RIM Introduces Facebook For BlackBerry
 

October 24, 2007

RIM Introduces Facebook for BlackBerry Smartphones

New software application runs natively on BlackBerry smartphones and provides an unparalleled mobile experience to users of the popular Facebook social utility

SAN FRANCISCO, CA xxx8211; CTIA Wireless IT and Entertainment 2007, Booth 1033 xxx8211; October 24, 2007 xxx8211; Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today launched Facebook® for BlackBerry® Smartphones, an exciting new BlackBerry software application that enables fast, streamlined and optimized mobile access to the popular Facebook social utility using a BlackBerry smartphone. The application leverages the push-based BlackBerry system architecture and Facebook Platform to create an unparalleled mobile experience for Facebook users.

Mike Lazaridis, founder of Research In Motion, will join Dustin Moskovitz, co-founder of Facebook, to formally unveil and demonstrate the Facebook for BlackBerry Smartphones application today at the CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment show in San Francisco. T-Mobile USA has been selected to be the first carrier to provide the new software application to its customers.

With the Facebook for BlackBerry Smartphones application, Facebook users can wirelessly send and view messages, photos, pokes and Wall posts. The rich, native application goes beyond browser-based access, automatically pushing notifications to the userxxx8217;s BlackBerry smartphone as friends and colleagues send notes, Wall posts or pokes. The application allows users to take a photo, upload it to the site with captions and tags; quickly and easily invite friends; manage events; manage photo albums; and manage their status while on the go.

xxx8220;Facebook is one of the fastest growing web destinations among BlackBerry smartphone users and it has become an important element in the evolving fabric of personal communications,xxx8221; said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at Research In Motion. xxx8220;Facebook and RIM share a vision for enhanced mobile communications and social networking based on open, standards-based platforms and this has allowed us to produce a rich mobile application for Facebook users that leverages the push-based architecture, multimedia features and industry-leading usability of the BlackBerry solution.xxx8221;

xxx8220;T-Mobile is focused on helping people effortlessly connect with those who matter most by providing our customers with meaningful ways to stick together,xxx8221; said Leslie Grandy, vice president, Product Development, T-Mobile USA. xxx8220;We are pleased to be the first wireless carrier in the U.S. selected to offer this innovative service that gives customers another compelling way to stay in touch.xxx8221;

"The worlds of wireless communication and social utilities, such as Facebook, continue to converge. As people look for new ways to stay connected and network with peers and colleagues, true mobile access to these types of utilities can only become more popular," said Jill Aldort, Sr. Analyst, Consumer Research at Yankee Group. "Even at this nascent stage of the market, 19% of adult consumers who access social networks on their PCs also regularly access these same sites on their mobile phones."

Facebook for BlackBerry Smartphones, which will be available as a free download*, makes it faster, easier and more convenient for users to stay wirelessly connected with their Facebook friends and colleagues. The application allows users to:

Receive notifications and messages automatically xxx8211; Leveraging the BlackBerry platform's push-based architecture, notifications and messages are automatically sent to the user; the user can also set a unique alert (vibration and/or ringtone) for Facebook related content
Quickly access essential features xxx8211; Convenient onscreen icons let users quickly change their Status, upload a photo, add a friend, poke someone, write on a Wall, or send a message. Users can also quickly scroll through messages and notifications as they do with email messages
Invite friends to join Facebook and accept new friend requests
Quickly snap and post pictures along with a caption and tags xxx8211; The photo upload feature is also integrated with the BlackBerry smartphone camera and photo management applications on the smartphone
View the Status of friends
Read, compose and reply to messages even while offline xxx8211; If the user is out of wireless coverage, messages are queued until the user returns to an area of coverage

Facebook users will be able to download the application at Facebook | Welcome to Facebook! from their PC or BlackBerry smartphone beginning later today.

* Wireless data charges may apply. Check with wireless service provider.

sweet. what about a release date?

later today...isnt very exact

You're looking for an actual time?
Perhaps you ask a bit too much.

Go to Facebook | Welcome to Facebook! from the blackberry and you can download the application.

However, this does not seem to work for Nextel :-(

you asked for a date not a time

it will be released in exactly 631243 seconds

is that good enough?

sprat - what is the source URL of your article? It's a bit of copyright violation to post the entire article (instead of excerpts) as well as not providing attribution. This looks like the Yahoo! article here:

RIM Introduces Facebook for BlackBerry Smartphones: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

...but not exactly. :)

yeah it is live now for sure...downloading now

The Press Release is on RIM's website. There's a link to it from the home page on Research In Motion

Research In Motion

It's there and it works. The bit I'm not entirely convinced by is the need to store a certificate to auth my handset across to FBook. Why - whats wrong with just luser name and password.

If you try to view a user profile it fires up the browser which is a bit tedious.

eh I am not impressed with it to be honest....at least it is more then an icon like the major league baseball thing was...oh well

yeah...cuz im really trying to pass it off as my own article :?

relax - nobody said anything about your intentions or made any sort of intimations, I was stating that there's a protocol for posting news articles. The inclusion of a link to the source article lets us investigate and go off on our own, merely cutting and pasting an article with no source is doing a disservice to the readers.

The application is nice and what it does, it does pretty well.

My major issues with the application is your cannot view/edit profiles INSIDE of the application. It launches the Browser.

Having trouble
 

I'm getting a "There was an error contacting Facebook" error. Any ideas? Corporate security settings?

This is actually really really cool. I was not a user before this but i just signed up. I can't believe i can take a pic with my 8320 and a second later upload it to facebook. I like how it is more in depth into the blackberry os like blackberry messenger.

I wonder if all my friends have facebook now.

8703e and Verizon
 

Anyone having problems with the 8703e and Verizon for the app?

I got "your wireless provider does not allow access to facebook"

hah, strange. i am on VZW, and got the app working. Didnt do anything with it. Just clicked download. then accepted and clicked 'ok' when anything popped up.....

Facebook APP
 

hey the new facebook app is out for blackberry devices

ota download Facebook - Overview

i havent been able to make it work, can you guys post your success with it, and also does it work though wifi?

Mine's working like a charm. Thinking of switching to a Curve just so I can upload pictures from the camera.

hah, well this might be the problem.... I read the fine print. It looks like you need OS 4.2 (naturally).

Of course, being an 8703e user, I'm S.O.L. and I'll leave it at that.

I'm with Verizon, on an 8830 and OS 4.2. Can't figure out what the problem is.

same thing here. i get a "there was an error contacting facebook" error msg.

anyone else have any luck?

works for me, and its saweeet!!

The OTA download worked seamlessly for me, and everything in the app works with no errors.

yea it works..it is so hottt..i Love it...nice app

ya, i was able to download OTA as well without any issues.....but i can't seem to log on. i've double and triple checked my log in info too.

btw, i like your name! purepinoy here! :) where you from?

Sweet!
 

It's too bad it launches the browser to view profiles. And the message box doesnt have all my old messages in it. Only those I have sent from that program.:?

Facebook - Overview takes me to a generic information page about the app, how are you starting the OTA download?

works for me also.

not as great as other have said. You cannot even view/edit profiles w/in the application itself.

go to Facebook | Welcome to Facebook! from your your blackberry browser. An option to download the app OTA will show up.

From your blackberry, go to Facebook | Welcome to Facebook!, log-in, and there should be a link to download the new app.

^^ thanks to you both, I actually just tried that after posting! Downloading now..

Facebook Mobile for Blackberry was release today!! Sweetttttt
 

Yes I have tried it and it works great. Very good!!!!

once i launched the app, i was able to log-in with no problems. might want to make sure you're hitting all the right keys when entering your password (i.e. caps or symbols in your password)

or try deleting and redownload...

<--- Seattle

Yea it works great!!!!!!! double sweetttttttttt

Now for the myspace app

I've merged a couple of threads on the same subject to this one main thread.

Only issue I have is that I cant seem to search for and add new people with the app, works great otherwise!

Whoops. I thought it belong in the software thread. my bad!!

On a side note. It looks like RIM went on app release frenzy.!!

Nice indeed!

yeah this would be awesome if US Cellular supported it :(

I'm not receiving notifications from wall posts etc. Is anybody else having this problem? Isn't that main screen supposed to be your mini feed/notification list?

Has anyone tried this on their 8700 on Fido / Rogers?

I went to the site link on my PC and got the weird error messages like no device connected and your provider doesn't allow this connection.

Then I went to the website link through my device browser and didn't see any link to download the app just links to get started and home.

I'm running OS 4.1.0.284 on my 8700.

Nevermind I just answered my own question but in case somebody needs to know how...go to your facebook and click account and check all the notifications you want to recieve. Save Changes and Bam... mini feed away baby!

Just got mine!

I was excited to see this reported on Gizmodo, but alas... I'm another one of the abused Nextel users. :-(

What other apps they release? i miss something?

Google Talk 2.0.x.x was also released.

^^ a new version of yahoo messenger was also released for the 7 people who use that.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8310/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102 UP.Link/6.3.0.0.0)

I can't get the OTA download to work for me at all. I always end up at this download screen that is giving tips about xp sp 2 users and a percentage bar that is at 0 percent. What am I doing wrong?

I had issues installing the facebook app but once I was able to get it installed it wouldn't show me my new messages and it even though I refreshed my friend list some of the contacts wouldn't show up. On the rimarkable website it says it's for T-Mobile customers, is this why it's not functioning properly on my BlackBerry?

One thing I noticed is that you cannot upload photos from the MicroSD card -- they can only be uploaded from phone memory.

More screen shots and a brief review - Facebook for Blackberry Available Now at Gear Diary

Edit 10-25-07: Corrected my review to reflect that you can indeed upload from MicroSD. Added post further down this thread to explain my mistake.

i've got mine working with no problem

EDIT: i just installed it and logged right in

thats false. The first place it was able to use it was from my memory card

nevermind

You pretty much hit the nail on the head.

Also, it's weird that it doesn't have an icon in the application switcher (just a block command prompt icon), not a big deal, just a nitpick.

mine works from my microsd

Sorry - you're absolutely right - I just went back and looked after reading that people were able to access photos from the MicroSD card. I have been able to do that as well.

What I found is that if I go to "Device Memory" to view pictures that are in my phone memory (and not the MicroSD card), that it is difficult to navigate back to MicroSD (thus giving me the initial impression that it was not possible).

In order to navigate back to MicroSD I found that I had to use the left soft key and select "Up" to navigate up the menu. There isn't any ".." icon which most commonly would be used to allow you to go back.

I found that the problem I had was that Mass Storage Mode was enabled and my device was cabled so I could use BBSCREEN to capture images.

In that configuration, the MicroSD card was not accessible.

When I dis-connected the cable, I was able to upload from the MicroSD.

Also, when I turned off the Mass Storage Mode, I was able to upload from the MicroSD.

FYI in case anyone makes the same mistake as me in the future.

Opera Mini + Facebook | Login is still the best solution, IMHO.

I'm on Verizon, haven't been able to download yet. When I first went to Facebook on my bb, I had the link to download, I clicked, nothing happened. Now when I go to Facebook, I no longer have the download link, even after loggign out/in and clearing cache & cookies. I've read elsewhere that users have this working with Verizon bb's. Does anyone have the direct download link?

EDIT: still can't get back to OTA download, but found this to install via desktop:
BlackBerry - BlackBerry | Wireless Handheld Devices, Software & Services from Research In Motion (RIM)

I just noticed this as well -- it seems that your Blackberry main screen is only updated when you receive email notifications from Facebook.

I had two picture comment notifications get caught in my email provider’s spam filter.

When I later went in and released the emails and they were delivered to my Blackberry (the next day) - suddenly two Facebook notification icons appeared on my Blackberry and the notification screen showed that two people made comments -- at the time the emails were received on my Blackberry (not the actual time they made the comment the night before).

On the main notification screen, the time of the comments was the exact same time as the time I received the two delayed emails (NOT the time the comments were made) from Facebook.

Quite possibly at least part of this application is not as real time as it might seem. Clicking on the notifications DOES bring you to the Facebook information with proper date and times.

If you have the email account that your notification are sent to on your blackberry, you will not receive an email(on your blackberry) notifying you of the event. Instead, the facebook notifier pops up.

Interestingly enough, if i log onto gmail, i have an email notification.

All of my other email was pushed to my blackberry. So my interpretation of this app, is that it 'intercepts' either on the blackberry, or on RIMs servers and blocks the email and makes a notification for it.


The more i use the app, the more useless it seems to me. Along witht he quirks mentioned above(no view/edit profile, the application icon when its running) i feel like this app may have been rushed.... anyone else feel the same way?

Won't install on 8100
 

I've installed this twice and in my Advanced Options/Apps it shows it installed but I see no icon anywhere. Could it be conflicting with my theme perhaps?

Any ideas?

MB :-(

I think you might be right. I didn't watch the incoming notification email that closely to see whether it ever made it onto my BB. I'm testing it again but I'm betting you're right.

I know for sure that the notification screen on the FB app only shows the time that the email was received -- NOT the time the event happened. So if the email is delayed going to your BB, you don't get a real time notification from FB. In essence you are getting a notification via email which is triggering the icon.

It's probably a power saver as well -- I didn't see any manual for the FB app, did you?

I uninstalled the application then reinstalled it. No more issues, it's working fine.

I have text notifications enabled in Facebook and those come through still, in addition to alerts from the Facebook app. The texts come in a lot earlier than the Facebook alert, though. At least it seems that way.

Facebook for T-Mobile only
 

I got this announcement at work like a month ago. At T-Mobile we signed exclusive rights to have this software pair with our network. So if you have anything but TMO it wont work properly (at least I have been told so). We also signed exclusive rights for MySpace program similar to the facebook one to work on our Sidekick 3 and Sidekick LX which just came out.. There are talkes to open it up to the Blackberry as well.. we will see.. Just FYI. Sorry I didnt get this announcement up a month ago :( lol

Works fine on my device. SunCom isn't yet part of the TMO network, but it works without any issues.

Thats because we (tmobile) already bought SUNCOM :) Its not totally changed over, but we have had your network for awhile now HE HE HE

ota install was quick and easy and it seems to be working great still. Seems like alerts get to my fine pretty quickly. So, i don't think success is limited to t-mo...

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8700/4.2.1 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

I'm on wap so what's the verdict on this app? I'd scroll thru all 72 posts in this thread but that will take to long via wapbbf

Hmm, not according to SunCom and T-Mobile. Network switch over won't happen until 2008. According to both companies, SunCom is still SunCom on all fronts. Anyway, it doesn't matter. The main thing is that the Facebook app works.

I feel
 

like this app leaves a lot to be desired. Its fun to play around with and all that, but seriously, there could have been so many more features. Oh well, it was free!

Has anyone gotten this app to work with BES? I've downloaded the app but when I try to sign in I get a msg saying that There was an error contacting Facebook. Anyone else have this problem?

Does this need your facebook email to be going directly to your BB?

i cant seem to download this app.... i click that link... then i get to the terms page, i click accept, then i end up on some page where it tells me to get active x controls, and the links just dont work.... any one else have this problem, any other way to dl this?

I love this new app except for 2 things:

1. I want the program to stay on. Virtually no other app fully closes when you hit the esc key? Why does this app? Hopefully the facebook msg icon still shows up even when not running in the background. Haven't had it long enough to test this.
2. The photos aren't full resolution. I would give my left arm for this so that I wouldnt have to pay for flicker. That would give me unlimited storage + easy uploading on the go.

Can't expect anything for the 1st release but hopefully they add more in the future. Does anyone know how often RIM updates their apps?

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8310/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102 UP.Link/6.3.0.0.0)

The alerts that are sent to your facebook app are the email notifications that are set on your account. Now if your bb email and fb email match. You can go to the facebook app options and uncheck leave message on server and instead of getting email alerts like you always have. The bb facebook app will habdle it all and alert you if its running in the backround. I have found that this process IS instantaeous.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8310/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102 UP.Link/6.3.0.0.0)

Go to that link from your pc

Thanks for the super quick reply, I understand that if its left on in the background it will send me notifications. What troubles me is that short of switching out of the program (alt+esc or switching out through menu) it won't stay on in the background when I hit esc. I guess I'm just lazy when it comes to that since I've never run across a BB app that doesn't stay on in the background when you hit esc.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8310/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102 UP.Link/6.3.0.0.0)

Exit out by pressing the end call button. It will stay in the back this way

this app is sweet. i just sent the download link to every person i know with a blackberry.

now RIM needs to compete with the myspace app danger just released!

I wasnt a facebook user before (livejournal is/was what i use) - but like the look and feel of the application, so im using the livejournal client to post and my facebook imports it and allows me to upload pics

FB w/ Rogers on 8700 No Workey?
 

Ok so I upgraded my os to 4.2 and have an 8700r on Rogers. When I try to
sign in I get this error.

"there was an error contacting Facebook".

A friend is also on Rogers with a Pearl and he too gets the same error?

Thanks!

I'm on Rogers as well - "There was an error contacting Facebook"

8700 4.2.1.66

Working great for me. (8830, Bell Mobility).

Quote from rogers data support:

now when u delete notifications that are sent via email to facebook app, why won't it delete it off your email server like it does normally when u send emails to ur blackberry. I have aol and when i didn't have the app installed it would sync and delete my mail...now i have like 30 new notifcation emails in my email address mailbox that i have to manually delete

You can always go into options and select the option that removes email off the server.

SWEET! THat is what i was looking for!

This might help anyone who's having issues with installing Facebook for Blackberry
 

Hey folks,

This is my first pot even though i've been using blackberry forums for ages, I've noticed that on this thread a lot of people have been having difficulty with download and connectivity issues with the new programme.

I work at a T-Mobile store in London, UK, and am always the one everyone goes to if there is an issue with their blackberry ... I've found a couple of things that might help with Facebook for Blackberry issues:

1.) it seems to only work on handhelds which have installed or have been upgraded to the 4.2.xx OS/firmware

2.) although the programme is made by RIM, it still runs of the TCP settings, and if these aren't set, your blackberry won't work ... i.e. T-Mobile UK Blacberrys *ARE NEVER* set up for TCP use, you gotts go to Options/Settings-> Advanced Options -> TCP -> set the APN as general.t-mobile.uk -> save it and then re-start the phone.

Hope this has been useful and not just rubbish!

I'm actually pretty impressed with this. And I like that the app has the same theme as the website.

I think the main feature that I'll be using is the ability to upload and tag pics directly from my phone. I always take pics I want to share, but I get lazy when I get back to my computer to upload them.

i'm able to install, but can't get it to work. i think it's blocked on our company's BES server. i'm getting "uncaught exception: java.lang.nullpointerexception" error. any ideas how to go around this?

I get the same error on an 8310 with the latest firmware. I know my firewall denies access to FB during business hours, so I set the BB browser preferences to use Internet Browser versus the FB-restricted BES/MDS BB Browser.

Didn't really seem to fix anything as I still get the nullpointerexception error.

Does anyone know if the "Send to Facebook" menu option uses MMS or email?

neither, it uploads them directly to the server.

digidep

I wish you could read the news feed in the app rather than going to the mobile site to scroll and load all those pages. But overall, nice app.

Comprehensive guide to the BlackBerry Facebook Application released by BBGeeks
 

Hello, Cooper here.

There are quite a few people on this topic who are having some issues. I thought you may need some assistance. BBGeeks.com has released a Comprehensive Guide to the BlackBerry Facebook Application which was released by Research In Motion.

Hopefully this is a great resource for the community, we have even included a video walk through which has been uploaded to YouTube.

If you are currently running a BlackBerry themed website, please feel free to embed this video in your site if you feel it will be of value to your visitors.

Cheers,
Cooper