Turn Up For The ‘Book: HTC to Build First Official Facebook Phone

Just when you thought Facebook couldn’t get any bigger and more powerful, comes the news that it is strongly considering launching it own phone.

Marky Z’s social network is said to have teamed up with HTC to create the first official Facebook phone.

A Facebook phone has long been rumoured, but the boys at FBHQ have always denied any interest in branching out into building phones.

However, with HTC’s expertise on board, Facebook has been tempted and it looks like the two have come up with something rumoured to be codenamed the HTC Buffy. Yes, really.

The two companies have a history of working together – HTC’s Salsa and ChaCha handsets were the first to feature a branded Facebook button.

Online reports suggest that Facebook has been fiddling with the Android operating system to ‘deeply integrate’ its service.

Mobile access to Facebook is the way forward, with many people in developing nations having smartphones, but not computers.

Facebook currently has more than 350 million active mobile users, and a Facebook phone would tie them into the site even more closely.

In a statement the company said “Our mobile strategy is simple: We think every mobile device is better if it is deeply social. We’re working across the entire mobile industry; with operators, hardware manufacturers, OS providers, and application developers to bring powerful social experiences to more people around the world.”

However,  don’t go adding the Facebook phone to your Christmas List just yet – not even for next year – as it’s thought to be at least 18 months away from being ready.