Facebook is on the modification path once again and are currently in the early stages of rolling out some Timeline based changes that will see profiles adopting a new single-column based Timeline setup. Facebook is hoping that the changes will provide a less cluttered user experience and allow those affected members to not only find and locate their favorite pages a lot more easily, but also promote communication between those they are connected with.
For a long time, Facebook was always thought of as a web-based company that didn't put a lot of importance on users who prefer to access their services through mobile devices. The official Facebook app was built around cross-platform technologies making it notoriously slow, unpredictable and unstable, and their mobile website didn't really make things much better. That focus started to shift with the acquisition of Instagram, followed by the updating of their mobile apps into native languages as well as the release of standalone apps such as Messenger and Camera. For the first time, we can now actually get an insight into Facebook's mobile users and devices and firmware that they actually use, thanks to some meticulous data collection from Benedict Evans of Enders Analysis.
If you are an Angry Birds and Stars Wars fan, then chances are high that you were overwhelmed with excitement when Rovio signaled their intention to release an entire themed version of the smash-hit mobile game thanks to a deal with Lucas Entertainment. The Stars Wars version of the game has since landed on the iOS and Android platforms and continues where previous versions of the franchise left off, but the news is filtering through today that Rovio has brought their latest Angry Birds creation to another one billion people, with the immediate release of the game as a Facebook application.
One of key promises made by Mark Zuckerberg upon Facebook's acquisition of Instagram, was that the image-sharing network would retain its own identity, and would not simply become a Facebook-branded product. Thankfully for Instagram fans, that promise has been delivered upon hitherto, although an update to Instagram's privacy policy suggests its Facebook integration will grow a great deal stronger over the coming months.
When you're running a service for over a billion active users, the emphasis on privacy and security are perhaps even greater, and Facebook has always been diligent in its quest to maintain the privacy of its extensive user base. Today, the world's foremost social network announced a bunch of new privacy features, as well as other general alterations in a press statement entitled "Better Controls for Managing Your Content". Here, we summarize what these changes mean for you.
It seems just like yesterday when those 12 bells chimed and 2012 was welcomed with hopes of a prosperous and exciting 12 months ahead, but in just under 3 weeks time that feeling of deja vu will be setting in once again as the curtain closes on another year and we get ready to see what 2013 will bring us. Considering the importance of social media in our lives and the continuing rise in popularity throughout 2012, it's likely that a large portion of us have interacted rather extensively with Facebook during the course of this year, which is something that they are keen to celebrate by offering us the chance to see our 2012 in review directly from our Facebook profile page.
It has always been a subject of curiosity as to why Facebook decided to make its Messenger feature a separate entity on mobile devices. The fact the version 1.0 of Facebook Messenger was riddled to the core with bugs certainly didn't help, but while many had seen the move to separate the two as merely arbitrary or for purpose of vanity, it appears there is, after all, some method to the madness. The Android department of the Facebook Messenger app will soon be releasing an update fairly soon to users in select countries, and intriguingly, it will no longer require users to own an account to log in and get chatting. A direct challenge to the likes of WhatsApp and the traditional SMS app? We think so.
Majority of smartphone users will more than likely be familiar with the WhatsApp messaging app that allows individuals to send simple and personal real-time messages to one another. The app has been consistently sitting on the top of the paid charts on the iOS App Store for the last three years, but also has versions available for Android, BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows Phone, making it a powerful and truly cross-platform messaging service. Although extremely popular, the future direction of the service could be about to change, with reports suggesting that Facebook could be planning to add to their recent acquisition of Instagram by consuming WhatsApp.
Firefox may not be your browser of choice, but considering it has been placed onto a fairly frequent update schedule and is benefitting from a number of impressive changes and feature additions, then it could be worth checking out for those who are growing tired of using the likes of Google Chrome, Safari or dare I say it… Internet Explorer. Being able to stay in touch socially with through the likes of Twitter and Facebook is always important to a lot of people, so it may come as a surprise to some to learn that Firefox 17 brought with it a hidden feature that extends into Facebook.
Facebook is the world's foremost social hunt, and as such, is a great place for people to discover new music, movies and other such content. Sensing this, Mark Zuckerberg's company has teamed up with Apple to add iTunes digital gift certificates to its roster, and as well as allowing users to buy iTunes Store credit for friends, said user can also make recommendations as to what the recipient should spend that credit on.
