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The new Facebook for Windows Mobile software

By Jason Dunn
I tested this software on my HTC Touch Diamond running Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional.

Facebook is one of the top social networking sites on the Internet today, and the odds are pretty good that, even if you haven't already signed up to use it, you've certainly thought about it. Facebook is a great tool for keeping in touch with people you care about—what they're doing, what they're thinking, and where they are. Now that Microsoft has developed Facebook for Windows Mobile, you can stay connected to your friends everywhere you go using your Windows Mobile phone.

There are two ways you can get the new Facebook software: You can download the software to your desktop computer and then install it on your phone while your phone is connected to your computer. Or on your phone, you can open Internet Explorer Mobile, browse to www.windowsmobile.com, and look in the Downloads section. You'll see the Facebook application listed there, and you can download the software directly to your phone. The software is compatible with Windows Mobile 6.1, both Professional (touch screen) and Standard (non-touch screen), and with Windows Mobile 6.0, Professional (touch screen) and Standard (non-touch screen). The download is 891 KB in size, so it might take several minutes to download directly to your smartphone. But once there, it installs quickly. After the installation, your smartphone may need to be rebooted, and when it finishes, you'll see a familiar-looking blue "F" icon in the list of programs. Select that icon to start the program, and log in with your Facebook username and password.
Facebook for Windows Mobile Wall screen
Facebook for Windows Mobile Wall screen
When you log in to Facebook from the mobile application, you'll see a great-looking interface that allows you to access the stuff you want. By default, you'll see the News Feed first—that’s the list of everything happening recently with your friends on Facebook. It's a combination of Wall posts and things like new messages and photos. And speaking of posts, you can easily post an update by selecting Menu and then Update Status. There's also a photo feed that shows you recent photos posted by your friends, along with photos where your friends have been "tagged." Tagging a photo with the name of a friend is how you can easily locate all the photos that person is in.

Photos are a big part of what Facebook is about, and Facebook for Windows Mobile delivers some great photo functionality. In addition to being able to view photo albums that other people have posted, you can post pictures directly from your phone. If you select Menu and then Add Photo, you'll see two options: Capture Photo and Upload Photo. Capture Photo starts the camera application on your smartphone. As soon as you take a picture (and confirm that you want to keep it), the Facebook application uploads that photo to Facebook. If you select Upload Photo, the Pictures & Video application starts, showing you all the photos on your smartphone. Be careful which photo you select for upload: There's no confirmation stage, so as soon as you select a photo it uploads to Facebook and is shared with all your friends. If you make a mistake, you can load Facebook on your desktop computer and delete the photo.

Facebook for Windows Mobile Menu with Capture Photo selected
Facebook for Windows Mobile Menu with Capture Photo selected
Facebook for Windows Mobile lets you check out the profiles of other people, and it includes a master list of all your friends so you can look up friends who haven't posted in a while. Want to check your Facebook Inbox? You can, and you can even reply to messages directly on the device. Under the Email tab where you find your Inbox, there's also a section for managing friend requests and notifications. Lastly—and this is really nicely done—if you tap the Phone icon on the far right of the menu navigation, it loads up a list of all your friends on Facebook and displays the phone numbers they have listed in their profiles. You can select a friend, press Call, and be talking to them a few seconds later. That's a handy feature, especially if these are friends you don't have entered into Microsoft Outlook Mobile.

Facebook for Windows Mobile is a must-have tool for anyone who's a regular user of Facebook, and with a price of "free," it's hard to resist.
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Jason Dunn

About the author

Jason Dunn owns and operates Thoughts Media Inc., a company dedicated to creating the best in online communities. He enjoys photography, Windows Mobile devices, blogging, digital media content creation and editing, and pretty much all technology. He lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, with his lovely wife and his sometimes-obedient dog.

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