When it comes to the world of consumer and online technology, we are pretty much at the point where nothing should shock us, especially when it comes to Facebook, the world’s largest social network. With the acquisition of the mobile app Instagram for a cool $1 billion in cash plus stock deal, and now with the re-emergence of rumors that they are designing their own smartphone, it seems like anything is possible.
In the last couple of days it has been reported that the Palo Alto based social network are in the process of snapping up ex-Apple engineers who will no doubt be commissioned to work on the much expected Facebook phone. With quite a substantial amount of capital raised from the recent IPO, Facebook can afford to hire the best, so it is anyone’s guess as to what they will come up with. The technical specifications of the purported device is something which majority of people are speculating on, but what about the actual aesthetics and the user-interface?
The cool thing to do at the minute in the design world is to knock up concept designs and some visual representations of what the new device or its interface might/should look like. One of the great things about this is the diversity that gets applied as designers implement their own ideas and styles into the mock ups. Back in April, New York based Jay Moon did exactly that, and with the recent speculation being thrown about, he has updated his Facebook phone concepts to show what he believes the interface could look like.
Obviously at this stage in the game no-one can predict what the device will look like or what any of the UI elements will be like, in fact, I would be highly surprised in Facebook themselves had even ironed out the finer details. With the familiar Facebook-type badges and the Android-esque design, this looks like something that could actually become a reality in some parts. For those who prefer to poke a little fun at the social network and make light of their numerous privacy concern issues over the years, Shaun Percival who is Chief Executive Office at WittleBee has produced his own mocking concept with a beautiful Poke to Unlock idea.
(via TNW)
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