Nov 22, 2011 11:20 AM,

Facebook, like Apple, Microsoft and Google before it, not admitting to phone plans

By Michelle Maisto

Facebook has hired HTC to create a Facebook smartphone, already code-named "Buffy," according to a report. Like the biggest names before it, however, it's still saying, "What phone?"

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Hello, Facebook phone. After years of speculation, All Things D is reporting that Facebook has commissioned hardware from HTC for a smartphone code-named "Buffy," as in Vampire Slayer.

"The phone is being planned to run on a modified version of Android that Facebook tweaked heavily to deeply integrate its services and support HTML5 as a platform for applications," the site is reporting, citing sources familiar with the project.

HTC and Facebook declined to comment directly, though a Facebook spokesperson commented more generally: "We think every mobile device is better if it is deeply social."

In September, Facebook insisted for the n-th time that it wasn't building a phone (just like Google, Microsoft and Apple all said they weren't, TechCrunch's MG Siegler has pointed out). But with Google+ gaining momentum, and a bit of Facebook lethargy settling in— at least in my circles, though Facebook is said to have between 350 million and 750 million active users — it's understandable if Facebook is curious about how a sanctioned device might kick things up a notch.

It will also be interesting to see the Android and Facebook platforms live a little more equally side-by-side, and the impact that a dedicated phone would have on the economic ecosystem surrounding Facebook.

A September study of "the Facebook App Economy" by the Center for Digital Innovation, Technology and Strategy at the University of Maryland concluded that the employment impact in the United States in 2011, of developers building apps on the Facebook Platform, has been 182,744 full time jobs. Conservatively, it estimated that the total employment value of the Facebook app economy is $12.19 billion, though by more aggressive estimates it found the Facebook App Economy to have added a value of $15.71 billion to the U.S. economy.

That 750 million users figure is from the Center, which adds that Facebook users now install 20 million apps every day.

All Things D offered no word on which carriers Facebook plans to partner with, or what the pricing will be.