Facebook iPad app to launch... finally?

Facebook to announce iPad app at Apple's Oct. 4 iPhone 5 launch

Since f8, Facebook has been front and center in the media and across the Web. What Facebook hasn't done, however, is to announce the launch of an iPad Facebook app.

It appears the wait may be less than a week away, according to Mashable’s Ben Parr. Parr reported Tuesday that Facebook will launch the iPad app at Apple’s iPhone 5 launch event on Oct. 4.

Both Apple and Facebook both could not be reached for a comment, but the timing keeps with Facebook’s current trend of product announcements over the past few months. 

It's also been reported that Facebook may debut the HTML5-based mobile app platform, also known as “Project Spartan,” at the same event, according to the International Business Times.

Originally thought to be a point of connection between the two, Apple has apparently been working with Facebook to perfect the HTML5 platform.

Through the platform, apps will not be distributed through the App Store as a native application, but will be entirely HTML5-based and work in Safari. This gives Facebook maximum control over its apps.

The already much-hyped iPad app gained notoriety in July when it was discovered and leaked that the executable code for the app was hidden within the code for the iPhone app. Though screenshots of the iPad app were also leaked, Facebook had no comment on the app or when it would be finished.

But then former Facebook employee, Jeff Verkoeyen, confirmed in a blog post discovered Monday the app had been completed in May, but just not released.

The hold-up on the app, it turns out, may have been due to a strained relationship between Facebook and Apple.

Apple and Facebook have worked closely together on a number of products, including the Facebook iPhone application, but the relationship began took a turn for the worst last year when Apple moved into social networking with the iTunes music network Ping. Ping didn’t include Facebook due to what Apple termed “onerous” terms on Facebook’s end.

Facebook then shut off Apple after it used open programming tools Facebook made available to developers to allow Ping users to find their Facebook friends on the service.

In return, when Apple announced iOS 5, which was completely integrated with Twitter, a Facebook competitor Facebook wasn’t even mentioned in the release.

With Oct. 4 looming, it appears the relationship apparently is on the thaw. And if it continues on this path, who knows? The dynamic duo just may accomplish the goal they have most in common—to beat Google.