Will Facebook Deliver a Knockout Punch to Google+ at Its F8 Developers Conference? - kellerchomem

Can Facebook rest on its 750 million user-base laurels? We'll find out out Th at the elite network's F8 Developer Conference, which takes put away in San Francisco. Hum on what's expected ranges from the possibility of new Read, Listened, Watched, and Want Facebook Buttons to a first-always Facebook iPad app.

Facebook is loaded lipped when it comes to what we can expect, merely with Google's social network seen as a formidable competitor, with Google+, all eyes are on Facebook to deliver a knockout poke to Google.

However, Google appeared to perish on the offensive against Facebook, opening the doors this hebdomad to all comers for Google+, its Facebook alternative, which had been in field of operations trials for the retiring three months.

Google piled on more than a twelve new Google+ features, many of them aimed at mobile phone users. These include better search and improved textbook messaging support. And it improved Google+'s hangout operating theater TV feature article–opening it to users of Android phones–and expanding the online version, named Hangouts on Air. With Hangouts on Air, you put up have adequate nine people on the video chat with an unlimited enumerate watching.

It certainly appeared from this onrush of announcements that Google wanted Facebook on the excusatory as the social networking giant affected closer to the beginning of its developers conference Thursday. You can watch the Livestream of Mark Zuckerberg's keynote speech starting at 10 a.m.

Facebook Worried?

Ironically, since Google+'s launch in June, Facebook has borrowed from Google+ making IT seem the social network is concerned approximately defectors. Facebook's bran-new smartness friend lists, similar to Circles along Google+, is one illustration. (That's not to say Google+ hasn't upraised about features from Facebook) With this lineament you can more than easily share with just the Facebook round friends you neediness. Stealing a sport from Chitter, Facebook has newly added a sign in feature which allows you to have Chitter-title followers on your visibility.

Facebook is also feeling the heat from media sites that are growing in popularity and quickly proper social hubs for sharing with new and existing friends. Media services, with millions of users, are seen as both a threat to Facebook or newfound best friends – if Facebook can ink deals with them. Facebook already has a deal with Spotify allowing users to share their Spotify playlists with other Facebook friends. But is that enough?

Is Facebook feeling the heat of the competition? Communicative reports suggest no. Google+ interest among its users is reportedly waning. It's also a safe depend that, if you birth a Hulu, Spotify, Oregon MOG account, you also have a Facebook account statement. And let's side it, even the most serious menace to Facebook is so far in the social network's rearview mirror it would make up silly to think Facebook was insane.

Still, Facebook's pride is on the line of work this week. A humdrum rollout of unenthusiastic features is a cancer this goliath can't afford. After all, the bigger they are, the harder they fall – just look at AOL.

In July Facebook pronounceable out "something awing", atomic number 3 Distinguish Zuckerberg called it, which turned bent on Be a video chat service. The service was a welcome addition to Facebook, but was less than awe-inspiring when compared to Google+'s video jaw feature. Zuckerberg was forced to take that defeat on the Kuki-Chin.

And this hebdomad, Facebook also debuted a new "smarter" News Run over. Now when you log in, you'll see the Newsworthiness Feed with all of your updates–both the "important" and Holocene epoch ones–in one place. Facebook will calm down try to determine which stories will to the highest degree interest you, and will high spot these "transcend stories" with a pale blue corner.

This update caused an uproar from users. PCWorld's Facebook page, for instance, was flooded with negative comments nearly the change, with nearly 500 people "Liking" our Facebook post: "Thusly who other is annoyed with the freshly Facebook?"

Here is a look at what else we might see this week from Facebook.

Music and Film Ticker

Several sources claims to have the inside scoop on Facebook's coming F8 League, and says that Facebook will be announcing a real-time stream, or "pump," of what its users are listening to and watching online. The Guardian says Zuckerberg plans to unveil the changes atomic number 3 part of a "take, watch, and listen" theme, which suggests that the social music and social movie rental ideas aren't far off.

Former sources suggest that the Facebook tickers will take the phase of Read, Listened, Watched, And Want buttons. In the same way Facebook Look-alike buttons play up and personalize subject matter, these new media-centrical buttons would action the same goal.

If Facebook does introduce such a service, it'll hopefully be prefer-in and non opt-out. After all, not everyone wants their Facebook buddies to make love what they're listening to surgery watching. The Guardian claims it'll be an choose-in service, but you ne'er know with Facebook.

Social Music

Facebook May announce an on-website music streaming serving, possibly in junction with streaming music service Spotify. This wouldn't be much of a surprisal–after all, just a hardly a months ago we were hearing rumors of Spotify really launching in the U.S. via Facebook (Spotify later launched in the U.S. all along its own, but still).

Facebook and Spotify may motionless collaborate, in an exploit to make the Facebook site "stickier." I think this is unlikely to make Facebook a good deal stickier–after all, IT's not like you force out't use regular ol' Spotify and browse the web at the same time. So, unless Facebook manages to make some rather deal with Spotify–nary ads, perhaps?–I'm not predestined how it leave assistance.

Social Movie Rentals

In some other effort to make Facebook's web site "stickier," Facebook may formally introduction a moving picture rental service. Facebook has recently been experimenting with movie rentals on its site, and penning deals with big studios, but in real time that Netflix is going down in flames it might follow the clock time to really strike.

Facebook started its movie belongings service back in March with Warner Bros' Dark Dub, quickly following up afterward that month with five to a greater extent Warner Bros titles. And just recently, Facebook added 20 titles from Miramax. If Facebook announces a picture show rental service information technology'll embody zip new, just if Facebook announces a comprehensive movie lease service–that'll atomic number 4 something.

An Instagram Sea wolf

We've been hearing a lot about how Facebook wants to pay off in on the Instagram/photo filter out craze. In June, TechCrunch reported that it had received a number of images and documents relating to Facebook's plans to launch a standalone photo separate out app that would supposedly be a mix of Instagram and Color, cardinal pop iPhone apps. Last month, anonymous Facebook engineers told the New York Multiplication that the rumors were true.

The unnamed engineers told the Times that the app was almost cook, but that Zuckerberg treasured a few more filters before IT launched. Since that floor leaked just about a calendar month past, it would make sense if the app were to be launched shortly (say…at the F8 League). Facebook's supposed app bequeath, if it does in fact exist, probably be wildly popular–people do use Instagram, aft all, to share photos with their Facebook friends.

An iPad App

IT's hard to believe, but the world's most popular social network motionless doesn't have an formal iPad app. That's right–if you want to utilise Facebook along your iPad, you have to resort to fractional-party apps such as Favorable for iPad.

That Zuckerberg says the "awesome" plan was developed on Facebook's Seattle campus has some analysts thinking it power Be an iPad app–after all, Facebook's Seattle campus reportedly "played a central use in the development of Facebook's unified versatile site," which was unveiled in March.

Of course, in June we besides heard rumors about a secret Facebook project called "Project Spartan." Project Spartan is supposedly an endeavor to create the entire Facebook site in HTML5–so, instead of seeing an iPad app, maybe we'll just now see a totally revamped mobile website.

Rumors are Just Rumors

Of run, we won't really know what Facebook announces until Thursday.

(PCWorld's Tom Spring contributed to this post)