Facebook Launches Mobile Messaging App

Facebook happening Tuesday afternoon introduced an app for mobile phones that Acts of the Apostles as a standalone group chat client for mobile operating systems. The app, now live for download, expands the chat features in Facebook's existing mobile app to let in features ilk location-sharing, moving photo-sharing, and — most importantly — instant electronic messaging to friends or groups on Facebook. The app is already available for Mechanical man and Blackberry phones along with the iPhone, iPod Touching, and iPad (although the app is not withal optimized for the iPad's bigger screen.)

Facebook purchased messaging firm Beluga back in March and it seems that several Beluga team members have had a hand in the app's creation. The timing of the acquittance along with its features seems like a fairly direct response to Google+ and its huddles feature that besides lets you at once chat with friends.

Facebook has repeatedly denied that the flurry of recent announcements from the social networking giant and the company's chat releases, like video calling in partnership with Skype, were a response to Google's rising social network, but the parallels are hard to ignore. With Google+ growing to more than 25 million users in just a little complete a month, it's hard to imagine that Facebook isn't leastwise a little threatened.

Google+ released an update to its own app earlier this week that brought increased functionality for the nascent social network's own chat services along with iPad compatibility.

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