Facebook finally launches iPad app

by Laura Lock
from http://news.cnet.com/

Facebook's iPad app is finally here.

(Credit: Facebook)

Facebook took a giant leap into its mobile future today by launching the highly anticipated Facebook for iPad app.

Facebook's app (download here) joins other popular social-networking apps on the iPad including Twitter, Flipboard, and Gowalla, all of which had a heady lead on Facebook.

Facebook for iPad was rumored to arrive at F8, the company's developer conference held late last month, and then it was rumored to arrive at Apple's launch event for the iPhone 4S last week. It was a no-show for both events.

According to Facebook, the "full Facebook experience" is on the iPad--driven by your fingertips on the touch pad. Features include larger photos for a vivid slideshows on-the-go. There's a search bar at the top of the left-hand navigation menu, and groups, lists, games and apps are also located on the left-hand menu, while notifications and messages are at the top of every screen.

Facebook users can take advantage of the iPad's sizable touch screen to video chat with friends, IM, and play games using full-screen mode. Watching and recording HD video is also possible in the app.

More details are available on Facebook's blog and stay tuned for a CNET hands-on video on the app.

Facebook is increasingly becoming a mobile company. Today, 350 million out of Facebook's 800 million users log in via mobile devices. Soon, "more than half of all our users will be mobile users," Erick Tseng, Facebook's head of mobile products, recently said at GigaOm's Mobilize, an annual mobile industry conference held in San Francisco.

Facebook for iPad screenshot

(Credit: Facebook)

by Laura Locke October 10, 2011 3:14 PM PDT

Facebook unveils revamped ‘Timeline’ profile page, teams with Spotify and Netflix [video]

By: Todd Haselton

From: http://www.bgr.com/

During the F8 conference on Thursday, Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the stage to introduce a host of new features that are rolling out to the social network. The major change is called “Timeline” and it takes advantage of existing pictures and status updates to create a more visual experience of “who you are.” As you scroll down your personal timeline, you’ll be able to view pictures and updates throughout the years. There is a new option in the upper right-hand side of your profile to quickly skip to a year in time too, and many of the features are also available on Facebook’s mobile applications. Read on for more, including a video of Facebook’s Spotify integration in action.


“This isn’t all of the stuff that I did in 2007,” Zuckerberg explained while showing off his own profile. “It’s just the most important stuff.” Timeline automatically hides information that Facebook doesn’t think is important, but if it is, you can easily switch it to show that content. In addition, users can click the Timeline and add photos to earlier points in time before Facebook existed, such as their childhoods. Apps can also populate the timeline.

Facebook also added a new “Reports” feature in Timeline. Reports can be compiled every month or every year, and they provide a summary of your Timeline including everything you’ve ever done with a Facebook application. Apps can be added directly from a friend’s Timeline, too. Timeline provides an ability to “highlight and curate all of your stories so you express who you really are,” Zuckerberg said. That means you can customize your homepage with a large photo, dubbed the “Cover,” in addition to your profile picture. Lastly, you can restrict access to certain parts of your Timeline if you choose.

Facebook is also adding “verbs” to status updates which will allow people to “express themselves in new ways.” For example, a user can say they read a book or reviewed a restaurant. These will be added to a “lightweight stream” on the side of Facebook’s homepage as an activity and not in the news feed.

Facebook revamped its OpenGraph protocol so developers can include this functionality in their apps. “OpenGraph will enable apps that focus on two things,” Zuckerberg said, noting that the first is the Timeline and the second is discovering new things through your Facebook friends, such as music.

A “real-time serendipity” feature allows you to share content such as Spotify songs with friends easily. If someone is listening to a song on Spotify, you can hover over it and listen along with them or chat with your friend about it. “Developers are using OpenGraph to not only rethink music, but to rethink the whole music industry,” Zuckerberg said. Facebook partnered with other music companies for content as well, although it highlighted its relationship with Spotify. “You’ll now start seeing new music posts and play buttons all over your newsfeeds,” Spotify said in a blog post on Thursday. “Hit a play button and the music starts. Right there.”

Finally, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings also took the stage to discuss and upcoming social version of Netflix that will allow you to discuss what you’re watching with friends, though no additional details were given during the keynote.

Facebook has just used their keynote at f8 to unveil a major new feature: Timeline. It’s your Profile re-imagined in a more visual way. “It’s the heart of your Facebook experience, completely re-thought from the ground up,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg noted.

The focus is on three key things:

• all your stories
• all your apps
• a new way to express who you are

So what does it look like? Check it out below.
Update: And here’s a bit of backstory.

If your interested in getting the new Timeline Profile now watch this video:

Update: Facebook now has information as well:
https://www.facebook.com/about/timeline

Ticketmaster's CEO dishes on new interactive seat maps

From: http://www.forbes.com/

Ticketmaster’s new interactive seat maps combine two things that I absolutely love: social media and music. Now, as soon as you load a seat map on Tickmaster’s site, you see where everyone you know at the concert is sitting. The interactive maps pull data from ticket-buyers’ Facebook profiles.

To learn more about Ticketmaster’s interactive maps, I caught up with the company’s CEO Nathan Hubbard about the inspiration for the maps, how Ticketmaster protects fan privacy, and what’s down the road, including geosocial developments.

Photo by: Rick Diamond and John Shearer

Jesse Thomas: How did the idea come about to pull Facebook data into Ticketmaster’s interactiveseat maps?

Nathan Hubbard: We are laser focused on making the experience of buying a ticket and going to an event awesome. A big part of that is expanding the passion and energy of a live event into the digital space before, during and after the event. Social is the best platform we know of to do that, because event going is an inherently social experience. We sell almost three tickets per order. So first and foremost, we wanted to make the crowd come to life in the digital space. Secondly, one of the challenges in our industry is awareness of events. Historically people have used social to talk about what they are doing in real time, or to share what they’ve done through photos and posting. But that means people don’t always know about an event until after it happens. So we wanted to use social to spread awareness of events at the moment of purchase to drive awareness. Lastly, we wanted to make it really easy for people to coordinate their experiences, sit together and find new friends. The seat map is the perfect vehicle to do all of this.

Jesse: What has the response been to that data?

Nathan: This is one of the most well received innovations Ticketmaster has announced in recent history and the response continues to be phenomenal. Fans are using this new feature to expand their group of friends attending an event. They are using this functionality to help plan their event and coordinate the logistics of everything from travel to where to sit. And as a result it is driving new levels of awareness and engagement.

Jesse: What privacy protections did you put in place to avoid problems?

Nathan: Throughout the development and integration of Facebook into our interactive seat maps we carefully thought through privacy protections for our fans, as the safety and welfare of our fans is paramount. To that end, we made it so fans always had to opt-in first before their seats were shown on the map. Also, whenever fans opt in, we always give them the option to choose if they want to share with everyone or just their friends.

Jesse: Have you encountered any privacy concerns from anyone nonetheless?

Nathan: No, but we’re always listening. We made it very easy for fans to share or not share their event going information. Our fans using this feature haven’t notified us of any privacy concerns. The response has been uniformly positive.

Jesse: Is the interactive map available at all venues where Ticketmaster sells tickets?

Nathan: We currently have over 9,000 events featuring interactive seat maps with Facebook tagging available, and we’re continuing to add more seat maps each week.

Jesse: Is there any geosocial element to make seating purchases or arrivals available inreal time, or is that down the road?

Nathan: We’re one of the few ecommerce companies that gets to connect with each of ourcustomers in person. They tell us where they will be at a given date and time, down to the exact seat location. So enhancing the event with geosocial is a cool part of the evolution of the experience and part of our roadmap ahead.

Jesse: Are there certain venues or types of concerts for which you’re seeing heavier useof the interactive seating maps?

Nathan: So far, we’re seeing the most tagging activity in concerts and sports games, but theater and family shows are definitely getting their share of tags as well. Some of the most
tagged events have been the US Open games, NASCAR, and college football. But the most tagged event to date is actually Bone Bash XII with Judas Priest at Sleep Train Pavilion in Concord, CA.

Disclosure: JESS3 has proudly worked with Facebook, which is referenced in this interview.

Oregon Trail, Carmen Sandiego Games Coming To Facebook

Two blasts from the past--"The Oregon Trail" and "Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?"--are coming to Facebook.

According to a blog post by Blue Fang Games analyst Darius Kazemi, the two games will be available in early February: Oregon trail is launching February 2nd, and Carmen Sandiego on February 9th.

Blue Fang Games will be developing the titles, and The Learning Company is publishing them.

See previews of the two games below. What other classic games would you like to see come to Facebook? Are you pleased with the update Oregon Trail and Carmen Sandiego have received?

WATCH:

Call Your Facebook Friends for Free From Your Android or iOS Device

VoIP giant Vonage has just introduced a new iPhone, iPod touch and Android app that allows users to call their Facebook friends for free. Vonage Mobile for Facebook [iTunes link] is similar to VOiP apps like Skype or Fring, but with a twist: It’s all about Facebook.

The free app does not require a Vonage subscription, but does require both parties to have the Vonage Mobile for Facebook app installed. Once installed, calls can be made over 3G or Wi-Fi.

The app is pretty simple to set up and only requires that you enter in your Facebook () credentials once. Friends are displayed in different groups; those that can be called with the app have a “V” logo next to their names. If a friend is online but doesn’t have the app installed, you can chat with him or her and also send an invite to download the app.

Like the most recent Skype Mobile release, the app can run in the background, meaning that even if it’s not open, incoming calls can still come through. When an incoming call comes through the app, the caller’s Facebook photo and most recent status update are displayed on the screen.

This video shows how the app works:

The concept of making voice calls over Wi-Fi or 3G using a VOiP mobile application may no longer be new or novel, however, we appreciate that Vonage is targeting a specific set of users. For many individuals, Facebook is the nerve center for all online communication — building a VOiP app off of Facebook is pretty smart.

An iPad version of Vonage Mobile for Facebook is poised to join the iPhone, iPod touch and Android () versions soon. We hope that Vonage will also consider bringing the app to BlackBerry handsets.

What do you think of Vonage Mobile for Facebook? Do you use any VOiP apps on your mobile device?

Facebook + Fantasy Football = Heaven

sportsillustrated.cnn.com — Two real world social-life killers unite.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/specials/fantasy-football-2010/

Flipboard Launches as the iPad’s Social Media Magazine

By: Ben Parr

With backing from several heavy hitters and an acquisition, Flipboard has kicked off its quest to become the new and vibrant way you browse your social media streams.

Flipboard, which is now available in the iPad app store, is a start-up that calls itself the “world’s first social magazine.” It connects to your social media accounts — primarily Facebook () and Twitter () — and utilizes that information to create an interface that will feel familiar if you’re a magazine lover. It officially launches today.

Flipboard takes popular news sources (specifically the ones you choose) as well as your Twitter and Facebook feed to provide to create a unique web browsing experience. Moving through the interface is a simple as flipping the page. Items shared on Facebook are suddenly turned into magazine articles and multimedia is immediately made front-and-center.

Here’s an example of what you might find simply browsing through your Twitter and Facebook feeds via Flipboard:

Coinciding with the Flipboard launch are two big announcements: first, the startup has raised $10.5 million in a Series A round including KPCB, Index Ventures, The Chernin Group, Jack Dorsey (Twitter’s creator), Dustin Moskovitz (Facebook’s co-founder) and Aston Kutcher.

Second, it has acquired Ellerdale, a real-time web intelligence startup, and made co-founder Arthur van Hoff its CTO. Ellerdale’s semantic analysts technology will help Flipboard choose and organize the most relevant stories for the readers.

I am thoroughly impressed from our first run with Flipboard. It is simply gorgeous and a pleasure to browse. I could the app open for hours just watching my feeds pass by. If I wanted to scan the key news from my social networks, this is the way I would want to do it.

Would you use an app like this to browse your social media feeds? Let us know what you think of the app in the comments.

Facebook for Silverlight Puts a Dark, Stylish Facebook on Your Desktop

Windows/Mac: Back in November, Microsoft featured an attractive Facebook client to demo Silverlight 4, and many people wondered where it went. Well, Microsoft has finally released the fancy Facebook client for download, and it has almost everything you could want from Facebook.

Above all, this app is beautiful, certainly more beautiful than Fishbowl, the client that was released after Silverlight's introduction and confused many by its lack of similarity to the client demoed. Not only does it have cool photo grids integrated into your news feed, but there are some really cool (but subtle) sweeping animations when viewing photos in an album. It even features a photo uploading tool to replace Facebook's mediocre uploader.

Viewing photos is certainly where Silverlight's strengths come into play the most, but the app has pretty much every other part of Facebook integrated—you can view your news feed, friend list feeds, profiles, and even your inbox. You can view a list of upcoming events, but the event pages themselves are not integrated—clicking on it will take you to the event's Facebook page in your browser. The app doesn't currently support chat, which isn't really a drawback due to Facebook chat's suckage—but if you are that addicted to Facebook chat, you can already get it on your desktop easily through a client like Pidgin or Adium.

The app has a few minor bugs, which is to be expected due to the fact that it's still a developer preview. It's supposed to have TweetDeck-style notifications, which I'm not seeing, and sometimes new posts just don't load. A new post on my wall showed up in my news feed but took awhile before it showed up on my wall, so it seems there's a bit of a delay in updates. In addition, it seems you can't use your scroll wheel in the application—you actually have to click the arrows or the scroll bar to scroll up and down. These things are hardly a deterrent, though—if you, like many, have been looking for a desktop version of Facebook since 2005, this looks like the app to use.

The Microsoft Silverlight 4 Beta Client for Facebook is a free download, requires Windows or Mac OS X with Microsoft Silverlight to use.

Microsoft Silverlight 4 Beta Client for Facebook [via Download Squad]

Send an email to Whitson Gordon, the author of this post, at whitson@lifehacker.com.

Facebook 3.0 for iPhone released

by John Burke (RSS feed) on Aug 27th 2009 at 5:30PM
After a couple of weeks of waiting in the iTunes app store approval queue, the 3rd major update of the popular Facebook for iPhone [iTunes Link] application has been released. Joe Hewitt, the developer of the app, has been working on it for quite some time and submitted it for review on 8/16. If you're still seeing 2.5 in the app store, Joe suggests deleting the app from your phone and reinstalling it -- it will be 3.0.
The new version includes some of the most requested features including:
Better news feed with direct links to comments
Ability to "Like" posts
RSVP to events
Create/upload photos to albums
Write/edit notes
Customizable home screen
Improved photo viewing with zoom
Better notifications
Hewitt is already working on the next release, version 3.1, which is rumored to focus on adding Push Notifications.
Check out some shots of the app in action:

Gallery: Facebook for iPhone

Facebook 3.0 For iPhone Submitted. Now Let’s Count The Days Until It’s Available

by Michael Arrington on August 16, 2009

Facebook has submitted v. 3.0 of their iPhone application to Apple, Joe Hewitt says via Twitter: “Just uploaded Facebook for iPhone 3.0 to the App Store for review. :)”

Hewitt also says he’ll post screen shots and more detais on this Facebook page for the iPhone app next week, and that he’s looking forward to getting started on v. 3.1 tomorrow.

We’ve been tracking 3.0 since details first became available in July. A list of some of the much needed improvements is here. And as a bonus, Hewitt said he’d be able to include video uploads to Facebook from iPhone 3Gs phones as well. And from our most recent post (yes, Hewitt has been teasing this out for weeks):

That means that shortly, we’ll have access to the much-improved app which is scheduled to have features such as a News Feed that is more like the one on Facebook’s site, the ability to “like” items and a new customizable home screen. More importantly, it will also have video support for the iPhone 3GS, something which Hewitt threw-in at the last second, unexpectedly. And perhaps best of all, the app will have the ability to manage events, finally.

It’s likely Apple will approve this app in short order. Not only are they trying to avoid high profile app problems, there’s also not very much in the Facebook app that they or AT&T would take exception to.

If you haven’t heard it, make sure to listen to our interview with Joe Hewitt two years ago when Facebook first launched a special browser-based version of Facebook for the iPhone.

Thanks for the tip, Matthew.