Spending spree
Facebook has acquired a company called Snaptu in a bid to make its social network more readily available on feature phones.
The London-based American-Israeli firm apparently set Facebook back between $40m and $70m, The Telegraph reported.
It reportedly specialises in making social networks available on non-smartphones, which is particularly handy for Facebook's mobile ambitions as apparently 80 percent of the world's handsets are feature phones or just non-smartphones, making updating statuses and the like difficult on Facebook.
Snaptu wrote in a blog post: "We decided that working as part of the Facebook team offered the best opportunity to keep accelerating the pace of our product development. And joining Facebook means we can make an even bigger impact on the world."
It added: "The acquisition is expected to close within a few weeks. We'll have more updates on Snaptu soon, and we'll be working hard to offer a richer and more advanced Facebook app on virtually every mobile phone. During this transition period, we expect Snaptu will continue to operate as it does today."
Facebook's mobile ambitions are well known and dedicated Facebook mobiles are set to hit the UK market this summer, including HTC handsets the ChaCha and Salsa, which were unveiled at MWC.
Both mobiles feature a dedicated Facebook button for one-touch access to the key functions of Facebook that are integrated throughout HTC's Sense UI. INQ also debuted a couple of Android handsets built for Facebook at the same event.
The two Android Froyo devices called the INQ Cloud Touch and INQ Cloud Q will hit the shelves of The Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy in the UK from April, with the Cloud Q due to launch in Q3.
The firm said they are built for Facebook fans "who use Facebook as their primary means of communication; they deliver a fully live Facebook experience built around INQ's Visual Media Feed."
At the time of the various Facebook phones being shown off, Facebook's head of mobile business, Henri Moissinac, reportedly said: "We want to have every user in every market using Facebook- we're investing in smartphones and at the same time as in mass market phones because we believe with great features and great integrations, every phone can become sociable."
