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Facebook's Finch stickers put livelier face on messaging

Facebook is rolling out a new animated sticker pack created by illustrator Matt Jones as part of a much larger effort to make messaging more human.

Stickers, which are essentially a character-driven interpretation on emoticons, made their first appearance in Facebook's iOS application in mid April. The social network has since added its warm-and-fuzzy, and sometimes kooky, digital machinations to the Messenger application for Android. Facebook will eventually bring the characters to its other messaging apps as well.

Facebook announced Friday the release of a new sticker pack based on a character Jones created called Finch. The pack features … Read more

FB Touch for Facebook 1.0.0 Review

As popular as it is, Facebook's default app is still fairly slow and buggy. Unfortunately, the same can be said for most of the replacement Facebook apps you'll find in the Play Store. FB Touch for Facebook isn't any faster or easier to use than any of those. If anything, it's less fun than using Facebook's default app.

This app is actually one of a pack of apps that offer the same mediocre experience under different names. Like all of those, FB Touch for Facebook sports a Facebook layout circa 2011 with a few added … Read more

Zuckerberg's political action group adds Ballmer, Gates

Mark Zuckerberg's FWD.us political action group has added a few more tech heavy hitters to its membership roster.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith, and entrepreneur and investor Sean Parker have all signed on in support of the Facebook CEO's group aimed at reforming immigration. AllThingsD earlier reported the news, and CNET confirmed the report with FWD.us.

"We've been excited by the momentum we continue to see as more members of the tech community contribute to the national debate to improve our economic future, and support the … Read more

Facebook's latest mobile acquisition: It's all about your data

With the purchase of Parse, Facebook has instantly moved from consumer social network to business service provider, playing host to the back end of thousands of mobile applications. In so doing, the company has bought access to data it could otherwise not touch.

On Thursday, Facebook announced that it agreed to acquire 2-year-old Parse for an undisclosed sum, though multiple reports peg the value at $85 million in cash and stock.

Parse serves as host to "tens of thousands" of iOS, Android, Windows, and HTML5 apps. The company offers mobile developers a convenience by taking care of back-end … Read more

Facebook purchases Parse to promote mobile app development

Facebook has agreed to purchase Parse, a service that allows developers to build mobile applications for iOS, Android, Windows, and mobile web.

The social network announced Thursday that it picked up the mobile-focused company for an undisclosed sum and said it plans to continue offering Parse's products and services. The deal is reported to be worth $85 million, according to TechCrunch.

"By making Parse a part of Facebook Platform, we want to enable developers to rapidly build apps that span mobile platforms and devices," Doug Purdy, Facebook's director of product management, said. "Parse makes this … Read more

LinkedIn Contacts looks to boost relationships

CNET Update has much to say:

It's hard to remember everything. Apps can help. And LinkedIn's Contacts app wants to help make sure you remember more about your professional contacts.

If you're trying to make it in the business world but don't have time for networking and schmoozing, just pay a ton of money for the chance to become BFFs with Apple's CEO Tim Cook. Coffee is included.

Talking to people can be hard, but Facebook doesn't want you to be shy. It's encouraging more messaging by throwing green dots all over the place. … Read more

Download additional 'Stickers' for Facebook Messenger

If your account has been granted access to Facebook Messenger Stickers, you've likely realized they can add a bit of fun to normally mundane conversations. Instead of relying on the standard smiley-face stickers, download additional sticker packs from the Facebook Sticker Store.

You'll know if your account has access to Stickers if you open a conversation in the Facebook app on iOS, or the Messenger app on Android and you see a smiley icon in the text field. Tapping on it will reveal stickers you can then send in your conversations.

The smiley stickers are nice, but it … Read more

Facebook tests 'presence dots' in News Feed to push messaging

Facebook is reminding people that they can -- and should -- message their friends by inserting a chat status icon into News Feed.

The company is nudging some members to message their online friends by indicating chat availability with a green dot, officially called a "presence dot," alongside status updates in News Feed. The tiny addition lets people click the green dot to initiate a message thread.

"This is a limited test putting presence dots on News Feed posts to indicate when your friends are available to chat," a Facebook spokesperson confirmed to CNET. "We … Read more

Facebook Home, BitTorrent Sync, and Twitter Music: The Week in Downloads

Every week, we compile the best new reviews, products, and features from the Download.com software catalog and blog, package them up in a tidy little newsletter, and e-mail it out to all of our lovely subscribers.

If you are a registered CNET member, you can sign up for the newsletter yourself (it's listed as "CNET Download.com Software Dispatch" under "Software News and Reviews"), or check back every Tuesday to read our latest roundup.

Facebook confirms state-of-the-art data center in Iowa

Rumors have been confirmed that the new massive data center to be built in Altoona, Iowa, will be owned by none other than Facebook.

The social network announced Tuesday that the 194-acre site will be the home of its fourth wholly-owned and operated data center worldwide.

"For most people, Facebook is something pretty simple. It's a service you visit every day to connect with the people and things you care about," Facebook's vice president of infrastructure engineering Jay Parikh wrote in a blog post. "But behind the scenes, Facebook is a global service of immense … Read more