Facebook Mobile
Facebook launches: new iPhone/Android apps, Single Sign-on via Places API, Facebook Deals; http://eicker.at/FacebookMobile
Tagged: Facebook Places Write API Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
Gerrit Eicker
Facebook Single Sign-on
Facebook revamps the mobile log-in process with Facebook Single Sign-on, opens location APIs; http://eicker.at/SingleSignOn
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Gerrit Eicker
TC: “Today at its mobile event, Facebook has just announced that it’s opening up its Write API and Search API to Facebook Places, in addition to the Read API that launched earlier this year. – So what does that mean? Facebook first launched its location APIs at its Places event in August, but it was split into two main sets of functionality: Read and Write access. Most developers only had access to the former – with a user’s permission, a third-party app could pull in Places data from Facebook. But only a handful of large partners had access to the Write functionality, which lets a user syndicate updates the other direction (for example, a check-in on SCVNGR also updates your Facebook Places status).”
TC: “This is a button that third-party developers can use to give users a one-click way to sign on. ‘It removes the need to ever have to type a username or password again,’ Tseng noted. This is all about ‘saving you time from things you have to do, to the stuff you want to do,’ he continued. – This is something that Zuckerberg has been talking about for a while now. And back in August, CTO Bret Taylor noted that they have a team called “Platmobile” working on this very thing. – Tseng noted that implementing this is just a few lines of code. In fact, it’s the same permission system that over a half million games and apps use today on facebook.com, he said. And with that, he invited people from Groupon and Zynga to talk about their experience implementing this.”
RWW: “Interoperability between social networks means that the social connections available are no longer scarce, and service providers must then compete based on quality and kind of service. Want the push notifications Foursquare offers from groups like the History Channel or the Independent Film Channel when you check-in near a point of interest they’ve annotated? Then use Foursquare; you don’t have to lose track of your friends on other networks when all the networks are tied into Facebook. Want the design elegance and collections of locations gathered into Trips that Gowalla offers? Then use Gowalla. You can still see where your friends are if they are using Foursquare instead. – Want to create a radically new place-based social networking experience? No longer will you need to convince potential users to leave their friends behind on more established networks and wander into your lonely wilderness. You’ll just offer them a new lens through which to view the world and their friends on other networks.”
Gerrit Eicker 09:20 on 4. November 2010 Permalink |
TNW: “Facebook held its ‘mobile event’ for over 7,000 viewers. In his opening remarks, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, ‘Our goal is to make it so that no matter what platform you are building, your apps can be social…And that over the next few years, entire industries will be rethought as social applications.‘ He also mentioned that 200 million people now use Facebook via mobile devices.”
Ray, Forrester: “Today’s pronouncements demonstrate the ambition and vision Facebook has for itself in mobile computing and socializing over the long term, but in the immediate future Facebook now is poised to bring the wonders of checking in to the masses. … Facebook’s new Deals feature is uniquely positioned to bring rapid changes to consumer behavior over the next year. Here’s why: First, Facebook is a platform with 500 million avid users (compared to the 4 million who currently use Foursquare), and with each passing month more consumers are accessing and updating Facebook via their smartphones. Second, Facebook’s new Deal platform is free for marketers and SMBs; anyone who claims a location on the Facebook Places platform can easily and quickly launch an offer. Finally, marketers are lining up to create offers on this new Facebook platform. … One outstanding question is how Facebook’s new Places features will affect the fledgling LBS category. … It seems evident to me that the LBS space is in for some profound changes in the coming year as Facebook Places becomes as familiar to Facebook users as status updates and fan pages are today.”
SEL: “The world of location-based services changed dramatically today. And the changes that Facebook announced place the company firmly in the center of that very dynamic universe and ecosystem. – Toward the end of becoming a “platform” for mobile, Facebook made several significant announcements aimed at developers. There were also announcements aimed at consumers and marketers, ‘Deals’ being the big one. … It thus appears very simple to create an offer for Facebook Deals. The simplicity of this page will be significant for the millions of small businesses that will undoubtedly be interested getting access to this offering. And it will be opened up to small businesses in the near future – initially 20,000 and then the broader audience. … Deals will be a big hit with both consumers and marketers, whether large or small. Coupons is one of the most effective and popular forms of mobile advertising and Facebook’s reach will make it a huge player in this segment. – It will take a little while to digest all the implications of these announcements as well as to see their impact on the market and the mobile ecosystem as a whole. But I’m pretty confident that they’ll be significant and even lasting.”
IF: “Facebook is seeking to allow developers to build in a social environment no matter what phone they’re building on, whether that’s RIM, Android, iPhone, Windows Phone, or the mobile web. The company recently reached the milestone of 200 million people actively using Facebook mobile products across all platforms. … ‘You can rethink any product area to be social, have it be more engaging, have it grow virally, and remake whole industries’ says Zuckerberg.”
VB: “With a new single sign-on feature, Facebook aims to become the way users log into all their mobile applications. It’s already doing this to some extent, by allowing users to log into non-Facebook websites using Facebook Connect, but the company’s mobile chief, Erick Tseng, said the goal here is to make the process as simple as possible on phones, where typing in user names and passwords can be a huge pain. … On the privacy front, the news today doesn’t seem hugely significant, but I still expect some complaints when users start seeing Facebook data showing up in other apps.”
Guardian: “Facebook today revealed a series of improvements to its service on mobile devices in a move that lays the foundations for new revenue streams from retail stores, venues and small businesses. – Mobile is seen as a powerful platform for the expansion of Facebook, particularly in the developing world where internet adoption is increasingly skipping desktop computers and growing rapidly on the mobile web. … Facebook’s head of mobile business, Henri Moissinac, told the Guardian the improvement could be interesting for developers. ‘Augmented-reality apps like Layar will be able to visualise deals in real-time around a user’s location,’ he said.”