Facebook

Facebook users share 1 billion stories through outside apps

MENLO PARK, Calif. -- Facebook highlighted its developer platform on Thursday, throwing out some big numbers around how third-party apps benefit from connecting to users through the social network.

The social network opened up its platform to independent developers six years ago Friday, Director of Product Manager Doug Purdy told journalists today at a press conference at Facebook's headquarters here. Attracting more developers means more apps for Facebook users.

More than 550 million people use third-party apps through Facebook, and those users share 1 billion stories a day, Purdy said.

He didn't forgot to spotlight mobile numbers as … Read more

Facebook halts U.K. release of HTC First as it remodels Home

Facebook Home is officially in remodel mode.

The social network said Thursday that it has decided to halt the U.K. release of the HTC First, the first smartphone to ship with Facebook Home, as well as limit support for additional Android devices until it can fix things up a bit.

"We've listened to feedback from users on their experience using Home. While many people love it, we've heard a lot of great feedback about how to make Home substantially better," a Facebook spokesperson told CNET. "As a result, we're focusing the next few … Read more

Syrian activists' Facebook pages said to be shuttered

Just as Syria recovers from last week's countrywide Internet outage, a number of government opposition groups are reportedly saying that their Facebook pages have been shuttered, according to Al Arabiya.

One of the pages that is no longer available is the profile page of the former brigadier general of the Syrian Republican Guard, Manaf Tlass, who defected from the government last year. According to Al Arabiya, his page was visited by tens of thousands of Syrians to discuss the country's civil war.

Tlass told Al Arabiya that he reached out to Facebook to get his page back online … Read more

Pandora tunes up music sharing via Facebook

Pandora listeners can now easily share their favorite tunes with their Facebook friends.

The Pandora Web site and the iPhone and Android apps now let you automatically publish your music listening activity to your Facebook Timeline. On the Web site, simply click on the Publish button under the current tune and choose the Publish to Facebook command. Tapping on the Menu item on your iPhone or your Android device gives you the same choice.

You can set various options to determine what get's shared. Your Facebook friends can then discover which tunes you listen to and which ones get … Read more

Facebook simplifies sharing for iOS apps

Sharing is caring -- if your Facebook and your network depends on it.

Monday, the social network simplified the process for sharing activities from third-party iOS apps to Facebook. The company rolled out something called the "Share Dialog," previously in beta, for its iOS software development kit, which means developers can now update their applications to make sharing to the social network as fast and brainless as possible.

Specifically, the developer tool gets the iOS app user from app activity to Facebook share with a single click. With the addition of the special dialog box, app users can … Read more

Report: Facebook and Microsoft flirting with Tumblr too

Yahoo isn't the only tech titan with eyes for blogging sensation Tumblr. The 6-year-old startup that powers nearly 108 million blogs has piqued the curiosity of both Facebook and Microsoft who seem ready to duke it out over the object of their affection, according to a new report.

The Thursday night rumor mill had Yahoo ready to commit to a Tumblr partnership, investment, or possibly even a $1 billion purchase. Now Forbes is reporting Tumblr has entertained equally serious gestures from Facebook and Microsoft.

Yahoo has a lock on negotiations, according to Forbes, which means Tumblr can't field … Read more

Facebook's rocky year as a public company

Facebook's freshman year as a public company played out like an MTV drama in which Mark Zuckerberg was forced to navigate through an awkward accommodation with the rough-and-tumble world of Wall Street.

Even as Wall Street lectured loudly, a preoccupied Zuckerberg was only half listening and seemed more interested in saving the world from a dearth of sharing than worried about quarterly revenue performance. By year's end, though, Zuckerberg had earned his passing grade by demonstrating a masterful understanding of how to make money on mobile. Indeed, Facebook has seemingly weathered the worst even though it was an … Read more

Google: Check out our new Glassware like Tumblr

Google Glass just got a lot more interesting.

Google on Thursday unveiled several new apps -- or "Glassware," as it calls them -- for its wearable computing device. The apps include Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Evernote, CNN, and Elle and join the apps already available from The New York Times and Path. The new apps are currently available to Glass owners.

While the apps have limited functionality compared with their mobile and Web versions, many companies noted the first release is only the start of what their Glass apps will soon offer.

"We believe that wearables are the … Read more

Facebook launches app for Google Glass

Facebook on Thursday launched a version of its app for Google Glass, becoming the latest technology company to release software for the computing eyewear.

The app allows users to upload photos from Google Glass directly to their Facebook timelines. They also can add optional photo descriptions, just by saying the information out loud. Right now, users can't tag people in photos from Glass, but they can tag the pictures after sharing them by going on a computer or mobile device. … Read more