Facebook is set to launch its own iPhone photo-sharing service that will compete with the likes of Instagram and Path. Tech Crunch has obtained 50MB worth of data about Facebook’s project, including documents and actual images of the work in progress. The service is being called “WithPeople” or “Hovertown” internally, and it’s possible that it will be launched as a built-in feature to Facebook’s existing iPhone app or as a separate application entirely. Judging from the leaked image, we definitely see a resemblance to Path, particularly with the layout of the image previews. It certainly looks like a faster and more interactive way to view your friend’s Facebook photos though, so we’re excited to hear more about this project. 
 
 Read ||||| Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg walks through Facebook headquarters at a news conference in Palo Alto, California in this August 18, 2010 file photo. 
 
 SEATTLE Facebook, the world's biggest social networking website, is set to launch a new feature next week, possibly in the mobile or tablet arena, its CEO said. 
 
 Chief Executive and founder Mark Zuckerberg told reporters in a visit to Facebook's Seattle office on Wednesday that the company planned to "launch something awesome" next week. 
 
 He said the project had been developed at the 40-person Seattle office, Facebook's only major engineering center outside of its Palo Alto, California headquarters. 
 
 There has been speculation in technology blogs in recent weeks about various mobile products in development at Facebook, including the release of a long-awaited Facebook app for Apple Inc's iPad and a specialized app for photo-sharing on the iPhone. 
 
 Facebook's Seattle office has made a mark on the company's mobile efforts, playing a central role in the development of Facebook's unified mobile site, unveiled in March. 
 
 A Facebook spokesman declined to provide further details about Zuckerberg's comments. 
 
 Facebook, the world's largest Internet social network with more than 500 million users, is increasingly challenging established online companies like Google Inc and Yahoo Inc for consumers' time online and for advertising dollars. According to the company, people that use Facebook on mobile devices are twice as active on the service than users on PCs. 
 
 (Reporting by Bill Rigby and Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Phil Berlowitz) ||||| Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the social network has plans to “launch something awesome” next week. There’s no official word on what will be announced, but we suspect it’s going to be the new iPhone photo-sharing service that we saw just last week. The service — which looked amazing in the leaked screen shots — will likely compete with other applications such as Instagram and Path. Rumor has it that inside Facebook headquarters, the new photo sharing app has been dubbed either “WithPeople,” or “Hovertown.” It’s entirely possible that Zuckerberg will also take the wraps off of his company’s native Facebook iPad app, since it would likely fit well into the photo-sharing ecosystem. Lastly, it’s possible Facebook will detail the next steps it’s taking with its Facebook Places check-in service, too, but given Zuckerberg’s use of the word “launch,” we’re not so sure. It remains unclear what day the announcement will be made. 
 
 Read ||||| Mark Zuckerberg didn't say what his company has planned, but speculation abounds that it might have something to do with the mobile or tablet markets. 
 
 Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is promising something big for next week. (Credit: Jessica Dolcourt/CNET) 
 
 Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said today that his company will "launch something awesome" next week, Reuters is reporting. 
 
 According to the news service, Zuckerberg told reporters in his company's Seattle office that the team there had developed the upcoming project. Facebook's Seattle office played an integral role in the development of the social network's recently improved mobile site, prompting Reuters to suggest the upcoming launch could be mobile- or tablet-related. 
 
 If the launch is tablet-related, it could be Facebook's long-awaited iPad application. The company currently offers an iPhone app, but iPad owners have so far been forced to use the full site. Earlier this month, The New York Times cited sources who said Facebook was readying an iPad app, and could be launching it in the coming weeks. 
 
 Then again, Facebook might unveil a new photo-sharing app for the iPhone. A couple weeks ago, TechCrunch announced that it had acquired a 50MB file containing images and documents on a new Facebook app that would allow users to share photos with others. That program, the blog claimed, wouldn't be integrated into Facebook's existing iPhone application, but would take advantage of the service's social graph. 
 
 If Facebook doesn't offer those platforms, it might just unveil a project TechCrunch spotted earlier this month, called Project Spartan. According to the blog, which cited anonymous sources, Spartan is designed to be an HTML5-based competitor to Apple's App Store. The service works in mobile Safari. 
 
 TechCrunch reported at the time that "80 or so" third-party developers had already signed on with Project Spartan, including FarmVille creator Zynga. 
 
 Whether any of these services might be the "something awesome" that launches next week, though, remains to be seen. 
 
 Facebook did not immediately respond to request for comment. ||||| Facebook is announcing something today at 1 PM. We'll have live coverage of the event. 
 
 Until then, here's a preview of sorts ... 
 
 Original: Google+? That's so this week. 
 
 Get ready for something "awesome" from the only social network that matters. 
 
 Mark Zuckerberg told reporters Facebook is "launching something awesome" next week. 
 
 He didn't reveal much else, but if we had to guess it would be an iPad app. 
 
 However, Zuckerberg said whatever it is that is being revealed was made in its new Seattle office. 
 
 We'll be on hand, and we'll get his thoughts on Google+.
– Mark Zuckerberg teased reporters on a tour of Facebook's Seattle office today by announcing that the company will "launch something awesome" next week, reports Reuters, which guesses it's in the "mobile or tablet arena." Let the speculation begin: BGR: "We suspect it’s going to be the new iPhone photo-sharing service that we saw just last week. ... It’s entirely possible that Zuckerberg will also take the wraps off of his company’s native Facebook iPad app, since it would likely fit well into the photo-sharing ecosystem." CNET: "It could be Facebook's long-awaited iPad application. The company currently offers an iPhone app, but iPad owners have so far been forced to use the full site." Business Insider: "If we had to guess it would be an iPad app."