And then there was the Facebook phone

HTC has agreed to manufacture Facebook’s official phone. The device has been codenamed “Buffy” and you can be sure to find it oriented around cutting-edge social capabilities. But what will it run? Could it possibly scoop up WebOS from HP or even start from scratch in a basic Linux environment? The most possible (and even most practical) solution would be to heavily mask a version of Android OS.

With the Android 4.0 source code now available to the public, you can bet Facebook will manipulate in such a way similar to Amazon. After all, the Facebook phone is bound to look unique. As the king of social networking and such a strong following, who’s to say Facebook won’t try pushing out more than one device. I particularly prefer a device free of buttons to give a better multimedia experience. However, I know a good many that still insist on having a QWERTY keyboard; Facebook’s social network serves us all, so why shouldn’t its line of cellphones?

Social competitor Google+ won’t get as much love if Facebook has anything to say about it. So if Facebook decides to go with Android, you can bet on a heavily modded interface. After all, it will be competing with Windows Phone 7.5, Apple iOS5, the future of WebOS, and even others versions of Android. I would expect to see a Facebook button included in their phone as well. However, with Ice Cream Sandwich supporting phones with no buttons at all, it could be included inside the OS; much like the naivegation keys on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

A new Facebook phone may even build in their Facebook application into the OS, much like the Google+ app in the Galaxy Nexus. Hey, it may even slay a few vampires too – who knows.

[via AllThingsD]