Location, location, location
Facebook Places has launched for iPhone users who want to share their real time location or favourite spots with other social network friends.
The updated iPhone app gives users in the US the option of sharing their location by ‘checking in' to a place and letting friends know they are there.
People with other phones can access Places from touch.facebook.com if their mobile browser supports HTML 5 and geolocation, according to the Facebook blog. It also said the service, which is currently only available in the US will be rolled out in other countries.
Once checked in, users will see a list of places nearby and can select the place they are visiting, searching for and adding a location to the list if it is not there. Their check-in will appear in friends' news feeds and show up in ‘recent activity' for the location's page.
Users can also tag friends who are with them in a current location and add an update, plus get a link to receive directions to a place via Bing Maps. The ‘people here now' section lets other users in a specific location see who has checked into the same place, and there is a ‘like' button for a location too.
It remains to be seen what impact Facebook Places will have on established location services like Foursquare, Gowalla and Booyah.
While the latter two firms have claimed integrations with Facebook, Foursquare's chief exec Dennis Crowley has not committed to anything despite Foursquare having a presence at the Facebook Places announcement, Social Beat reported.
It seems as if Foursquare did not have access to Facebook's new offering before the American public and reportedly wants to "mess around with it for a week or two" before it makes up its mind whether it will integrate with the social networking giant.
However, rather than being fearful of Places, Crowley reportedly hopes the offering will get people more used to using location-based features and raise interest in Foursquare. "If Facebook thinks that location is a good idea, then we are on to something," he reportedly added.
