Facebook phone rumors resurface with "new home on Android" event
Facebook has invited the press to an event to see its "new home on Android" -- sparking rumors that the social network will be announcing its own smartphone.
The social network sent invitations to the press for an event on April 4 at its headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif.
There are no details of what Facebook will announce, but some have speculated that it is a modified version of Google's mobile operating system Android.
Citing "one source," TechCrunch reports that Facebook is planning to reveal an "altered Android OS running on HTC." The tech blog also reported rumors of a feature called "Facebook home," which has the social network's news feed on the home screen.
According to the blog 9to5Google, Facebook is working with Taiwanese device maker HTC Corporation on a smartphone. Citing "people familiar with the development of the marketing campaign for the Facebook/HTC phone," the blog says that the two companies have been working together on a major marketing project in Southern California in recent weeks.
Rumors of a Facebook phone have circulated for some time, but have been debunked by the company's founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. In an interview at TechCrunch Disrupt, Zuckerberg told Michael Arrington that a Facebook phone "makes no sense."
Facebook did not immediately respond to CBS News' request for comment on the rumors.
Facebook has recently launched a series of major changes to its service, including the introduction of Graph Search and the redesign of its News Feed and Timelinefeatures.
Facebook was launched in February 2004 from Zuckerberg's dorm room at Harvard University. The social network reports over 1 billion monthly active users as of December 2012.
