10 startups that couldn’t have done it without Facebook
In the run-up to Friday’s big IPO, here are 10 startups that owe (at least part of) their success to Facebook.
Wooga’s Diamond Dash game tops 11 million downloads
Berlin-based developer Wooga, whose gem-clearing game has already made it one of the most successful Facebook app-makers, says the linked-up iOS version has seen 11 million downloads so far.
Frugalo aims to wake us up from daily deal fatigue
Nowadays, many people’s email inboxes are overflowing with deal advertisements. As much as everyone loves a bargain, it can all be a bit overwhelming. A new app called Frugalo aims to separate the wheat from the chaff in our daily deal overloaded email inboxes.
Meet Uptake: The biggest travel site you’ve never heard of
Uptake’s CEO Yen Lee likes to kid that he runs “the largest travel search company that no one’s heard of.” But the five-year-old company is making its first push for public recognition with a new Facebook app for getting travel tips from your friends.
Zynga’s ‘Words with Friends’ is coming to Facebook
Zynga is bringing its popular Scrabble-esque mobile game Words With Friends to Facebook, the company announced Monday. This represents the first time that Zynga has extended a mobile-only game to Facebook — showing that despite its diversification efforts, Zynga’s dependence on the social network remains strong.
Did Facebook hijack a developer’s app for its own purposes?
UPDATED: Last week, Facebook and Skype launched a new video calling application, hosted at facebook.com/videocalling. But Samuday Web Technologies says it was at that domain first. Samuday now says its video chat app was unceremoniously kicked off of Facebook to make way for the new Skype feature.
After developer outcry, Facebook softens app spam controls
Last month, Facebook came under fire for enacting new spam controls that disabled developer apps without prior notification. Facebook has softened its spam control policy and is now giving developers tools with more insight into when their apps are setting off spam alarms.
In app debacle, Facebook shows it still has growing up to do
Facebook has come under fire for implementing an anti-spam system that mistakenly shut off a number of legitimate third-party applications. For all the impressive growth Facebook has displayed, it looks like the company still has a ways to go when it comes to managing public perception.
Can Heroku Become the Official Cloud of Facebook Apps?
Spotting an opportunity to formally merge cloud computing with social networking, Heroku has developed a program to help customers develop and launch Facebook apps on the Heroku platform. Given the huge number of social apps hosted atop Heroku, the time is ripe to launch this program.
Trimming Facebook for Long Term Value
I think I’m pretty “friendly” on Facebook. I currently have over 400 Facebook “friends,” and some are actually people who I actually would consider my friend in real life while others are just people I know but don’t know well. I have thought about unfriending those whose profiles I look at and wonder “Who the heck is this person?” but have figured there might still be value in “friends,” no matter how tenuous the connection.
The one part of Facebook, however, that seems to be almost completely devoid of any value to the Web working professional – especially in terms of business networking – are the plants, gifts, fish, animals, jewellery (sic), and other invitations such as “I Love the 80s” and “Hotties for Sale.” I don’t mean to be antisocial here. However, in a social media world where information overload is the new normal, we all need to draw the line somewhere.
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