Facebook on November 3 moved to become the heart of smartphone lifestyles by making it easy for people to find deals at nearby shops and connect with mobile software applications.
The world's top online social networking service updated its mobile platform to let people check into third-party applications with a click of a Facebook sign-in icon and also let them see bargains available at local businesses.
"There is obviously a lot of change in the mobile space," Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said during a press event at the firm's headquarters in the California city of Palo Alto. "You can rethink any product area to be social, where all interactions involve someone's friends... That makes some really big opportunities for new companies to get built and more industries to get disrupted."
Facebook is intent on being a platform for socializing done using applications on mobile phones, regardless of who makes the devices or the programmes, according to Zuckerberg.
Two of the three announcements made by Facebook were aimed at software makers, with the social network eliminating the need to type in passwords for mobile applications and opening a location-based "Places" feature to programmes crafted for smartphones running on Google-backed Android handsets.
A "Deals" feature unveiled by Facebook promised to resonate with users and businesses by tapping into location-sensing features of mobile phones to connect people with bargains at local shops, restaurants or bars. Facebook is giving people incentives to check in by rewarding them with discounts or other rewards from local merchants.
"So many people have said there is no reason to check in at these location-based services," Ray said. "Now, there is a reason for moms, kids, or just about anyone to check in using Facebook."
Businesses can pay for ads to be posted at Deals pages, and if the service results in a deluge of promotions posted by local shops that could open the door for Facebook to charge for priority placement of offers. The single sign-on feature for third-party applications is intended to deal with a lament that trying to type on tiny keypads on smartphones is so frustrating that people don't bother with programmes.