iPhone 5 Release Event: Apple Will Also Unveil New Spectacular Facebook iPad App
Apple's Oct. 4 media event is not only set to unveil the iPhone 5, but also a new Facebook application for the iPad.
Facebook is also expected to release a retooled version of its iPhone application that will sport the design and speed improvements of the iPad app. Along with these additions, a new HTML5-based mobile app marketplace is also expected to debut.
The Facebook iPad app was leaked earlier this year and has since been in development limbo for several months. Former Facebook engineer Jeff Verkoeyen added fuel to the rumor of the app being delayed through his blog postings. In it he stated that since May, Facebook had been sitting on the entire project.
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Two sources close to Apple told Mashable that the delay of the app is due to Facebook and Apple's tumultuous relationship. The two companies have gotten into several disputes and altercations in the past.
One such case of the two companies disagreeing on a matter concerns the social network disabling Facebook Connect in Ping. Facebook was not notified of this feature by Apple and they promptly took it down due to fears of their site's bandwidth being shared with Apple.
Rumors have also circulated about Facebook supposedly being integrated into iOS. Instead of this occurring, Twitter was instead integrated. Some say this also was a result of various disagreements between Facebook and Apple.
Facebook has reportedly been working on a project to bring Facebook to mobile devices. Some say the project is labeled as "Project Spartan", and it is designed to be a platform where developers can bring their Facebook apps to mobile devices via an HTML5 platform. Apple is said to be working with Facebook on this planned project implementation.
Analysts expected Facebook to launch their iPad application at last week's F8 Conference, but no word of it came to fruition. The highly touted announcements of the new Facebook Open Graph and Timeline were revealed instead so as not to be overshadowed by the iPad app reveals.
