Facebook launching news platform Facebook Editions in September

By Jeff Hughes

With new competition looming, Facebook is looking for new ways to hang on to its now 750 million users and avoid becoming the next social networking ghetto. One way the company is looking to keep users interested is by porting news over from select news outlets to app versions that can be read while on Facebook. These news publication apps will be called “Facebook Editions”.

According to Forbes, around a dozen news outlets are signed up to have their own app version to be browsed on Facebook. CNN, The Daily and the Washington Post are examples of the starting lineup, however, don’t look too hard for the New York Times as they are hanging back due to complications with their paywall. These Facebook Editions will start being available possibly in September.

Facebook’s like button is already widespread among online news sites, and these same sites have their own Facebook pages for fans but the Editions app would probably allow news purveyors the ability to customize Facebook interface, crafting a better mini-Facebook world for readers. The Forbes writer believes that the social networking site will probably ask for a piece of revenues and ad sales generated by these special apps.

The mentioned news companies had no comment on this new social networking feature. A Facebook spokeswoman said, “We have nothing new to announce. The top media sites around the world are integrated with Facebook and we’re constantly talking to our partners about ways to improve these integrations.”

Google+ is barely out and already has close to 10 million users. The two social networking competitors are battling out over key issues such customization, privacy, photos, video chat and Google+ apparently has a similar “Editions” idea in the works. The Forbes article quotes a news executive who said that Google was calling for partnering with “selected publishers that would offer up the choicest stories they were working on.” This competition between the two giants will most likely mean good deals for publishers and user experience as well.

Facebook Scam Pretends to Connect You With Video Calling [WARNING]

by Charlie White

Facebook and Skype teamed up to bring you video calling, but at the same time, scammers are teaming up to trick you into spamming all your Facebook friends, using the lure of the new video calling feature. Here’s how to sidestep that scam.

There’s a legitimate way to sign up for Facebook Video Calling, where you’re asked to download a program from the official Facebook Video Calling page, and then the chat window asks you to configure a few Flash settings.

That looks like the graphic below. While the service is working for some lucky users, as you can see, when I tried it a few minutes ago, it wasn’t working yet for me, notifying me that “video calling will be available soon, please check back later.”

However, the scam comes to you in the form of a wall post, enticing you to “Enable video calls.” Don’t click that link, advises Naked Security, which supplied the graphic below:

If you do click on that bogus message, it asks for access to your basic information, wants to post to your wall, to access your posts in your newsfeed and access your data at any time.

What does it do then? It doesn’t let you video chat at all, but simply tries to get you to fill out surveys so its evil creators can collect referral fees. Worse, it exposes your friends to the same trick.

Don’t click those fake links. If you want the actual Facebook Video Calling, it’s available now for some users but not others, and you haven’t already been granted access, you will be soon.

HOW TO: Launch Facebook Skype Video Chat [PICS]

 by Sarah Kessler

You can now make video calls on Facebook, thanks to a new Skype-powered feature the social network launched Wednesday.

During the product announcement, Mark Zuckerberg described how his elderly neighbor in Palo Alto asked if he could to video chat his grandson on Facebook — without the hassle of setting up a new account or downloading a program. “Tune in,” Zuckerberg told him.

It’s not quite as seamless as Zuckerberg’s neighbor was hoping, however. The first time you try to video chat someone or answer a call, you will indeed be asked to download a program. The chat window will then ask you to select some Flash settings.

After that, the feature works like “a mini-Skype client,” as Skype CEO Tony Bates mentioned during the announcement. It also has a neat option to record a video message if the person you’re calling doesn’t answer. Here’s a brief walk-through in pictures. Is it working for you? Let us know in the comments.

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Before you can participate in a video chat call, go to facebook.com/videocalling to enable your account. Click on "Get started."

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You'll need to install a program. The install option will pop up when you click the video camera icon on the upper-right corner of the chat window or receive a call.

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As with a standard Skype call, no video launches until the second party answers the call.

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If the person who you're calling doesn't answer, you can leave a video message. This message will appear in their "messages" tab, the same place that text messages do.

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This is what the video chat window looks like.

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