The new platform is "entirely HTML 5 - based" and it's initial target, according to the article in Techcrunch, is "mobile Safari."
According to the article, Project Spartan, Facebook will try to "use Apple's own devices against them to break the strangledhold they have on mobile app distribution." This is exactly what Day and Schoemaker discuss in their article "A Different Game," in the book Wharton on Managing Emerging Technologies, that we discussed in class. As the authors point out, "[s]ome firms manage to overcome the challenges associated with incumbency and avoid being marginalized by a new technology." (pg.3) If this rumor is correct, then Facebook is coming up with a new strategy to retain its autonomy while moving into Apple's disruptive space.