Facebook has scotched rumours it is planning to launch a mobile phone, admitting it is working with manufacturers but only to improve social networking on handsets in general.
The rumours emerged over the weekend, with Facebook tipped to be building the software for a phone and seeking hardware partners.
However, Facebook said it had no plans to enter the market, other than to integrate its social systems deeper into other people’s handsets.
Facebook is not building a phone – our approach has always been to make all phones and apps more social
“Facebook is not building a phone – our approach has always been to make all phones and apps more social, not build a phone,” the company said in a statement.
“Current projects include everything from an HTML5 version of the site to apps on major platforms, to full Connect support with SDKs to deeper integrations with some manufacturers.”
Facebook went on to suggest the story emerged because people confuse its role in working with phone developers as an ambition to work in the industry.
Citing the INQ1 phone with Facebook integration, which the company admitted had been dubbed the first so-called “Facebook Phone”, the social network said just because it featured on handsets didn’t mean they were branded.
“The bottom line is that whenever we work on a deep integration, people want to call it a ‘Facebook Phone’ (even internally),” the company said. “Our real strategy is to make everything social and not build one phone or integration.”
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