Rumor: Facebook is developing an official Facebook phone named Buffy

By Mike Dunn November 21, 2011

Buffy the Vampire Slayer might be making a comeback, but as a phone instead of a TV show or movie. Today AllThingsD is reporting that Facebook has been working on an official Facebook phone code named Buffy. The social media giant is rumored to have teamed up with HTC to produce a fully integrated Facebook mobile device. If these rumors are true we shouldn’t expect to see a Facebook phone for at least 12 to 16 months.

We started hearing rumors about a Facebook phone over a year ago, which seem to be true since the Buffy project has been in production for almost two years now. We have seen phones launch in the past year with Facebook integration, and even with a dedicated Facebook button. Buffy is said to be something completely different from anything we have seen thus far.

Buffy is said to run on a modified version of Android tweaked by Facebook so that all of its services are deeply integrated into the phone. It is also said to support HTML5 as a platform for applications, which means you should be able to play all of your favorite Facebook games on the phone.

Facebook’s app is one of the most popular app on iOS, Android, Windows 7, and Blackberry but being just an app comes with restrictions. With Google able to fully integrate Google+ into Android phones, and Apple’s new partnership with Twitter it seems like Facebook needs to make its own device to stay competitive.

Over 350 million people use Facebook apps on mobile phones, and Facebook knows that the future of social networking is mobile. Is the Facebook phone going to be too little too late when it finally comes out?

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Mike graduated from University of Arizona with a degree in poetry, and made his big break by writing love sonnets to the…

Mobile

Leaked internal document hints at Google launch of a foldable phone next year

Google Pixel 4 and 4 XL Hands on

Earlier this week, Google introduced its latest Pixel-branded budget smartphone and teased a pair of upcoming phones it plans to launch later in 2020. But there may be more: An internal document obtained by 9to5Google suggests the tech giant may have already kicked off development on phones for 2021 -- and one of them could have a foldable design.

9to5Google claims Google is trialing its Android software on a total of four, new mysterious phone models. The document explicitly lists an unannounced Pixel 5a, likely the successor to Google’s existing mid-range phone, the Pixel 4a. There are also three more Android phones mentioned under codenames: Raven, Oriole, and Passport.

Mobile

Google lead says he’s ‘disappointed’ with Apple’s new iPhone security program

iPhone 11 Pro feature image

Apple’s new hacker-friendly iPhones offer security researchers unrestricted access to devices so that they can easily hunt down vulnerabilities and bugs. But Ben Hawkes, technical lead at Project Zero, a team at Google tasked with discovering security flaws, says he’s “pretty disappointed” with Apple’s latest security program.

Hawkes, in a Twitter thread, said that its team won’t be able to take advantage of Apple’s “Security Research Device” (SRD) iPhones since it appears to exclude security groups that have a policy to publish their findings in three months.

Mobile

An iOS bug gives Facebook background access to your iPhone’s camera

mark zuckerberg speaking in front of giant digital lock

Update 13/11: Facebook has addressed the growing concerns over the camera glitch and said it inadvertently introduced the bug while fixing another issue. "We have seen no evidence of photos or videos being uploaded due to this bug", added the spokesperson in a statement to TechCrunch. The fix has been submitted and will be available once Apple approves it.

A new iOS bug allows the Facebook app to access your iPhone’s camera in the background. Discovered by Joshua Maddux who posted about it on Twitter, the issue keeps the camera active as you scroll normally through your personal feed.