Samsung getting fed up of copying making phones perhaps? Or do they genuinely believe they can do what the likes of Google and Apple have miserably failed to achieve? Either way, reports from Korea that the electronics and just-about-everything-else giant is planning to launch a social networking service to rival Facebook are sure to raise an eyebrow or two this morning.

The Korean Herald (admittedly, not the best of sources) quoted a Samsung official as saying that the company hopes to launch a new social networking service to compete with Facebook early next year. According to the source, the service will be available on a variety of internet-capable devices, including televisions and cameras, as well as your bog standard phones, tablets and PCs.

Apparently, Samsung has been encouraged by the relative success of ChatOn, its mobile chat application which is available on the iPhone and several Blackberry handsets in addition to its own products.

In addition, Samsung believes they have a platform on which to build their as-yet-unnamed network, which has apparently been given the none-too-subtle codename of “Samsung Facebook”. The company already has Family Story (did you miss that one? You’re not the only one), a very limited social networking service available only on Samsung devices (please don’t ask which ones), which allows users to chat, share photos and, err, not much else, but at least it’s a start…

The source also claims that the platform will be integrated with Amazon’s cloud computing platform, in order to make it accessible from as many devices as possible, in as many places as possible, anytime users want to. Sadly, it didn’t elaborate on whether or not anyone is likely to want to do so.

One might think that with the failure of Apple’s social music network Ping, and Google Plus’s valiant yet ultimately losing battle to supplant Facebook, the Koreans would do well to try their hand at something else?

But then again, Samsung hardly has a reputation for being the most innovative of companies now, do they?

On the other hand, it cannot be denied that the company has certainly made a name for itself when it comes to taking a product and, [cough, cough] ‘improving’ on it, for want of a better word…

So what’s the chance Samsung can improve on Facebook?

On the ‘face’ of it, there’s not a chance in hell. But then again, if there’s anyone who can make a half-decent ‘clone’ of Facebook and successfully market it as something ‘new’, that’d be Samsung.

Whatever next? Samsung Maps?