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Facebook launches photo comments

Facebook is now letting its 1.11 billion members react to their friends' status updates with photo comments.

The social network said Wednesday that it has started the global release of the new feature, which lets people add photos to comment threads using a new Attach a Photo button. To start, uploads of photo comments will be restricted to the Facebook Web site and mobile site, but simply viewing photo comments will be possible from Facebook's mobile applications, the company said.

Photo comments are a product of one of Facebook's famous hackathons. Facebook engineer Bob Baldwin, one of … Read more

Facebook's 'big idea' event: Join us Thursday (live blog)

Facebook unveils its next "big idea" on Thursday, and CNET will bring you all the news with live commentary and photos.

The social network was as mysterious as ever when it snail-mailed printed, coffee-stained invitations to the press last week, inviting journalists to "join us for coffee and learn about a new product." The invite, which was followed by a e-mailed link to an invite-only RSVP splash page, teased, "A small team has been working on something big."

Facebook's event starts at 10 a.m. PT, and you can follow along on CNET'… Read more

Facebook experiences apparent outage

Facebook is currently suffering an apparent disruption that is preventing many of its users from accessing the social network.

Downforeveryoneorjustme.com was giving visitors intermittent "down" answers this evening when they checked on Facebook's status.

While the mobile version of Facebook was available to smartphone and tablet users, people trying to visit the Web version Tuesday evening were greeted by the message that the page did not exist.

The outage appears to have begun around 6 p.m. PT, but it's unknown how many people might be affected.

Facebook users turned to Twitter to complain about … Read more

Candy Crush Saga creator appears sweet on an IPO

The creator of hit puzzle game Candy Crush Saga is preparing to go public, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.

Anonymous sources told the Journal that King, through its holding company Midasplayer International Holding Co., has talked to several banks including J.P. Morgan Chase, Credit Suisse Group AG, and Bank of America to carry out its initial public offering, or IPO, in the U.S. This means King wants to sell shares of its company to public investors.

While CEO Riccardo Zacconi has mentioned an IPO as a possibility before, this report signals that … Read more

Facebook for iOS gets emoticons

Facebook added a collection of emoticons to the latest version of its application for iOS devices.

In version 6.2, released Tuesday, Facebook users on iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch can add emoji-style icons to their status updates for show-and-tell social networking.

The status icons were added to Facebook's Web site earlier this year. The iOS edition replicates the desktop release, which means people can click the smiley face in the status update box to bring up a menu that sorts expressive graphics into categories including feeling, watching, reading, and eating. The mood and activity images are accompanied by … Read more

Facebook looking to partner with Samsung?

During Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's whirlwind Asia tour, he stopped by the offices of Samsung this week for a quick meeting with the company's president, Shin Jong Kyun.

After the meeting, Shin stopped to talk to reporters and said that the two discussed potential partnerships, according to Bloomberg. The partnerships would reportedly center on advancing mobile-advertising sales.

Facebook has been long pushing to boost advertising on mobile. In April, the social network debuted Facebook Home, which is a family of mobile apps and a social-networking-focused skin that runs over Android in smartphones like HTC's One and Samsung'… Read more

Facebook reportedly delays release of video ads

Facebook is postponing the release of video advertisements that automatically play in News Feed, according to Ad Age.

The social network wants to release the specialized units alongside new social-networking features and is now targeting an unofficial mid-October launch date, Ad Age reported, citing a source familiar with the product.

Fifteen-second video ads that auto-play in the Facebook feed have been rumored since late last year and were supposedly on track for a June or July release. In April, Ad Age reported that the social network was shopping around the units for a price tag upwards of $1 million for … Read more

Amazon adds group gift cards to Facebook

Amazon just made it a little easier to send birthday gift cards to Facebook friends.

The Seattle-based online retail giant on Tuesday launched Amazon Birthday Gift, which allows customers to send friends electronic gift cards on their birthdays. Customers can invite mutual friends to contribute, so the gift can grow.

You start the process ahead of the friend's birthday by going to Amazon's site. After logging into your Amazon and Facebook accounts and connecting the two -- which allows Amazon to collect information about you and your friends -- you'll be shown a list of your friends … Read more

Facebook to unveil Instagram video on June 20, report says

Facebook and Instagram might have a new feature up their sleeves.

At its special press event on June 20, Facebook will unveil video support for Instagram, TechCrunch is reporting, citing a person who claims to have knowledge of its plans. Similar to Twitter's Vine, which allows users to post 6-second videos, Instagram's videos would be limited to 5 to 10 seconds.

Vine has been growing rapidly, as users have found it to be a worthwhile alternative to tweeting or sharing pictures. Users are able to record several seconds of video, and then share it with friends. Vine videos … Read more