NO FACEBOOK ACCOUNT FOR MESSENGER IN ANDROID

NO FACEBOOK ACCOUNT FOR MESSENGER IN ANDROID PHONE

Facebook account can now use its messenger service. Facebook has opened up its messenger service to people who aren't registered with the social network, and you can now use Facebook Messenger to chat using only your name and mobile number.

Facebook updated its Android app yesterday to embrace a wider audience base by removing the necessity to be a Facebook member to use the messenger service. It could help in enticing more non-members to use Facebook services while giving existing users a bonus by letting them chat with friends who are not on the social networking website.Earlier this week rumours were rife about Facebook looking at acquiring cross-platform instant messaging service Whatsapp, but the social networking giants has put an end to all of it by expanding its already existing chat service to encompass IM too. Facebook will be trying to cash in on the fact that using their messenger service will help cut down on the cost of sending out SMSs.

At the Le Web Conference in Paris, Peter Deng, Director of Product at Facebook, said, “The SMS protocol has been around for 20 years. It’s designed for these old phones, and they don’t take advantage of the location features, the touch screen, the picture taking that today’s phones have and that’s why we invested in it.” He added that a lot of people have had to open email accounts just so that they could access Facebook, and the newer version of Messenger will allow more people to benefit from Facebook services without the hassles of signing up.

“As a result of focusing on mobile, for the past year and a half, we've been investing a lot in mobile messaging. We've noticed that people have wanted more than SMS can provide. We want to let people connect with each other and feel like they're in constant communication,” said Deng.

 

Even though the roll-out is currently for Android and scheduled at a later time for iOS, Facebook is looking to add more feature phones to the fold. Deng noted that the site is accessed by 7,000 different devices every day. He said that Facebook is looking at adding new kinds of users to their kitty; users who have not signed up, yet can access Facebook features like photos. But the focus will remain on messenger for Facebook added Deng.

According to the Director, in India and Indonesia, carriers are going to provide low-cost data plans for people who want to use only Facebook Messenger. Facebook joining the IM fray may just lead to popular apps such as Whatsapp and Kik Messenger suffering in India.

FACEBOOK EMAILS

UPDATED DATA USE POLICY IN   FACEBOOK EMAILS 

F acebook emailed its users the proposed updates to its data use policy, which explains how facebook collects and uses data. Also included in the proposed updates is the statement of rights and responsibilities (srr) explaining the terms governing the use of facebook’s services. In a detailed email to its users, facebook elaborated that the updates will give users information about its practices, while also introducing changes to its products. Facebook explains that the updates bring new tools to allow users to manage their facebook messages, while also changing the way it refers to some products. The proposed updates also offer tips to users on managing their timeline. Importantly, the updates will also give users reminders about what is visible to others on facebook.

Among other things, facebook informed its users about the proposed changes to the site governance process for future updates to its data use policy and srr. We deeply value the feedback we receive from you during our comment period but have found that the voting mechanism created a system that incentivized quantity of comments over the quality of them. So, we are proposing to end the voting component in order to promote a more meaningful environment for feedback. We also plan to roll out new engagement channels, including a feature for submitting questions about privacy to our chief privacy officer of policy. We encourage you to review these proposed changes and give us feedback before we finalize them. Please visit the "documents" tab of the facebook site governance page  to learn more about these changes and to submit comments before 09 pst on 28 november 2012,” the email read.

The announcement of the updated data use policy has been one of the most profound ones by the company in recent times.

 Only yesterday, we had reported that the multinational french carrier orange has joined hands with facebook to offer a social calling service, named ‘party call'.

In an announcement made on wednesday, orange announced that the ‘party call’ feature will be available on the mobile and desktop versions of the social networking website, and users will be able to call each other and make group calls using ties on facebook.

What is important about this partnership is that not facebook, but orange is leading this initiative by making use of facebook’s open api. The service uses facebook's open social graph, letting users invite friends and post messages about each call to timelines.In a bid to improve the mobile versions of the social networking service, facebook recently informed techcrunch that the ‘share’ button will be rolled out to the mobile site, and will come soon to the android and ios apps.

The report states that this feature will allow people to share links and photos posted by others or even a sponsored story ad and quickly repost it with the option of adding a comment. This will work a lot like its desktop counterpart.