Facebook phone not on the wishlist of every Facebook fan

The rumored Facebook phone is not on the priority list of every Facebook fan, a new study has found. In a poll conducted by a UK-based digital marketing agency, 50 percent of people who were asked their opinion on the Facebook phone said they would never switch to a Facebook phone.

However, if at all they opt for switching, the deciding factor would be improved functionality, followed by price and then design. Five hundred people around the world were questioned in the survey in a bid to gauge consumer appetite for a Facebook phone, reports The Telegraph.

This doesn't come as a big surprise, though. Tech 2's opinion section had already carried a piece last month, saying that there's absolutely no need for a dedicated Facebook phone when practically all smartphones  - and a majority of feature phones - are already Facebook-ready.

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The rumors of the Facebook phone has been around for quite a long time now and just refuse to die, despite the fact that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has already shot down these rumors in clear words, stating that they are not building a whole phone but are instead aiming at supporting an ecosystem that can help apps build on Facebook.

The number of users accessing Facebook on their mobile phones and smartphones has surpassed those who access it on their computers. This trend gained momentum only over the past couple of years when smartphones featuring a dedicated Facebook app came into the picture. These apps allowed users to easily access the social networking site on-the-go, with all the possible features neatly packed into a user-friendly app. Facebook has made a few attempts already to introduce a social networking-friendly handset in the past and tied up with companies such as HTC to develop and release "Facebook Phone". Devices such as the Android-powered HTC Salsa and HTC ChaCha didn't quite receive as much success as hoped for, and so it was back to the drawing board. The most recent attempt at cashing in on their mobile fame came in the form of the Vodafone Facebook Phone, the Blue 555. The Java-based QWERTY device, although not a smartphone, integrated a great deal of the social network into a simple, yet chic looking handset. Unfortunately, it seemed that its popularity had passed.

Do you need a Facebook phone?

The XDA Developers site had even gone to the extent of claiming that the official Facebook handset will be running a Unix OS and will feature Opera’s mobile browser.

It was claimed that Facebook is not publicizing this smartphone project codenamed "Buffy". Everything is being kept under wraps and it is speculated that Facebook is "going door-to-door to find the right talent for the project". The news about Project Buffy surfaced last year, when reports came in stating that Facebook was planning to launch a smartphone with social networking at its core, and not merely a handset with a dedicated Facebook button, as found on the HTC ChaCha. Following the acquiring of Instagram, Facebook recently announced the Facebook Camera, which in retrospect, appears to be the brand's attempt at paving the way for a heavily customized camera app for smartphones.