Yesterday, Research in Motion officially released
Facebook for BlackBerry 1.5 as the upgrade to v1.2. This has been a long time coming as I was getting really tired of the year long "Smack-Talk" I have endured from my iPhone zealot friends.
There are two new features that alone make it worth the upgrade from 1.2 to 1.5. First, the ability to comment on my status and the status of friends....FINALLY! I find the order in which the comments display to be slightly confusing, but it works and it gives me the immediacy of mobile functionality I have been renowned for since 1998 (When I first started using the BlackBerry.)
The second key feature is my favorite! The integration of Facebook notices into the Message List. RIM has taken what had become an annoyance and made it an enhancement. Now from my regular Message List, I can click on a Facebook notice and it drops me right into the Facebook app for BlackBerry. I have noticed a little processing delay on my BOLD when first bringing up the message, it take a few seconds of processing time to figure itself out.
There have been some nice enhancement so the "Friends" interface allowing you to direct dial from facebook profile information or to connect and add Facebook contacts with you Address Book.
Some basic "look and feel" touches add sexiness such as the screen wipe and auto refresh, but those are just window dressing and don't really add much to the features. I would have preferred RIM spend that time on selecting Categories for new friend requests or adding comments to Notes which didn't make it in this release. Hey...but what do you want for free?
I was a little skeptical of a few of the other integration features between Facebook and my enterprise calendar and contacts. In fact the BlackBerry Contacts Application checkbox disclaimer reads "enabling this feature will periodically send copies of your BlackBerry device contacts (thus my Outlook contacts) to Facebook, Inc...." I'm actually OK with this so far, because I do this with Plaxo as well. BUT THEN ... it goes on to say "...and you acknowledge that access to this data will no longer be subject to your and your Facebook Friend's privacy settings once stored on your BlackBerry device"
HOLD THE PHONE (no pun intended)!!
The new Facebook app for BlackBerry is going to circumvent my privacy setting and those of my Facebook friends? This gave me pause...having worked with RIM as a partner of a dozen years and knowing their infamous legal department...how did THIS sneak through the cracks?
Upon further inspection, this is no different than any other Facebook app...RIM is just pointing out what millions of Facebook users have fully understand....Every time you allow a Facebook app to access your profile, your information and that of your network of friends is being downloaded into another company's database. Facebook ceases to have any control whatsoever over that data from that point forward. In the case of the BlackBerry app, the data is going into the persistent data store of MY BlackBerry and RIM is telling me that they and Facebook are no longer responsible for the security of that data. I am far more comfortable and have now rechecked the "BlackBerry Contacts application." I just hope it doesn't start sending out unbeknownst to me and making Facebook Friend requests!
Realizing it is the wrong season for a new vintage release (at least in California,) REGARD today released R-Vintage Lookup for BlackBerry. (Click from BlackBerry Browser to download)
