Facebook (News - Alert) is supposedly announcing a rather important development today, according to a brief mention from CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and resulting reports. The company is keeping an Apple-like cover about its news though, leaving speculators and industry observers gnashing their teeth for what the latest improvement will be.

Some speculate that the announcement will be a Skype integration, while others are ruminating over an HTML5 update. Those of us in the TMC (News - Alert) office have our own opinions about what might be coming from Facebook, and what we’d like to see.

TMC’s CTO Tom Keating wrote in a recent blog post, “According to various sources, Facebook will be announcing  browser-based Skype video calling.” The rumor mill has it that an additional announcement will accompany the first one. Keating continued, noting that some believe, “Facebook will be announcing the release of Project Spartan, which is the codename for a an entirely HTML5-based platform, with the specific goal of reaching mobile users and in particular mobile Safari on the iPhone (News - Alert) and iPad platforms. This would completely bypass Apples iTunes and allow Facebook to allow their own free or paid applications without Apple's approval process.”

When discussing what we’d like to see from Facebook, as followers of the in-depth relationships amongst leaders in the social media scene, Web Editor Tammy Wolf mentioned, “I can imagine it may be something to do with a conferencing capability. I believe that’s the logical next step for Facebook, which seems to be attempting to create a complete user interface where the user will no longer be required to leave the platform to perform other tasks. I love that Facebook already offers one-click access to chat, so video conferencing would definitely take it to another level.”

Another point of consideration is the recent announcement of Google (News - Alert)+, and Facebook’s potential comeback to Google’s coveted new network. The lack of Facebook on the iPad has users wondering what could be coming next as well.

TMC’s Editorial Director, Erik Linask (News - Alert) suggested, “Skype integration is a logical assumption, especially considering the immediate success of Google+ Hangouts.  Since the introduction of the first iPad, tablet users have been clamoring for is a better Facebook experience – and rightfully so.  A native app is one option.”

Tacking on to the alternative (or additional) possible announcement, Linask noted, “An HTML5-based Web experience, however, would provide a common cross-platform and device experience while delivering on user expectations.  For developers, it offers a develop once, deliver to all option for application developers; for users, it brings consistency of experience across platforms.”

On the consumer side of things, Managing Editor Stefanie Mosca stated, “I hope that Facebook’s ‘awesome’ announcement is a music sharing platform. I’m a big fan of downloading and sharing music so I think it would be cool if I could do it on the same platform with my 600 Facebook friends who I know share the same tastes in music as me.”

While a music-sharing platform would be cool, others want a more practical way to manage their social interactions on the ever-growing Facebook beast. Rich Steeves, copyeditor for TMC, mentioned that he would prefer, “Easy to use ‘skins’ or Facebook buckets that allow me to better manage my different identities: personal, professional, etc. by granting access to certain people inclusively instead of excluding them.”

Stay tuned as we update on what the social media giant actually reveals!