3 Mobile teases with new mystery Facebook project

Posted by Al Warmington on Tue 28 Oct 2008

Is it a Facebook phone? Is it a data service? Should we care?

"Be part of the revolution," 3's teaser website demands. What revolution is that, you ask? Are we now, at this late hour, to shed the shackles of global tyranny and stand up to for all the oppressed, wronged and down-trodden peoples of this world? To strive for justice, fairness and human decency!?

Actually, were that the case, we'd be giving telecommunications companies a close eyeballing right from the outset.

Or this 'revolution' just something to do with Facebook? Oh, yes it is.

3 has something big planned, or so its countdown timer would have you believe. Its website reads: "It's coming soon. 13th November. It will change the way you use Facebook on your phone. Trust us, you don't want to miss out."

Because we don't actually want to wait around for a fortnight to find out, we'll have a stab at speculating with a few of our theories.

The boring option is this: 3's going to give everyone on a data package free access to Facebook. Handy, but neither groundbreaking or likely to "change the way you use Facebook on your phone". That would be 'cheapen the way you use Facebook on your phone'.

The more exciting option: A full-blown 3 Facebook phone, a bit like the Skype phone. Do all your usual Facebooky things like status updates and writing on people's walls. On top of that you'll be able to IM chat with you Facebook buddies on the go. And, err, make calls we guess.

The design of the device in the background of 3's teaser site is intriguing too. There's definitely a hint of iPhone about it, which is impossible thanks to O2's exclusivity rights. Could be a BlackBerry Storm, but that's got a similar problem. The rounded edges look a bit more like a Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, aka the Tube, but again that's unlikely now that the Tube isn't due out until next year now.

Whatever it is, it seems to have a touchscreen form factor, which is interesting itself. Or we could be reading too much into it. Anyone else have a theory to share?