Leaked: Facebook’s Secret Photo Sharing App

Facebook Secretly working on HTML5 and Gunning For Apple

Facebook is secretly working on an HTML5-based version of its social network that will target iOS devices. Internally, it's called Project Spartan.

The project's goal is to undermine Apple's App Store with a web application that can infiltrate millions of iOS devices. Forget the buggy Facebook app, iPhone owners could use a mobile version of Facebook that is lean, mean and outside the reach of Apple's control.

Eighty outside developers are supposedly working on the project including those from companies like Zynga. Games and credits will be included so you can farm to your heart's content. And yes, it will supposedly land on Android, but the first target is iOS.

Here's something to think about if this rumor pans out. Adobe Flash is gone, Apple is gone and everything will be channeled through Facebook.

Facebook Losing Americans ?Reason is..

Facebook lost 5 million active users in the U.S. last month, according to a tracking service, despite robust growth overseas. Are Facebook's first adopters finally sick of the social network?
Tracking and publishing company Inside Facebook reported that the social network's active U.S. users fell to 149.4 million at the end of May, compared with 155.2 million at end of April, the biggest loss in at least a year. There were also user declines in the United Kingdom, Norway and Russia, where Facebook has been around for a while, but growth in newer markets like Brazil and Mexico.
Some of this is just college kids dropping off the grid as summer starts, some of it is the inevitable backlash from users who try Facebook and decide they hate it. America is a pretty saturated market for Facebook after all. But if the social network wants to reach its goal of 1 billion global users, and to keep growing quickly enough to make its late stage investors rich, it's going to need to drive up engagement. If only there were some invasive, creepy technology it could deploy globally to force people to check their accounts more.

Facebook VP Forms New Venture Fund, The Social+Capital Partnership

Facebook vice president Chamath Palihapitiya will leave the company as he launches a large new venture fund called The Social+Capital Partnership, with backing from some of the worlds leading business and technology leaders. The new fund will be up to $400 million in size, he says, and will focus on a wide range of investments in technology, healthcare, education and financial services. 

Investors in the fund are not yet being disclosed, although Palihapitiya is the largest single limited partner. Facebook is also investing, says the company.

Facebook To Launch Music Service With Spotify

Facebook has partnered with Spotify on a music-streaming service that could be launched in as little as two weeks, sources close to the deal have told Forbes.

The integrated service is currently going through testing, but when launched, Facebook users will see a Spotify icon appear on the left side of their newsfeed, along with the usual icons for photos and events.

Clicking on the Spotify icon will install the service on their desktop in the background, and also allow users play from Spotify’s library of millions of songs through Facebook. The service will include a function that lets Facebook users listen to music simultaneously with their friends over the social network, one of the sources said.

Facebook to use Microsoft’s PhotoDNA technology to combat child pornography

Facebook will be the first company outside of Microsoft to roll out the Redmond company’s PhotoDNA technology — a move that the companies are describing as a big step in the fight against child pornography, given the social network’s large user base and its potential to prompt other online services to follow suit.


PhotoDNA, developed in conjunction with Dartmouth College, derives what amounts to a digital fingerprint from photographs to be able to find and identify other versions of the same images online. Microsoft previously donated to PhotoDNA to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Facebook’s Own (Smaller) “OAuthpocalypse”: Devs Have 48 Hours To Secure Apps

For a group of developers on Facebook’s platform, the clock is ticking.
Last night and into today, Facebook has been sending out notices to developers they believe have apps in violation of their policy against sending authentication data to third parties. Those developers have 48 hours to fix their apps or they risk being “subject to one of the enforcement actions” — read: being booted.

Set Up "Login Approvals" in Facebook for Better Security

Facebook has launched a new "login approvals" feature that can further secure your Facebook account. This adds a second step to the login process if you try to access Facebook from an unrecognized device.


The login approvals feature can be turned on in Facebook under your Account settings under Account Security. You'll need your mobile phone on hand so you can get the text message with a code to authenticate your computer.

Facebook Launches “Social Deals” To Challenge Groupon & LivingSocial

After several months of anticipation Facebook is launching its second deals program: Social Deals. The new effort more closely resembles Groupon-style daily deals, with several twists. The original “Facebook Deals” is now being called “check-in deals” to distinguish it from the new program.


Check-in deals are free to users; they’re mobile centric and operate like conventional coupons. By contrast Facebook’s new Social Deals, like Groupon or LivingSocial, must be purchased up front using money or Facebook Credits (the first use for real-world products/services). You actually buy a voucher that is then redeemed offline.