Skyfire Launches Facebook Connect for Android Users

Skyfire has benefited from the Apple ban on Adobe Flash by releasing a mobile browser that's cloud-based, and delivers iPhones Flash video. Now the company is attempting to leverage social browser interest by the release of Skyfire 3.0, which has Facebook Connect, making it, the company claims, the most social-friendly mobile browser available.

Skyfire 3 is available on phones of the Android type, and it keeps some sharing features from earlier Skyfire versions, and then supplements that with being able to see liked and shared articles on various websites. They implemented Facebook Connect in their Skybar menu, so that users are able to access their profile at Facebook, as well as the Places feature and news feed. Users will be able to see Facebook's most popular items shared, and recommendations from their friends will be right at the top of that list.

Having social features integrated into their browser makes a great deal of sense. Some experts have said that Facebook has been working on a their own browser, and people need such features for their smartphones, since we all are becoming more mobile. You probably consume a great deal of content from your phone, and when you're out and about, you don't have as much time to seek out and discover things. Shared content and recommendations for links are more necessary for people on the go.

Social networking is already among the most-utilized smartphone activities, and soon it may even eclipse SMS and voice as the way to communicate. Thus, it is sensible for Skyfire and others to build social connectivity into their mobile browsers. There are still rumors around of a Facebook phone, and in that case, the connectivity would be built into the phone. The Skyfire-implemented Facebook Connect gives you just a glimpse of what the Facebook phone might be like. It doesn't tie into your photo gallery or your contacts, but it does bring social networking directly into the experience of browsing. It also shows how your social graph can enhance the time you spend surfing the web.

The new Facebook Connect features in the Skyfire toolbar include new additions to that browser, including Popular Content, a Facebook “Like” Button, and one-button search. These features generate lists of popular websites, filter Facebook news feeds, and allow you to “like” pages on the Internet. The search bar will allow you to enter search strings and select whether you want that search run through Google, Facebook or Twitter.