Facebook Inc. (FB) Phone May Be Close? Thanks, HTC

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated recently that the concept of the Facebook smartphone was not something that was in the company;s sights in the near-term. Maybe it seems that by “near-term” that might mean a month. Anything beyond that is a long-term vision, which might be the way that Zuckerberg could not actually be misleading investors and analysts, because there are some details that suggest a Facebook smartphone is on its way in the coming weeks.

A web site reports hat a “reliable” source has reveals some details of an HTC handset that will put out a smartphone that is supposed to have Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB), Facebook Messenger and Instagram pre-loaded. The phone is supposed to be running on the Android operating system, version Jelly Bean 4.1.2. HTC has struggled lately with handsets in the marketplace, so it likely may need to make a splash to get back into the viability tier of handset makers. Facebook tried a semblance of this in 2011 with the HTC Status, which had a dedicated Facebook button in order to get users engaged, but if this one is different from that seems to be unclear.

Facebook Inc. (FB)This new Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) phone is expected to have a 4.3-inch screen and 330 pixel-per-inch resolution, which puts it at the level of Retina displays made by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). The phone is supposed to run on a 1.6 GHz processor by QUALCOMM Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM), with 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage. It seems like it would be listed as a mid-range phone in terms of retail pricing.

The latest information about this phone is that it could see U.S. store shelves sometime this spring.

What do you think? Could a dedicated smartphone help Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) improve user engagement, especially in younger users? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

DISCLOSURE: I own no positions in any stock mentioned.

Please see these related FB articles:

Facebook Designer Talks New News Feed Design

This New Revenue Idea Shines Light on Patent Problems

Facebook Facing a New Click Fraud Lawsuit?