Facebook may have failed to acquire mobile messaging startup Snapchat, but it seems that the company hasn't yet given up on its ephemeral messaging ambitions. According to a Financial Times report (subscription required), the social networking giant is gearing up to introduce a Snapchat-like app that would allow users to share pictures or short video messages.

Dubbed internally as Slingshot, the app is said to have a simplified, grid-based interface similar to the one seen in messaging app TapTalk, and just like Snapchat, pics and videos can only be taken in real time, with messages disappearing after a specified time period.

The app isn't expected to integrate with other Facebook applications, such as Messenger, so messages sent through the app will only be available to other users of the software.

Slingshot has apparently been in development for several months now, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally supervising the project.

This isn't Facebook's first attempt at a Snapchat-like service. Back in 2012, the company launched an identical app called Poke which borrowed its name from a completely different feature that had been available on the social networking website for years.

Poke failed to attract a significant number of users, and the company recently removed it from the Apple App Store.

It isn't hard to guess the reason behind Facebook's obsession to own a Snapchat-like app, as the original app has grown rapidly in popularity with teens, pulling them away from the world's most popular social network.

According to the report, Slingshot could be launched as early as this month.