Facebook may launch HTML5-based app next week, says tech site

Social networking giant Facebook may be launching "Project Spartan" - its rumored HTML5-based mobile application platform - this coming week, a tech site said this week. TechCrunch said the application - details of which were found on a mobile developers' page that was offline as of Friday noon - appeared to offer integration with the iOS and Android operating systems. "We’ve confirmed with multiple sources that this is indeed Spartan and that Facebook plans on unveiling the final product early next week," it said. According to TechCrunch, some developer-focused features include Bookmarking for apps, the flow from a Notification of a friend invite to a third-party app and App Search. Such features were meant to get developers to use Facebook as the distribution platform for games and other Facebook apps. "Could this just be a really fancy revamp of the existing Facebook Mobile App? Maybe, but if so it’s some revamp," it said. TechCrunch cited statistics showing some 350 million users access Facebook from a mobile device a month. — ELR, GMA News