“Project Spartan is the codename for a new platform Facebook is on verge of launching. It’s entirely HTML5-based and the aim is to reach some 100 million users in a key place: mobile. More specifically, the initial target is both surprising and awesome: mobile Safari,” MG Siegler reports for TechCrunch.
“Yes, Facebook is about to launch a mobile platform aimed squarely at working on the iPhone (and iPad),” Siegler reports. “But it won’t be distributed through the App Store as a native application, it will be entirely HTML5-based and work in Safari. Why? Because it’s the one area of the device that Facebook will be able to control (or mostly control).”
Siegler reports, “Facebook will never admit this, but those familiar with the project believe the intention is very clear: to use Apple’s own devices against them to break the stranglehold they have on mobile app distribution. With nearly 700 million users, Facebook is certainly in the position to challenge the almighty App Store distribution mechanism. But they need to be able to do so on Apple’s devices which make up a key chunk of the market.”
“While the target may ultimately be Apple, in this regard, they’re somewhat helping Apple by killing off yet another huge piece of Flash reliance on the web: gaming,” Siegler reports. “But again, the real goal is to get people using Facebook as the distribution model for games and other apps, not the App Store (or any other distribution hub).”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Why is the ultimate target Apple’s App Store? Wouldn’t the target actually be any platform with a browser capable of executing HTML5, which would include Android, Windows Phone ’07, webOS, and others?
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Moo Latté” for the heads up.]