Read the Writing on Facebook's Wall
NEW YORK (
) --
seems to be creeping into a few areas that has tech giants like
Apple
(AAPL) - Get Report
,
(GOOG) - Get Report
and
Yahoo!
(YHOO)
a little peeved.
Facebook has become the
No. 1 poacher of Google talent
. It has
unnerved Apple
by mysteriously scheming for a
rival mobile phone strategy
. And now, the social shop is on the verge of launching a full-featured
service to unseat Gmail and Yahoo!.
Wasn't finding friends for a half-billion people enough?
|
Apparently not. Now that Facebook has snowballed into a connection colossus, the next move is rumored to be exploring broader business strategies, like taking social networking into other areas of people's lives -- mobile and work.
And what means business more than Facebook entering the business market?
It could be a stretch, but it is within Facebook's reach. The over-sharing, chatty Cathy medium could easily take on some office skills. Here's how: give users
Microsoft
(MSFT) - Get Report
Office apps.
That's apparently a big part of the Gmail-killer aspect of Facemail,
according to an All About Microsoft
blogger. The upcoming Facebook mail offering will feature Microsoft's Office Web apps allowing users to create Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents that will be kept online in the Microsoft cloud.
This move, if true, would be a bit disruptive on a number of fronts.
As email with cloud-based Microsoft documents, Facemail would be a formidable competitor to Google Docs, which has been gaining ground as businesses look to "virtualize" by removing hardware and buying services.
Facemail would further widen the distance between Net-based outfits like Google and Facebook and the closed hardware/software realm Apple occupies. Apple has almost no social networking capability and only a limited presence in email or document applications.
Facemail could also muscle out business-contact specialist
by bridging the hugely- popular personal Facebook appeal with its new Microsoft Office work utility.
And Facemail would be an entirely unwelcome development for
Research In Motion
(RIMM)
. The BlackBerry office email system has suffered a few challenges as people use many new devices to get at their work inbox. With ties to Microsoft Office and presumably Microsoft Exchange, Facemail would have at least one leg over the other side of the company firewall where BlackBerry has a sweet niche.
We may get a better clue when Facebook announces its plans Monday.
--Written by Scott Moritz in New York.>To contact this writer, click here: Scott Moritz, or email: scott.moritz@thestreet.com.To follow Scott on Twitter, go to http://twitter.com/MoritzDispatch.>To send a tip, email: tips@thestreet.com.
