Facebook announces "Facebook for Every Phone" a low-cost app for feature phones

By Ricardo Bilton July 12, 2011, 1:53pm PDT
Summary
Via Facebook for Every Phone, owners of over 2,500 different feature phones can have access to the Facebook platform.
Ricardo Bilton
Ricardo Bilton writes for ZDNet's The ToyBox. His work has appeared in The Japan Times, The New York Observer, and The International Business Times, among other publications. He lives in New York, and is a graduate of Amherst College.
Gloria Sin
Gloria Sin is a New York-based freelance journalist who writes about the tech toys that you can't live without for ZDNet. She has little patience for poorly designed user experiences, and is not afraid of opening the guts of her own machines for repair or hacking her gadgets for new uses.
She has written for FastCompany.com, Popular Science, Olympic News Service; she currently covers the startup scene in the Tri-State area for NYConvergence.com.
Prior to ZDNet, Gloria was the online editor for Dance International, and dabbled in web design and social media consulting. When she is offline, you will find her at an ice rink living out her figure skating dreams. Follow her on Twitter.
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With all the fuss over Androids and iPhones, it’s easy to forget that there are lots of people out there who are using comparably unsophisticated phones.
Facebook, however, is taking notice with its latest app. Via Facebook for Every Phone, owners of over 2,500 different feature phones (or “dumbphones” as they are often called) can have access to the whole Facebook platform. This includes basic functionality like the news feed and photos, as well as access to users’ inbox. (The app also allows users to upload photos, though its unlikely that those photos are going to be particularly good.) So far Facebook for Every Phone is built to run on only Java phones but Facebook says it aims to support many more devices in the future.
But what about data fees? Facebook has that covered as well. Via deals with phone carriers, Facebook is offering free data access to the app for 90 days. Here’s the list, which is notably devoid of U.S. companies. That should be a pretty good indication of Facebook’s target demographic.
Airtel (India)
Banglalink (Bangladesh)
Beeline (Russia)
Celcom (Malaysia)
Etisalat (Egypt, Nigeria)
Globe (Philippines)
Idea (India)
Indosat (Indonesia)
O2 Telefonica (Germany)
Reliance (India)
Smart (Philippines)
Smartfren (Indonesia)
Telkomsel (Indonesia)
Three (Indonesia, United Kingdom)
TIM (Brazil)
TMN (Portugal)
Ufone (Pakistan)
Vodafone (Turkey)
XL (Indonesia)
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