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Few days back, Aircel launched ‘Voice Updates’ service where a subscriber could update his /her Facebook status by calling in and recording his/her voice. This would be done easily without the need of a smart phone or a data connection.
Voice updates are expected to make a huge impact on the Indian market as Nielsen’s study clearly illustrates that there is very low smartphone adoption in India, with numbers suggesting only 10% as compared to 90% for feature phones.
Facebook application for feature phones
Mobile app developer – Snaptu, announced the release of an application for Facebook which would work on almost 80% of the mobile phones in the world. This Java based application would be able to run on more than 2,500 different types of mobile phones. On the supported networks, the app could be used for free for 90 days. Snaptu’s app has been downloaded more than 27 million times and the addition of Facebook would definitely take it a step forward.
Snaptu already covers other popular web and online services such as Twitter, LinkedIn, ESPN, AccuWeather, RSS reader.
Head of Facebook’s Mobile Business division – Henri Moissinac reportedly said
We are always looking to enable people to easily access Facebook wherever they are, on whatever device they are on. This new Facebook mobile application, developed in close cooperation with Snaptu, helps give more people the ability to stay connected through Facebook via a high quality and high speed mobile application on feature phones in an affordable way.
Only Reliance has been roped in to offer the service in India and globally it would be available on 14 networks. No date has been mentioned yet, of when it would be released on Reliance but it has been already launched on a few networks in other countries.
Earlier efforts
This isn’t Facebook’s first foray into expanding its mobile phone user base by offering free usage. Earlier, it had launched Facebook Zero where a user could access Facebook on the web browser without incurring any data charges. This service is available on Reliance, Videocon, Aircel and Airtel.
Facebook already features in top 10 lists of iPhone and Android applications and even has official applications for BlackBerry and Palm.
Using the web, Facebook can be accessed by pointing the browser to Mobile Site , Touch Mobile Site and Facebook Zero.
This brings Facebook even to feature phones whereby it will support manufacturers such as Nokia, Sony Ericsson and LG. An application would be easier and quicker to use than using a URL to access Facebook any day.
Do you think Snaptu’s dedicated Facebook application would prove to be useful for Facebook and increase its usage from the mobile phone?
[The app can be downloaded by going to m.fb.snaptu.com/f from the mobile phone]
