Report: Facebook developing smartphone

Facebook may be getting ready to launch its very own smartphone sometime next year, as reports suggests that the company has hired former Apple engineers.

Citing unnamed sources, The New York Times' Nick Bilton says Facebook hopes to release its own smartphone by next year. The company has hired "more than half a dozen former Apple software and hardware engineers who worked on the iPhone, and one who worked on the iPad," Bilton reports. According to BBC, Facebook has admitted the company was struggling to make profits from their mobile audience, which keeps growing. Facebook has also just launched its own mobile app store. According to Boston Globe, even a few Facebook employees have said the company is hoping to release a smartphone by next year. Facebook has attempted to build a smartphone on two other occasions, according to a person who was briefed on the plans. However, one of the projects did not fall through because Facebook realized there were many challenges involved in creating a smartphone. According to International Business Times, Facebook did joined HTC last year. The two companies started to work on a project to build a smartphone with the social networking giant integrated at the core of the product. That project is said to still be in the works. As of now Facebook has not confirmed plans for releasing a smartphone nor are they denying there is such a project in the works.