Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve had the chance to rent movies and otherwise purchase content through Facebook; wouldn’t it make sense if we could sign in to Facebook to buy goods elsewhere? The social network certainly thinks so, as it just confirmed to AllThingsD that it will be trialing a mobile payment system in about a month. The service is reportedly very PayPal-like — Facebook users with credit cards on file would just have to log in to make purchases inside of a mobile app. Only the flash sale outlet JackThreads is participating in the test at this stage, and there’s no mention of when the trial period expires. However, a full-fledged launch is potentially a major advantage for the House That Zuck Built. The payment system would give Facebook both a larger foothold in e-commerce and more insight into what members are willing to buy from advertisers.

Update: Our colleagues at TechCrunch have shed a little more light on the subject. They claim that the payment system is more of a complement to existing services than a competitor: it would only fill out the forms for another payment provider, including PayPal. Facebook reportedly sees this more as an extension of its advertising system, as it would both speed up sales and let marketers know when their ads are effective.

Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Facebook

Comments

Source: AllThingsD

Path has previously limited its third-party app integration to the Nike+ platform, but the company just opened its doors a little wider. App developers can now ask for permission to use Path’s sharing API, which they’ll get if Path sees such apps as a logical fit. To get the ball rolling, the social network has already granted access to 13 partners that include WordPress, Strava Cycling and a bevy of smaller image services. Only some of these developers can send app content to Path as of this writing, but the rest should support the API in the weeks ahead.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Comments

Source: Path

Facebook must be a little envious of Twitter’s ability to seize on trends — it just started experimenting with Trending Topics, a Timeline card that shows the hottest subjects on the social network. Users can tap a trend to see both public comments and posts, whether or not the contributors are friends. The service is only being tested with a small number of those using Facebook’s mobile website right now. If you’re too impatient for that, the company has a consolation prize: Graph Search is now available to everyone visiting the site in US English, regardless of where they live. The expansion comes with the end to a handy privacy tool that lets members see who can search their Timeline, but Facebook claims that few have been using this feature — we shouldn’t miss it too much.

Filed under: Internet, Facebook

Comments

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Facebook Newsroom, AllThingsD

Facebook wants you to know it’s taking security seriously — enough for Zuckerberg and Co. to pay out over $1 million in reward within two years for its Bug Bounty program. According to a recent blog post, it’s awarded a total of 329 digital bounty hunters at least $500 for discovering and reporting security issues to the social network. The participants came from all walks of life across the globe (the youngest being a 13-year-old), and the most resourceful ones have already made more than a hundred grand each. Facebook isn’t alone in exchanging big money for bug reports — Microsoft, for one, is offering up to $100,000 to anyone who discovers security exploits on the preview version of Windows 8.1. Despite Facebook’s success, however, over 6 million accounts were still exposed in June… proving that when it comes to security, tech companies can never sit on their hands.

Filed under: Internet

Comments

Source: Facebook

In case you haven’t noticed, text-based search results simply don’t cut it anymore — users are looking for people, pictures and social context. Naturally, Twitter is keeping up with the times, updating its own search bar with socially aware suggestions, previous search data and more robust results. The general search experience hasn’t changed, of course, but the changes do tweak the experience for the better.

Suggested accounts, for instance, are now underlined by users you know that follow them, and simply leaving your cursor in the search field offers a preview of recent and saved searches. Results have more meat too, offering tabs for matching users and photos, as well as displaying them within the standard results stream. A revolution in social search algorithms? Probably not, but it should make it a little easier for you to keep up with the latest celebrity gossip.

Filed under: Internet

Comments

Source: Twitter