Facebook’s F8 Conference: A round up of ”what to expect” reports

Facebook will hold its F8 developer conference for the first time since 2011. The media is abuzz with what to expect at the event considering the fact that Facebook is now more of a mobile-focussed company. At the last F8 event, Facebook’s announcements were mainly centered around the desktop website.  

Here’s a roundup of what-to-expect reports floating on the web –

 Re/code which first reported about Facebook’s mobile ad network wrote -Facebook will pitch the ads to publishers and developers as a way to leverage the social network’s vast database of user information for better ad targeting. And Facebook wins by expanding its ad reach — now it can make money from its billion-plus users even when they’re not on Facebook’s own properties.

Gigaom wrote – This year’s F8 won’t have much to do with the desktop version of the platform: nearly every panel at the event this year focuses on mobile or cross-platform devices, so it’s likely that mobile will be the focus of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s morning keynote.

In addition to teaching developers how to build for mobile and cross-platform, the second tenant the company will preach is “Grow.” Part of growth is also accessibility. Facebook will show two important facets of its own accessibility: open source, which it will show off with a special fourth track at F8 called “Hackers’ Way,” and mobile-first penetration, which it will discuss in a demo area produced in partnership with Facebook’s Innovation Lab and Internet.org. The final core tenant of F8 is a big one: “Monetize.” The ability to monetize, especially on mobile, is a big part of Facebook’s roadmap in the coming years.

Rumors have been swirling that the crown jewel of F8 will be the introduction of the company’s mobile ad network.  Techcrunch writes it’s hard to predict what the social media giant would announce at the event -But we know it’s planning coordinated announcements with at least one ecommerce platform and one product testing service, as these companies reached out to schedule briefings with TechCrunch tomorrow but Facebook forbid them from saying what they’re doing until after Mark Zuckerberg’s f8 developer conference keynote.CNET writes This year’s conference will focus heavily on developers who build and run Web services — especially as the company continues to build itself in the mobile realm.Mashable’s what-to-expect list includes – 

  • A continued push for more mobile-app integration. 
  • More info about Internet.org. Facebook is dedicating a section of the conference to what it calls the Internet.org Innovation Lab, an area where developers can learn tips on building apps for regions without strong or reliable Internet access.
  • An appearance from Parse CEO Ilya Sukhar.

CNBC writes Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is widely expected to reveal more details about plans for a mobile ad network at the company’s F8 developer conference in San Francisco on Wednesday.

Read write says It’s likely this year will be a little less focused on the look and feel of Facebook’s website and apps. Instead, Facebook will reportedly introduce features that appeal to those that build and implement Facebook’s various tools and services across their applications…At F8, Facebook will reportedly give developers a preview of the technologies available in the Innovation Lab to be located in Menlo Park, California, and developers can test their applications in networks that simulate the speed of connectivity in developing countries.  

Zuckerberg is hyper-focused on the Internet.org initiative and finding new ways to connect the next one billion people. It’s likely he’ll outline more plans for how the social network will make it easier for developers to build and monetize apps in countries that are just now coming online, and why it’s so important to provide resources for connectivity in areas that currently don’t have it. 

Brian Blau, research director at Gartner in an interview with CIOL says The F8 event will be a centerpiece for Facebook as it expands its presence in the developer community.

In the past the F8 conference has seen major product announcements, so it could happen again this year, but it’s likely Facebook will focus on how developers can take advantage of the entire Facebook developer ecosystem as it expands how its social graph can reach more and do more.According to Bloomberg At F8, Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg is set to rally developers with a new message: Facebook has software that makes it easier to build apps for mobile phones, as well as tools that help programmers sell those wares to the social network’s 1.28 billion users.

The more developers use the technologies, the more prominence the social network gains in a mobile world dominated by Apple and Google Inc.InsideFacebook writes  Facebook notes that this year’s F8 will be different (though reports show that Facebook will announce a mobile ad network Wednesday), with a strong focus on the developer community.

Category

Blog News