Facebook Connect expands across the mobile web

Facebook announced the launch of Facebook Connect for Mobile Web, an effort to extend its reach across the mobile application ecosystem. Speaking at the Nokia World event in Stuttgart, Germany, Facebook Mobile director Henri Moissinac said Facebook Connect for Mobile Web will enable developers to add Facebook social media functionality to any app across any operating system, offering users the option to share information with friends and update their current status. The social networking giant introduced Facebook Connect for traditional web apps in 2008, and expanded the program to iPhone applications earlier this year.

Despite the emergence of rivals like Twitter, Facebook's popularity continues to grow across both the web and mobile platforms. According to Moissinac, about half of Facebook's 250 million monthly users worldwide log-in everyday, and about 65 million users accessed the site via mobile in August, more than three times the number of mobile users reported in December 2008.

On Wednesday, Nokia and Facebook announced they will collaborate on lifecasting with Ovi, enabling users to publish their location and status updates directly to their Facebook account from the homescreen of their mobile device. According to Nokia, lifecasting with Ovi also promises to yield new mobile communication patterns, including sending messages or status updates or navigating to a friend or a place--all concepts that dovetail with the handset maker's Ovi Store and its "Social Location" approach, which touts a customized and contextually relevant user experience determined by factors like personal contacts and physical whereabouts.

For more on Facebook Connect for Mobile Web:
- read this Forbes article

Related articles:
Facebook Lite targets mobile and dial-up users
Facebook, Google teaming for Android app
Facebook turns to DeviceAnywhere to test mobile apps