The story that just won't die — the Facebook phone — is back.
Facebook sent out invitations for a media event next Thursday at its headquarters which read "Come see our new home on Android."
This immediately set off a wave of speculation about what Facebook would announce. The initial thought was that Facebook simply had a new, updated Android application.
But then reports started pouring in that Facebook was ready to announce a new operating system based on Android.
Josh Constine of TechCrunch reports, "Sources tell us it will be a modified version of the Android operating system with deep native Facebook functionality that may live on an HTC handset."
He also says, "One source tells us this isn’t full-on rewrite of Android, but rather a modification that will have also sorts of extra Facebook functionality built in."
Mark Gurman at 9to5 Google says Facebook is going to do a phone with HTC. HTC will do the hardware, and Facebook will do the software. Gurman says Facebook and HTC are working on their marketing.
"According to people familiar with the development of the marketing campaign for the Facebook/HTC phone, the advertisements are designed to focus on the potential user of the device, not on the hardware or software," says Gurman.
Gurman cautions he didn't hear it will be announced next week.
Earlier this month news leaked of an HTC phone with a Facebook button on it. Facebook and HTC have worked together in the past on a phone, but it was a flop.
A Facebook phone based on Android has been rumored since September 2010. New discussion of the phone has popped up annually.
Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly denied it, saying it makes no sense. Last September Zuckerberg explained why by saying, "Let's say we built a phone, we're not, we could get 10 million people to use it, it doesn't move the needle for us," because Facebook has a billion users.
He added, "We want to build a system which is as deeply as possible integrated into every major device people want to use."
If we were to speculate about what's happening, we would say there could be a middle ground here. HTC could be taking the initiative and trying to build a Facebook phone with some input from Facebook.
HTC was the number one Android phone company, but it's been smoked by Samsung. It makes a great Windows Phone, but nobody buys Windows Phones, and Nokia has most-favored-nation status with Microsoft.
Perhaps it wants to take a shot at a Facebook phone and see if it can stand out from the pack.
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