Facebook officially launches mobile 'App Center'

 

• The social network is launching its app store with 600 apps, a key part of its nascent mobile strategy.
• Facebook tonight unveiled its mobile App Center as it amps up its efforts to improve its mobile business. s first big announcement since its IPO, went live tonight with more than 600 apps, including Nike+ GPS, Ubisoft Ghost Recon Commander, Stitcher Radio, Draw Something, and Pinterest. s director of developer products, who showed off the App Center at a launch party in San Francisco. s more than 900 million users.
• The App Center is designed to offer an experience personalized for each user, with app recommendations based on the apps they and their friends use. re a person who likes word games -- something Facebook would know from your Facebook behavior -- the App Center will surface those sorts of apps for you. s, depending on your device.
• Eventually, said Wyndowe, there will be different App Centers customized for different parts of the word. s team has been working to approve apps that it would feature for the rollout.
• For now, the company is relying on a mix of algorithms and humans to decide what apps it features.

• He said his team is reviewing apps for technical aspects and functionality. said Wyndowe.
• Ultimately, Facebook wants the algorithms to do most of the work in figuring out apps to feature. s App Store can turn an app into a hit. s not in the immediate plans.
• The App Center is available on mobile via the Facebook apps for iOS and Android, and by accessing Facebook. com on mobile. s mobile traffic goes through the mobile Web, not via apps. s announcement comes a month after Facebook first said it was launching an App Center, which it billed mainly as a way to help users discover the best social apps and to drum up interest from developers.
• And in the run up to the IPO, Zuckerberg told investors that mobile was his key priority for 2012. t help it turn mobile traffic into dollars. said Wyndowe. s about how do we delight users." s also about how Facebook gathers data from its users.
• And last month it redesigned itsmobile interface to display larger photos.