"Mobile is the epitome" of social, Pearce claimed. "If Facebook were built today, it would be a mobile app," says James Pearce, Facebook head of mobile developer relations. Facebook, for example, currently has 425 mobile users, compared to 825 million total users.
But those millions are fractured among native apps running on specific mobile platforms and browser-based mobile Web apps. Surprisingly, according to Pearce, Facebook's mobile Web app usage outweighs that on Android and iOS combined.
That's one reason why Facebook hopes HTML5 will get huge traction. HTML5 would solve the mobile handset fragmentation problem, allowing Facebook and its partners to create apps without worry about device incompatibility issues.
That's one reason Facebook is supporting the Core Mobile Web Platform Community Group, of the W3C, which brings together developers, carriers, phone makers and browser developers. But you might guess, rightly, that if HTML5 wins, other distribution channels might lose.
Think about app stores, and you see the issues. That could be one reason why neither Apple nor Google have joined the effort.
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