Tag Archives: facebook

Facebook “Home” Is Next Step in Facebook’s Developing World Strategy

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Projections from the Yankee Group, a Boston-based analytics firm, highlight the potential: the number of smartphones in use is projected to double from 1.5 billion in 2013 to nearly 3 billion in 2017. Most of those 1.5 billion new adoptions will be in the developing world, and the vast majority will be lower-end Android phones. Facebook also wants to capture the attention of those who haven’t yet gotten access to the Internet—and will likely first do so on a mobile device.

via Facebook “Home” Is Next Step in Facebook’s Developing World Strategy | MIT Technology Review.

Coming and Going on Facebook

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Two-thirds of online American adults 67% are Facebook users, making Facebook the dominant social networking site in this country.   And new findings from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project indicate there is considerable fluidity in the Facebook user population:

via Coming and Going on Facebook | Pew Internet & American Life Project.

  • 3% of Facebook users say they plan to spend more time on the site in the coming year.
  • 27% of Facebook users say they plan to spend less time on the site in the coming year.
  • 69% of Facebook users say they plan to spend the same amount of time on the site this coming year.

Facebook Hacks Points to Much Bigger Threat for Mobile Developers

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In this case, the website of a legitimate mobile developer was targeted, with the attackers knowing the people they were really targeting (Facebook, Twitter etc) would sooner or later come to visit the site, allowing them to infect the computers of these organisations.

This type of attack allows hackers to infiltrate systems otherwise closed off to them as Facebook’s own security would spot a straight forward attack.

via Facebook Hacks Points to Much Bigger Threat for Mobile Developers – IBTimes UK.

The article mentions how many app developers on Mac platforms are operating with a false sense of security.  Interesting read.

Sullivan has this advice for mobile app developers:

“Any developer who has Java enabled in his browser, has visited mobile developer websites in the last couple of months, and finds evidence his computer is compromised – probably should use his source code versioning system to check recent commits.”

Facebook Messenger app change allows free calls via WiFi

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Using software, rather than hardware, the latest update of Facebook’s Messenger app now lets U.S. users place voice calls over WiFi. The rollout follows reports of Facebook testing voice call features in Canada earlier this month.

via Facebook Messenger app change allows free calls via WiFi – The Washington Post.

You might want to be careful about this after reading this article on slashdot:

Facebook Lets You Harvest Account Phone Numbers

Instagram Loses Half Its Daily Users In A Month, And Here’s Why

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According to data provided by app traffic company AppStats, Instagram has lost more than half of all its active users in the month since proposing to change its original Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. In mid-December, Instagram boasted about 16.3 million daily active users; as of Jan. 14, Instagram only has about 7.6 million daily users.

via Instagram Loses Half Its Daily Users In A Month, And Here’s Why [REPORT].

Funny stuff from xkcd.

Instabridge’s Android app uses Facebook Connect to let you share Wi-Fi with friends.

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Instabridge’s free Android app lets you automatically share Wi-Fi networks with your Facebook friends. Available in a handful of European countries, the app works by taking advantage of the Facebook Connect authentication tool, which lets users to log on to websites with Facebook credentials.

via Instabridge’s Android app uses Facebook Connect to let you share Wi-Fi with friends. | MIT Technology Review.

To share a Wi-Fi network through Instabridge for the first time, you must type in your network’s password, which is encrypted and stored on Instabridge’s servers.

Instagram Can Now Sell Your Precious Photos

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Earlier this month, Instagram disabled photo integration with Twitter, raising the ire of many users and pundits. “The only way these companies can succeed financially is by tricking members and forcing them into walled gardens,” Dan Lyons wrote in a Dec. 10 ReadWrite posting. “Think of it this way—there’s a reason that they don’t hold a circus out in the open, and instead put it under a tent—and it’s not to keep you dry in case of rain.

Via Instagram Can Now Sell Your Precious Photos.

Are Your Facebook Friends Stressing You Out? (Yes)

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Facebook’s power, and its curse, is this holistic treatment of personhood. All the careful tailoring we do to ourselves (and to our selves) — to be, say, professional in one context and whimsical in the other — dissolves in the simmering singularity of the Facebook timeline. The circumstantially mediated relationships typical of IRL interactions — you see your boss at work, your friend after work, your mother-in-law at Thanksgiving — are mediated instead by one overarching, and overpowering, circumstance: Facebook.

via Are Your Facebook Friends Stressing You Out? (Yes) – Megan Garber – The Atlantic.