(Image source: All Things Digital)

BY JIM FLINK

Facebook’s Phone is being designed to take a bite out of the competition. A big one. Think -- lots of blood.

Here’s All Things Digital.

“Code-named “Buffy,” after the television vampire slayer, the phone is planned to run on a modified version of Android that Facebook has tweaked heavily to deeply integrate its services, as well as to support HTML5 as a platform for applications, according to sources familiar with the project.”

Seriously, Buffy? That appears to be the big scoop out of All Things D. That, and the fact Buffy is purportedly being designed and manufactured by Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC.

Tech Crunch’s MG Siegler began writing about the Facebook phone foray more than a year ago, saying, rather facetiously then, a Facebook phone was not in the works...

And Siegler seems a little more than peeved at All Things D’s -- for not mentioning all his background work in its scoop.
Saying on his blog Paris Lemon that -- aside from the name -- it’s much ado about nothing new.

“Here’s all you need to know though: Facebook is building a phone because Facebook has to build a phone. They can say all they want about being everywhere, partnering with everyone, peace and love, yadda yadda. The fact of the matter is that mobile is the future of computing and it’s currently controlled by two gate masters: Apple and Google.”

Speaking of those two masters, or vampires in Facebook parlance, Forbes’ Ewan Spence says, because of their existence, the Facebook phone could all be folly.

“How much of an impact can a single device have in the marketplace? You have Apple and Google already dominant in the space, and if Facebook is looking to get a significant foothold in the market, they can’t partner with the two incumbent players. The bridges might not be burned with Apple but they are shaky ... And then there’s the issue of Google Plus...”

Still, The Atlantic Wire suggests, Buffy could be more than a phone. She could be an entire OS. Which is kind of like introducing garlic to the vampire buffet.

"All signs point to some sort of platform, which is the same word that Mark Zuckerberg loves to use when describing Facebook's future. ... Facebook's recently released iPad app, which we thought kind of looked like a mini operating system, could provide some indication of what that platform might look like, but we don't yet know. ... With a growing army of lobbyists in DC and these reported forays into hardware integration, Facebook sure is growing up quickly."

Most projections put Buffy set for release in 12 to 18 months.  But don’t sleep on it.  Just in case.

SOC