UPDATE
TechCrunch is reporting that Facebook’s “something awesome” is in-browser video chat built on Skype.
This isn’t the main project that team is working on, but next week, says a source with knowledge of the partnership, Facebook will launch a new video chat product, powered by Skype, that works in browser. Suddenly those chat icons in the invitation have a lot more meaning.
No word yet on whether users will have to have Skype installed on their computers to use the new video chat.
EARLIER POST
What does Mark Zuckerberg have up his sleeve?
The Facebook founder is promising to “launch something awesome” next week, according to a report by Reuters.
Zuckerberg sent reporters into a tizzy after making the comment Thursday at Facebook’s Seattle office, whose 40-person staff is focused on mobile applications. Rumors have run the gamut from an iPad app to an app for sharing photos on the iPhone, according to All Facebook.
What do you think it’s going to be?
NEW DESIGN COMING TOO?
The Atlantic is reporting that Facebook has been testing its first major redesign in more than a year.
The biggest change, according to Atlantic writer Nicholas Jackson, appears to be the static placement of ads on users’ pages. Facebook also is testing something called “Happening Now” that allows users to see what their friends are sharing and liking in real time.
The new homepage tweak, if made public (and it probably will be), would keep the placement of advertisements and the menu navigation window static. As the user scrolls down the page, scanning their News Feed and checking in on friends, these elements would follow them. The navigation bar at the top of the screen and even the site’s footer would also remain static.
The only elements that scroll in the new design are the News Feed in the middle of the window and the Happening Now feed, which is a real-time feature that Facebook just started testing two weeks ago. The Happening Now feed, which has, in tests, appeared at the top of the right-hand sidebar where Upcoming Events are usually listed, shows users what their friends are sharing and commenting on and liking as it happens. Clicking on any of the feed’s entries activates a pop-up window with more details.
I’m sure there will be the usual wailing if Facebook makes any changes to users’ pages. But we all got used to the last redesign pretty quickly, didn’t we?
(Photo: www.slashgear.com)
