Samsung to launch Facebook killer in Q1 2013

Dominant Android OEM Samsung is planning to launch a new social networking platform, may be a Facebook killer in the first quarter of 2013, this was first reported by the Korea Times.

The electronics giant is currently developing a social networking service which it hopes can eventually compete with the dominant social networking service Facebook. The company plans to make the service available on all its devices, including smart phones, tablets. This service can be accessed on a wide variety of Internet-capable devices, such as the new generation televisions and cameras.

 

The company has forayed into the software side of the mobile industry, with the launch of the Bada OS. Although Bada is not that popular, but Samsung has deep pockets and technological know-how to make it a success in the long run. The company’s mobile chat application ChatOn is quite popular. The application is not only available on Samsung devices, but products made by rivals Apple and Research In Motion (RIM) also support it and many users also use it. The ultimate aim of the company is to capture the mobile social media industry, especially when Facebook is struggling in the mobile format. Samsung has the complete skills and knowledge about the mobile industry and this could help it in beating Facebook, at least in the mobile format.

The company’s software analysts are in the process of building a framework based on the Family Story, which is a social networking service with emphasis on photo sharing, chatting and schedule reminders. The service is currently accessible on a limited number of Samsung smart phones and web-connected televisions. In order to make it accessible universally, Samsung plans to offer the service on Amazon’s cloud computing platform. 

The name of the service is not yet finalized but internally is called the project Samsung Facebook.

According to Samsung officials: “`By the end of the year, we will have a polished and finished version of Family Story that will be offered first to Samsung device users for free. The new service will become available in the first quarter of next year at the earliest.”

He further added “The eventual goal is to expand our social media service across different devices from different companies across different mobile platforms. That includes cameras, televisions and blue-ray players.”

The company currently competes with Apple for global smart phone supremacy and has been investing to strengthen the software and content side of its business. If the moves of Samsung yield any success, then surely Facebook and ultimately Google Android may have to worry.

If you want to see the full story, please visit the Korea Times page here.