Facebook building smartphone with Apple engineers?

Facebook is leaving no stone unturned to enter the mobile phone arena with a bang. After revealing plans to increase mobile revenue, the social networking giant is hiring Apple engineers to develop a Facebook smartphone. "The company has already hired more than half a dozen former Apple
software and hardware engineers who worked on the iPhone, and one who worked on the iPad, the employees and those briefed on the plans said" reports the New York Times.

Even in 2010, rumours surfaced claiming Facebook is planning to venture into hardware. Again in 2011, reports suggested that Facebook is tying up with HTC to build a Facebook-centric device. But there was no confirmation about these reports.

Recently, a study had revealed that people used the mobile version of Facebook most often and Zuckerberg's team seems to have taken it seriously. After two previous attempts at working on a smartphone, Facebook might launch an own-branded smartphone.

Facebook representatives didn't confirm or deny the rumors but referred to a previous statement it gave to AllThingsD last year that said,"We're working across the entire mobile industry; with operators, hardware manufacturers, OS providers, and application developers", reports the New York Times.