Facebook has long been rumored to be working on their own smartphone, but a new report suggests the company has begun to get more serious about the idea, and has hired a number of former Apple iPhone and iPad engineers to help make the idea a reality!
The New York Times reports (via iDownloadBlog):
The company has already hired more than half a dozen former Apple software and hardware engineers who worked on the iPhone, and one who worked on the iPad, the employees and those briefed on the plans said.
One of these former Apple engineers described a meeting that he had with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who pressed him for a number of details about Apple’s hardware:
Mr. Zuckerberg asked about intricate details, including the types of chips used, he said. Another former Apple hardware engineer was recruited by a Facebook executive and was told about the company’s hardware explorations.
According to the report, this is Facebook’s third attempt at building their own smartphone, as previous plans encountered technical difficulties and had to be canned. Facebook’s current effort to hire former Apple engineers is an attempt to work around those difficulties.
Of course, it’s all speculation at this point – but it would be extremely interesting to see what sort of device Facebook might come up with, how they would market it, and how it would compete on the market with the iPhone and current Android devices!
