Just married, stocks floated and now heading for the hardware market, Zuckerberg is on a roll.

In yesterday’s Spice we dropped a little more intel regarding Zuckerberg’s latest project: a Facebook phone handset. And now it emerges that the project even has a codename; Buffy, otherwise known as the petite blonde vampire ass kicker of TV and movie legend.

The latest concept of a Facebook handset (Buffy) has been around since last November, with various in-industry names from California, to Taiwan, to Eastern Europe dropping breadcrumbs on what might be the handset to topple Apple and Google. Well, okay, maybe just Google.

Reportedly, Facebook have realised that without their own handset, their service will only ever be slave to other providers’ platforms, such as Google’s Android or Apple’s iOS, so while they are not outright declaring a launch date, they are clearly investing much more money and time in putting together a quality handset.

According to a Facebook spokesperson, “[they’re] working across the entire mobile industry; with operators, hardware manufacturers, OS providers, and application developers.”

Facebook have tried to create a phone before, and this attempt would be their third. The various pieces of the software/hardware puzzle are taking shape, and here’s what we know so far:

• Facebook have actively been approaching engineers and tech-specialists, particularly those who have worked at Apple on the iPhone and iPad, for advice and consultancy regarding technical specs, even recruiting some of them.
• They are reportedly liaising on Buffy with Taiwanese phone manufacturer HTC, which already has form embedding Facebook software and access in their handsets (Facebook button, anyone?).
• The phone will likely run a bespoke version of Android, much like Google’s phones.
• They acquired another camera app (instagram) to join their inhouse one earlier this year.
• They already have a instant messenger service, and a calendar service, and are apparently shopping around Norway’s Opera Software for a web browser.
• They’re apparently in the process of setting up their own app store, with big brands like Spotify and Pinterest already likely to line up.

The reasons why Facebook needs to cross over into their own hardware are multiple. Not only is there the need to free their services from other vendors’ platforms, but also to unlock new revenue streams which are blocked to them by their app running via other handsets and operating systems.

According to sources working on the project, the core idea of the phone is not to compete with the technological mastery of high end smartphones, but to embed Facebook’s proprietary apps and programmes at the core of the phone so that it can learn from each and every action the user makes, building a heretofore unparalleled type of consumer profile. The concept, like Facebook itself, will not be elite handsets, à la Apple, but phones, like profiles, that everyone can use.

The alternative to this pick and mix method of developing hardware would be to follow Google’s example, and simply purchase a handset manufacturer. The search giant recently purchased Motorola for a tidy sum, and industry insiders are wondering quite loudly why Facebook doesn’t consider beleaguered Research In Motion for a low cost pick up. Faceberry, anyone?

As yet, all these rumours add up to little in the way of solid launch dates and phone specs. The best the assorted cabal of insiders, bloggers and tech disciples can discern is that we might see the Buffy high kicking her way into the mobile market earliest sometime next year.

[Mail & Guardian, LA Times, Geeky Gadgets, Boston Globe]