Facebook iPad app on the way despite 'Project Spartan' efforts

Facebook is on the verge of launching a native app for Apple’s iPad more than a year after the device went on sale.

Unnamed sources briefed on Facebook’s plans say the application has been in development for almost a year and has been carefully designed and optimized for tablet computing, reports the New York Times.

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The new app is also said to overhaul Facebook’s Chat and Groups features and utilize the iPad’s front and rear cameras for both shooting and uploading photos and videos, according to the sources.

Many people have complained about Facebook’s lack of iPad support, which has forced them to use either the iPhone application on the tablet or a third-party app like Friended or Facely HD. However, the company can hardly be accused of laziness.

The iPad app is just one of several different projects reported in the last few days that’s kept the social media giant busy.  Earlier reports indicated that Facebook is working on an HTML5-based web app for mobile Safari on iOS devices, which is designed to circumvent Apple’s App Store — code-named: Project Spartan. There’s also Facebook’s big photo sharing project for the iPhone and the company’s partnership with Comcast on an enhanced TV watching experience.