Facebook did that last year. My Motorola Droid didn't have Facebook branding, but it was fully integrated with Facebook (even if it lacked a decent way to browse Facebook.)

pavs2• 16 years ago

Surprise no one is calling out TC on their BS, yet again.

Lets face it, TC is a tech tabloid and HN's fascination with TC (majority story makes FP) is akin to teenager's fascination with celebrity gossip magazine.

No substance, nothing insightful, just pure unadulterated BS. And HN is all over it, every-time.

cheesey• 16 years ago

It's all because TC cover stories related to YC companies a lot. I think that's about it.

Charuru• 16 years ago

I'm very confused about the hatred. TC has a very very good track record.

It's the only credible source of leaks that I pay attention to. They're actually on the pulse of the tech industry, unlike say Wired or Gizmodo or whatever, that don't really report anything original of worth.

pavs2• 16 years ago

> They're actually on the pulse of the tech industry, unlike say Wired or Gizmodo or whatever, that don't really report anything original of worth.

I think you mean "startup news" (which is open to debate). AFA actual "Tech news" is concerned they regurgitate whatever link they stumbled upon on their RSS feed and rewrite the whole thing often without bothering to even cite original source.

It boggles my mind that anyone would even consider TC "pulse of tech industry".

jfager• 16 years ago

Facebook has zero incentive to confirm the rumor, and tons of incentive to deny it. I'm not saying I think the rumor is true (actually, I don't care), but you can't call BS just because Facebook has denied it.

burnninator• 16 years ago

These are not the droids you are looking for...

eogas• 16 years ago

This is just one thing to add to the list of stories TechCrunch has completely made up.

jasonlbaptiste• 16 years ago

Exploring and investigating are much different than building + launching a phone. This could be in early prototype/exploratory phases at Facebook. That doesn't mean they will go ahead and launch it to the public by any means.

happybuy• 16 years ago

They may be or may not be.

However if Facebook perceive Google as their biggest competitor it would make sense for them to explore ways to have more control over how Android users access their services.

If Android does become the dominant smartphone platform, controlled by Google, then it could be used as an effective weapon against Facebook - or a way for Google to (finally) launch a successful social service. Its logical for Facebook to try and mitigate this business risk.

ryanhuff• 16 years ago

It makes sense for FB to want to control the distribution channels, and given their size and the importance of mobile, doing a FB phone is a plausible strategy. Considering the games that go on with some manufacturers (Apple) and the various carriers, FB should be concerned about its weak hold on the mobile channel.

Whether that means FB branded phones, deals with carriers for preferred placement or access, or something else is hard to say.

davidedicillo• 16 years ago

mmm... next they will say that nobody wants to read books on a tablet...

Facebook: We Are Not Building a Phone

Related Stories