The social networking giant is eyeing applications that will build on the voice message feature to its Messenger app to make it a player in the VOIP live-call category. It is already testing the project in Canada. But is it also planning to produce a physical phone to run them on?
Facebook is reportedly testing a voice message feature on its Messenger app.
Is Facebook about to enter the phone fracas?
The social networking giant is reportedly testing applications it would likely use in a mobile phone product and continues to add features to existing apps that would supplement the user experience if it created a phone.
Specifically, Facebook recently added a voice message feature to its Messenger app, so users can now send a recording to friends.
And in Canada, Facebook is testing live calls using VOIP (voice over internet protocol), a technology that allows people to make calls over the internet, ABC News reported.
The service allows users in Canada to make free calls over Facebook to other people on Facebook.
While the features could easily stand alone as attractive new options for users of the social network, they may also fit into a larger plan by the company to create some kind of phone product, to rival Apple’s successful iPhone franchise.
A Facebook representative did not immediately return a request for comment.
Rumors of a possible Facebook phone have made their rounds through the blogosphere for months. The chatter came to a fever pitch in May when The New York Times, citing anonymous sources, reported that the company was planning to release a phone in 2013.
But CEO Mark Zuckerberg denied the rumors in July, saying on a conference call with investors that the company had plans to release more mobile products and apps, but not a phone.
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