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Facebook touts app numbers at Paris confab

It seems Facebook's app world is getting pretty big.

The social-networking giant today said there are now more than 350 apps on its Web site, with more than 1 million monthly active users each.

On the mobile side, nearly 200,000 iPhone and Android apps are integrated with Facebook, including 9 of the top 10 grossing iPhone apps. Additionally, more than 45 percent of the top 400 grossing iOS apps use the Facebook SDK, the company said.

Facebook, which is at the LeWeb conference this week in Paris, also revealed that Paris has become one of the top locations … Read more

Facebook stock likely to get boost from inclusion in Nasdaq 100

Facebook's stock may be getting another boost soon, thanks to Nasdaq.

The social-networking company is set to replace Infosys on the Nasdaq 100, the collection of the largest 100 nonfinancial companies trading on the stock exchange. The company will be added to the index on December 12, according to CNBC, roughly seven months after its difficult IPO.

In addition to being an apparent nod toward the company's growing influence in the tech community, the move is also expected to lead to a stock price uptick as index fund managers snap up the stock to ensure that their fund … Read more

Zite 2.0: A smarter, snappier personalized magazine for iOS

From the minute I was able to put the personalized magazine app Zite on my iPhone, it became one of my indispensable tools.

Even if I glanced at it for just a few minutes at a bus stop, it was the best portal I had to the news I cared most about because it led me to stories from a wide variety of publications and on almost any topic I could want. And the more I used it, the more it knew what I wanted to read.

That was a year ago, and today, the iOS world can get its … Read more

Facebook's new Messenger app: Path to the next billion users?

It may seem odd to talk about user growth for Facebook, which with 1 billion-plus members is already more than three times the size of the entire U.S. population. But much of what the company does boils down to just that: How to add the next billion users? And then the billion after that?

And that's why today's announcement that Facebook is revamping its mobile messenger app is such a big deal. If it works -- and that's still a big if -- Facebook may be able to reel in many of the holdouts who so … Read more

Facebook users seek answers on advertising, privacy

When given the opportunity to question those who lead Facebook's privacy team about proposed changes to the social network's data use policy before voting on the matter, Facebook users were more concerned with how the site currently manages its data.

Questions during today's half hour live Web talk (archived here) included ones about how posts on Timeline are displayed, what information is shared with advertisers, online bullying, what happens if your account is hacked and, of course, what about that viral copyright post. (It's fake.) One user wasn't even sure there was a vote: "… Read more

Privacy group to appeal Ireland's Facebook audit

A data-privacy advocacy group known as Europe v. Facebook says it plans to take the Irish authorities to court to put teeth into data protection in Europe.

The privacy group, which is based in Austria, has been campaigning for more privacy and greater data protection for the 1-billion-plus members of the social network. It has thus far won some concessions, such as Facebook switching off its facial recognition feature for European users.

But the group says the concessions made by Facebook do not go far enough. To push for greater protections, it wants to take the Irish government to court … Read more

Facebook Android Messenger only needs name, phone number

Facebook today made a few tweaks to its Messenger feature, allowing Android users to create an account with just their name and phone number.

Unlike in the past, people now aren't required to have a Facebook account to access Messenger.

The move is a way for Facebook to reach a bigger audience, attracting people who don't already have Facebook accounts and getting them to gradually use more Facebook services. In addition, it could also become a way to increase the Facebook usage of existing members by giving them a way to communicate via Facebook with friends who aren'… Read more

Facebook wins preliminary OK of 'Sponsored Stories' settlement

Facebook has won preliminary approval of a proposed settlement of a class-action lawsuit filed over the social network's use of members' names and images in advertising.

Under the settlement's terms, Facebook agreed to pay $10 to each user who objected to being included in the social network's "Sponsored Stories" advertisements, as well to initiate user controls that allow people to be excluded from the program.

U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg said today that the settlement "has no obvious deficiencies" and "appears to be the product of serious" negotiations between lawyers … Read more

Facebook opens vote on policy changes, addresses privacy concerns

Nation Facebook has officially opened its polls. So from now until noon on December 10, Facebook's billion-plus members will be able to vote on a number of proposed policy changes as to how Facebook governs its site. These include how Facebook handles your data, and a plan to abolish the social network's practice of allowing users to vote on policy changes in the first place.

The proposed changes, rolled out just over a week ago, have led to plenty of criticism from privacy advocates, who urged CEO Mark Zuckerberg to reverse course on the whole thing.

And as … Read more