Facebook is preparing a deeper push into smartphone software with a modified version of Google (GOOG) Inc.’s operating system as it seeks to boost sales from ads on small screens, according to sources with knowledge of the plans.
The new software will prominently feature Facebook’s social-networking tools, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private.
Facebook will likely announce a handset running the operating system at an event today (Thursday) in Menlo Park, California said Carl Howe, an analyst at Yankee Group.
The Zuckberg-led company has said the gathering is focused on a “new home on Android.”
Now that the majority of users access Facebook via mobile devices, Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg needs ways to keep them engaged longer while coaxing advertisers to pay to place promotions on small screens.
The company is betting that a handset packed with Facebook-centric software will do a better job wooing users and marketers than the current approach, which emphasizes a downloadable application, Howe said.
“The problem with apps is they’re a click away from wherever you are,” Howe said in an interview.
“Facebook wants to remove that barrier.” Derick Mains, a spokesman for Menlo Park, California-based Facebook, declined to comment, as did Gina Weakley Johnson, a spokeswoman for Mountain View, California-based Google.
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