UPDATED: Facebook phone is in the early stages of development?

Being one of the most widely downloaded apps on any mobile platform out there, Facebook is easily one item that seems to be consistent among mobile handset owners worldwide. Add in the fact that there are approximately over 500 million users, it's no wonder why we constantly it being integrated into a bevy of consumer electronics devices – such as cable boxes and television sets.

Even though there are various apps out there provide the Facebook experience on a mobile scale, it's speculated that the social networking giant has commenced its plan of releasing a true Facebook phone. According to TechCrunch's source, two top-end employees of Facebook, Joe Hewitt and Matthew Papakipos, are in the process of building something big for the company – and it sounds pretty substantial.

On one hand, you've got Hewitt whose credentials include creating the Firefox browser, while on the other, Papakipos who was leading the Chrome OS project until June. These two minds are reportedly working on something related to Facebook – whether it be a phone or something else entirely, it's difficult to fathom at this point.

Now this all started to happen when Google introduced the Nexus One earlier in the year – Facebook was apparently concerned about the stranglehold that iOS and Android brought to the table. Ultimately, the social networking giant would want to control all aspects on how their apps would integrate deeply with a mobile phone – so that's basically how the notion of the Facebook phone first came to light.

With a full fledged Facebook phone of their own, they'll have all the resources and power in getting Facebook to properly adapt to their stringent needs – which is said to provide something more in-depth than what Android and iOS currently offers with Facebook contacts. As for the device itself, TechCrunch believes it to be an affordable phone which would target the younger crowd since their presence is vastly known in that area. Still, they'll need to bring it to the table in order to stay afloat in this increasingly crowded market – just look at Microsoft's KIN phones for example.

source: TechCrunch

UPDATE: For good or bad, it has turned out that the social networking giant is not working on such a project. Spokesperson Jaime Schopflin has informed Mashable that the story is not accurate and while Facebook is collaborating with manufacturers to deliver deep social integration in their offerings, Facebook itself does not intend to build a phone.