Last year, there were plenty of rumors that Facebook was working on building a phone of its own. Ultimately, a pair of humdrum devices with a simple “Facebook button” ended up hitting the market, and the rumors stopped… until now. On Monday, AllThingsD said it has learned that Facebook is working closely with HTC on a new phone currently codenamed “Buffy.” The device will supposedly run a modified version of Android that, obviously, will put Facebook’s services smack in the faces of its users. The two companies are also working to add support so that developers can write HTML5 apps for the phone. “Our mobile strategy is simple: We think every mobile device is better if it is

The new desktop software will offer Windows 7 Facebook users access to Chat, the ticker feed and notifications. The standalone application is targeted towards users of Facebook’s chat service. Facebook’s most popular application on its platform is the Windows Live Messenger client which has 18.2 million daily active users. The new Messenger application was developed entirely by Facebook according to TechCrunch. The application only works on Windows 7 and Microsoft has reportedly not been involved in the development process. Facebook and Microsoft have both been working together closely over a number of features on the popular social networking site. Facebook announced a video callin

The German state of Schleswig-Holstein has ordered organizations to remove the Facebook ‘Like’ button from their websites and shut down fan pages. The Independent Center for Privacy Protection (ULD) says it’s taken the measure because information on ‘Likes’ is sent back to Facebook in the US and used to create a personal profile, contravening Germany’s tight privacy laws. “Whoever visits facebook.com or uses a plug-in must expect that he or she will be tracked by the company for two years. Facebook builds a broad individual and for members even a personalised profile,” says the ULD in a statement. “Such a profiling infringes German and

Google is trying to be the industry leader in every Internet service. It looks like it’s working, they’re getting people to use their social networking services at Google+ at a fast pace. According to Reuters, Google+ has gained 25 million users. That makes it the fastest growing website to garner an audience of such a formidable size, says ComScore. Google+ launched in late June and managed to attract some 25 million visitors by July 24. It’s expanding at a rate of almost one million users per day. In contrast, it took Facebook nearly three years to get 25 million visitors, while it took Twitter a little over 30 months. Right now the numbers indicate Google’s social networking s

Facebook has signed an agreement with Chinese search engine giant Baidu to set up a new social networking site in China, a leading web portal reported Monday. The new website will not be linked to Facebook’s global service, which is currently blocked in China, the report on Sohu.com said, citing unnamed Baidu employees. The agreement follows several meetings between Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Baidu’s chief executive Robin Li, it added, and comes amid reports the US social networking giant is eyeing a move into mainland China. Baidu spokesman Kaiser Kuo refused to comment when contacted by AFP, and the Sohu report was later taken off the website. Facebook downpl

Twitter might introduce pages for brands similar to those on Facebook, according to reports. The initiative, which Marketing Magazine reports is being lead by Twitter CEO Dick Costolo and President of Revenue Adam Bain, is to give brands their own space on Twitter — a page they could point to and use to deliver content, while encouraging Twitter users to follow them. In a similar move, Foursquare launched Pages Gallery Monday, a showcase of different company pages on Foursquare. The question is: does Twitter really need branded pages? On Facebook, the entire brand experience revolves around the company’s page. That part of the experience is currently lacking on Twitter, w

A spoof news story on Weekly World News has convinced thousands of people that Facebook is to close down altogether on March 15th. Despite appearing alongside reports that boxer Mike Tyson has a pigeon fetish and that alien spaceships are set to attack the Earth next year, the story has sparked panic on the internet. The site ‘quotes’ founder Mark Zuckerberg as saying: “Facebook has gotten out of control, and the stress of managing this company has ruined my life. I need to put an end to all the madness.” There’s also a ‘quote’ from a Facebook vice president saying that all stored data will be deleted on the 15th: “If you ever want to s

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – An official with Saudi Arabia’s communications authority says it has blocked Facebook because the popular social networking website doesn’t conform with the kingdom’s conservative values. The official says Saudi’s Communications and Information Technology Commission blocked the site Saturday and an error message shows up when Internet users try to access it. He says Facebook’s content had “crossed a line” with the kingdom’s conservative morals, but that blocking the site is a temporary measure. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to the media. Saudi Arabia fol

Palo Alto, California-based Facebook, Inc. introduced today the ability to drag and drop albums and photos. The feature seeks to make organizing much easier. The company also enabled other minor features such as an improved News Feed photo viewer. The announcement was made on a video, which ironically was uploaded to YouTube. As many of you might remember, Facebook began to enhance and improve the photo section of its website at the end of September of this year. The company has previously introduced the ability upload and view high resolution photos as well as an easier way to upload and tag images. The new drag and drop feature will certainly be welcomed by Facebook users. Chec

Facebook and Skype have reportedly decided to team up together to integrate contact lists, voice and video chat, and other messaging services. The integration could allow users to actually make phone calls to their friends on Facebook, using the voice-over IP service powered by Skype. It would also link the two services together, creating a universal friend/contact list between them. According to a report from Allthingsd.com, which claims to have the exclusive scoop on this story, the partnership would also bring text messaging services and Facebook connectivity shared among the two online giants. This totally fits in line with Facebook’s goal of having a presence across eve