Could a Facebook smartphone be in the near future? Maybe so, at least that’s what many of the Facebook phone rumors indicate.
The unnamed source that’s close to Pocket-Lint claims that HTC is currently working on a Facebook phone that’s been dubbed Opera UL. It’s reported that this phone will feature Android’s 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system, 1.4 GHz dual-core processor, and high-definition display that measures 1280 x 720.
Interesting enough, the HTC Opera UL’s benchmarks were shown on NenaMark sometime last week, and the stats shown match the stats the rumor mentions.
Don’t get too excited yet, the source claims that the development has been delayed and it may be quite awhile before they move forward with the phone.
Although Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) has continually denied the prospect of a smartphone, the company has hired six former iPhone engineers and an iPad engineer within the past few months. It sounds like a real possibility, but perhaps Facebook isn’t quite ready to announce their plans. If that’s the case, it would make a lot of sense. Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) may still have a lot to do in terms of design and engineering or maybe they have doubts about when they should release the final product. I think it’s safe to say that a Facebook phone is a real possibility.
Ideally, a Facebook phone could prove to be beneficial, especially since many people use their smartphones rather than a computer to access and share information. It’s fun to imagine what a Facebook phone would look like and what it would feature. I predict they will add FB voice and video chat features, as well as more social-based applications. This wasn’t the first rumor regarding the Facebook phone and it certainly won’t be the last. I’m hoping to hear more in-depth details and maybe even a launch date for sometime next year.
