Facebook: something awesome coming

Mark Zuckerberg has created a buzz by announcing that something awesome will be coming for the Facebook social network next week.

It appears that Facebook’s CEO doesn’t want Google in the headlines too much this week with their Google+ social network. During a visit by journalists to Facebook’s offices in Seattle, Mark Zuckerberg created a buzz by declaring that "something awesome" will be launched next week (news reported by Reuters).

Of course, at this stage, nothing more has been stated about the project besides the fact that it is currently being worked on by 40 people at Facebook’s engineering centre in Seattle, away from the company’s headquarters Palo Alto, California.

Even if it’s not something "awesome", it will at least be something impressive. Perhaps inspired by Apple’s Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg has become a specialist at emphasising the company’s achievements. We will have to see if the surprise is up to the billing though.

Numerous rumours are circulating about the launch of a HTML5 platform to distribute applications for iOS devices in the same way as the App Store. The project has been under development for months going by the code name Spartan. The blog TechCrunch doesn’t believe that an announcement on this subject will be forthcoming next week though.

Most people are speculating that it will be new features for mobile devices, like a Facebook application for the iPad or a photo sharing application for the iPhone.

Among the other rumours is the integration of Skype, an announcement about connected media and television and the integration of Netflix. It shouldn’t be forgotten that Mark Zuckerberg recently indicated during the e-G8 Forum that Facebook had a major role to play in music and films through various partnerships.

The summer should nevertheless be busy for Facebook who will hold their annual f8 conference in August.