There are whispers going around that the current social networking giant, Facebook, will be working with around 80 developers on a hush hush project known as Project Spartan, which is a HTML5-based application platform that will circumvent Apple’s App Store on iOS devices. According to TechCrunch’s MG Siegler, Facebook is currently coordinating the effort so that they are able to maintain control over web apps without the need to submit to App Store terms. Fancy this strategy, using “Apple’s own devices against them to break the stranglehold they have on mobile app distribution.”What do you think of this development? After all, wasn’t it Apple who first pushed forward the idea of web apps for mobile Safari on the iPhone, where they eventually made the jump over to the App Store model in 2008? Project Spartan has been described by Siegler as a mobile web version of Facebook, complete with drop-down menus where new apps are concerned. When fully loaded, these apps would be surrounded by a “Facebook wrapper” which will be integrated with the social network, letting you access newer features such as Credits (not the end game or end of movie credits, but rather,the company’s micropayment environment).
Update: check Hubert Nguyen’s take on Spartan