Tag Archives: Facebook Places

Facebook announces new features on the mobile front

Today Facebook’s Mark Zuckerburg hosted a “mobile event” at Facebook HQ in California.  Almost immediately Zuckerberg shot down rumors of a Facebook cell phone–rats!  What they really called the press event for was to express their interest in “making mobile more social.”  Let’s breakdown the new Facebook app enhancements.

(1) Single sign on. This makes logging into your FB account in multiple apps a snap, as long as the developer incorporates the FB single sign on API inside their app.  Here’s how it works: Once you log into the FB app on your phone, you can then log in to any other app that supports single sign on without typing in your username and password.  No more tedious typing, no more worrying about forgetting your password.  The following Android apps support single sign on today: Flixster, Groupon, Loopt, SCVNGR, Yelp, and Zynga Poker.  These updated apps will make their way to the iPhone “soon.”  And loads more are on the way.  (video demonstration)

(2) Location APIs. This one is directed towards the developer community, but it will result in significant upgrades for users.  Today Facebook has opened up all three location APIs for developers: read where your friends are; write and publish check-ins; search for relevant places.  Up until now, mobile users could only see in the news feed people checking into locations using Places only.  Now that developers have access to the location APIs, they can make their apps support Facebook location notifications.  For example, now you can check into a location using Foursquare, Loopt, or Yelp (and many others) and this information will show up on your mobile and desktop news feed.  In other words, Places can now be integrated into third party apps so users can see and interact with their FB friends within other apps.

(3) Deals platform. Facebook has teamed up with many local businesses to provide users with a new “deals platform.”  Here’s how it works.  With Places users can sign in to locations (ie. a restuarant) and share where you are with friends and see which of your friends might be nearby.  The updated version of Places incorporates deals notifications.  Local business will be able to offer users deals when you check in to their place using FB on your phone.  Now when you search for nearby places a yellow icon will appear next to those places that are offering deals.  Click the yellow icon to view the deal, check in to Places to claim it, and then show it to the cashier to receive your discount.  Note that these deals run on the merchant side, not Facebook.  There are four type of deals: “individual deals for a discount, free merchandise or other reward; friend deals where you and your friends claim an offer together; loyalty deals for being a frequent visitor to a place; and charity deals where businesses pledge to donate to a cause when you check in.  Business like Chipotle, Gap, and McDonald’s are already supporting the deals platform.  Click here to view the current list supporters.  Deals works on the Facebook for iPhone app and at touch.facebook.com on other mobile devices.  (video demonstration)

In addition to these three major announcements, Zuckerberg also set aside time to discuss software updates to the Android and iPhone version of the Facebook app.  The Android 1.4 update brings Places and Groups to the app and a refresh to the notifications application.  Facebook says, “Clicking on a notification now won’t send you off to the browser.  Instead, as long as that notification has an appropriate destination within the application itself, you will be taken there.”  Score!  The iPhone 3.3 update brings Deals and Groups to the app, along with a starred friends list in Places and a new Photos composer.  Both free updates are available to download right now.

[Via FacebookBlog, here & here]

Facebook Places ready to share your location with friends on the iPhone

Similar to Foursquare, Facebook Places gives you the ability to share your location in the world with friends and view your friends’ location.  “Checking in” and sharing your location is simple:

Go to Places on the iPhone application or touch.facebook.com site and then tap the “Check In” button. You’ll see a list of places near you. Choose the place that matches where you are. If it’s not on the list, search for it or add it. After checking in, your check-in will create a story in your friends’ News Feeds and show up in the Recent Activity section on the page for that place.

You can even “tag” friends that are with you, just as you can tag a friend in a status update or photo.  You can also post an update along with your check-in to tell people more about what you are doing.  The “People Here Now” section reveals a list of nearby Facebook users, whether they are “friends” or not.  People will only show up in this list if they are checked into the same location as you.

Privacy concerns are an ongoing issue at Facebook HQ, so they made sure to highlight ways to tweak Places options.  The default setting shares your location and previously tagged locations with friends only; you have to option to change the master privacy control to “Everyone” if you like.  You also have the option whether or not to allow your friends to check you in to places.  If you let them do so, you will receive notification every time you are checked into a place.  You can always remove yourself from the places you’ve been checked or tagged into, just as you can remove your name from a tagged photo.  Want to learn more about controlling your privacy with Places?  Watch this helpful and informative video from Lifehacker that goes through the motions step-by-step.

Facebook Places is only available on the iPhone in the US.  In order to access the new feature you must download the free update for the Facebook app.  Along with Places, version 3.2 brings background photo and video uploads (for iOS4 users), some visual and loading enhancements, and various bug fixes.  Got an Android and Blackberry device?  Point your browser to touch.facebook.com to access an HTML 5 version of Places to join the fun.  Facebook is working on bring Places to other mobile devices and more countries.  They have opened up a Places API for third party developers like Foursquare, Gowalla, and Yelp to use in their respective services.

[Via Facebook; Engadget]