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Bing adds more Facebook to search

Continuing down the path of enhancing search results with social data, Microsoft's Bing search engine added even more Facebook features to its right-hand social sidebar.

Thursday, people who search on Bing, and who have connected their Facebook accounts, will find that they can view comments on Facebook posts in the sidebar, add their own comments to surfaced status updates, and "like" the social-network posts without leaving the search engine.

"Now you can see what your friends might know about what you're searching for and engage with them directly without leaving the search page," Bing … Read more

Facebook brings its Yelp-like business Pages to Android

Facebook said Thursday that its Android application will feature its newly redesigned layout for mobile Pages. Pages are Facebook profiles for brands, businesses, and public figures that use the social network.

The new layout, which resembles business listings on Yelp, pushes essential business information such as contact details and location to the top of the Page. It also encourages visitors to leave a mini review, check-in to the location, or "like" the Page.

Facebook first introduced the new look for mobile Pages on iOS and mobile Web a few weeks ago. The changes play nicely with Facebook's … Read more

Facebook Home downloads: When 1M is a small number

Facebook confirmed Thursday that Android users have downloaded its Facebook Home software suite just shy of a million times since the product's launch last month. While that's a whole lotta mobile users, it's a tiny number considering what's possible.

If you consider the number of Facebook users and the amount of Android devices sold, you get a massive network of potential Home users. The social network alone has more than 1 billion users on the site. That's a thousand times more than the number of Home downloads so far.

Then there's the sheer number … Read more

Why Facebook would buy Waze: To fight Google for mobile search

Rumors that Facebook is in late-stage talks to buy Waze for as much as $1 billion have many wondering if the social network's next great ambition is to tackle the maps and navigation market. Maybe -- but only because maps would be Facebook's best way to route around Google and make money from mobile search.

Founded in 2007, Waze makes a navigation application for iPhone and Android used by roughly 45 million people. The app's mapping service is powered by the people who use it. Waze ingests all types of location data as shared, either implicitly or … Read more

Facebook updates Home, says downloads reach 1M

MENLO PARK, Calif. -- Facebook is releasing a new version of Facebook Home, the social network's software suite for Android, the company announced at its headquarters here Thursday.

The new product will go live on Google Play at 1 p.m. Thursday as an update to the Facebook Android app, but users probably won't see it till about 3 p.m., Facebook said.

Facebook VP of Engineering Cory Ondrejka said the company is planning on several improvements to the product in the coming weeks, but today's update will have bug fixes. Also, for any Android devices that … Read more

Facebook reportedly in talks to buy Waze for $1 billion

Facebook may be aiming to spend anywhere from $800 million to $1 billion to acquire Waze, an Israel-based company that offers a socially informed GPS app for drivers.

Talks reportedly kicked off six months ago, according to Israeli business-news site Calcalist, which says that due diligence is currently under way. This would mean that the two companies are checking each other out before signing on the dotted line. The two also have signed a term sheet, or an agreement in principle on the sale, according to Calcalist.

An agreement sounds like it could be close. However, sources close to Waze … Read more

Facebook to Firefox: Please add WebP image support

Facebook's engineers like Google's WebP and want Mozilla to build support for the image format into the Firefox browser.

Google hopes to speed Web performance with the image format, which can do the job of both of today's major graphics formats, JPEG and PNG. Facebook began testing WebP support in April.

And now it looks like the powerful company has become Google's biggest ally in the effort to promote WebP. Mozilla is deciding whether to reverse its earlier opposition to WebP, and Facebook programmer Bryan Alger on Wednesday encouraged Firefox developers to do so in a … Read more

Bang With Friends on iPhone, Android

Finding a Facebook friend for a benefits-only rendezvous is now more convenient than ever with the hump day release of the Bang With Friends mobile apps for iPhone and Android.

Bang With Friends (Official) for Android and BWF (Official) for iPhone arrived Wednesday to help Facebook members discreetly facilitate hook-ups from their smartphones.

The Facebook-connected application first arrived on the Web in January and has around 1 million one-night-stand seekers. And though its founders remain anonymous, Bang With Friends is reportedly close to securing $1 million in funding.

The new mobile apps work like the Web service and allow people … Read more

Facebook's engineering director departs company

Facebook Engineering Director Josh Wiseman has departed the social network with the intention of tackling social problems, according to AllThingsD. Facebook confirmed Wiseman's exit to CNET.

The six-year Facebook veteran is joining the philanthropic-focused venture capital firm Social+Capital as an entrepreneur-in-residence.

Wiseman started at Facebook as an engineer in 2007 after intern stints at Apple and Pixar. Over the years, he climbed the ranks to manage some of the social network's most significant product releases, including Facebook Timeline. According to his LinkedIn profile, Wiseman also managed releases for Facebook flagship products such as photos, video, and chat.… Read more