Facebook updates iOS app with free calls in the U.S., Canada

Facebook today released version 5.5 of its iOS app, which now allows users in the U.S. and Canada to call friends for free directly from the app.

Facebook users have been able to make free calls via the social network’s Messenger app for iOS since January, but today that functionality has been added to its more widely used main app. From a Facebook message, users can tap the “i” icon in the top right corner and select “free call.” This will only work if both users are in the U.S. or Canada and have the latest version of Facebook or Facebook Messenger installed on their iOS device.

Other changes in version 5.5 include more prominent buttons to Like, comment on and share posts in the News Feed. The design for the buttons is the same one that Facebook uses on its mobile site. In addition, the Share button to repost stories from the News Feed is now available in all languages.

We also noticed that the icon in the corner of posts that gives users options to hide or mark a post as spam has been changed from three vertical dots to an upside down caret.

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Amazon gets serious about social games, calls out for developers

The Facebook gaming arena is about to welcome a new gladiator: Amazon. The household name of online retailers (and e-readers) is officially pulling out all the stops for its inevitable entrance into the space, openly and internally calling out for a team of designers and developers.

Since taking on veteran tabletop RPG (roleplaying game) designer Jonathan Tweet for a mysterious project, Reuters reports that signs have appeared in the kitchen of Amazon's Seattle campus that unveil a "Social Games Group." A poster in the kitchen area of the office reads, "The Group is growing fast! We're actively looking," according to Reuters.

It seems that Amazon is primarily looking for software engineers and Flash developers, most likely referring to Adobe Flash, the software through which almost all Facebook games are created. Amazon has reportedly been eying up social gaming since May of this year, calling out for senior level game designers.

Since Amazon hired Tweet for a mysterious project, that's all we knew about the upcoming social games effort from the company. Unfortunately, we still know very little, which leaves us with wild speculation (how lovely). While Amazon is looking strictly for software engineers and Flash developers, we have a feeling this project will be much larger than just pumping out a few games.

Amazon didn't become one of the largest Internet companies in the world without thinking big, so who's to say the company doesn't have equally lofty ambitions for its social gaming efforts? I mean, this is a company has enjoyed success and ubiquity that even the biggest name in social gaming aspires to. That said, it's entirely possible that Amazon looks to create a platform of its very own, complete with games developed in house. Call that an educated guess, or my wild dreams of slaying dragons attached to awesome deals on otherwise pricey cell phone cases and magazine subscriptions.

[Image Credit: Slacktory]

Are you excited to hear what Amazon is up to in social games? Do you think the company is working on its own platform to compete with Facebook and Google+, or just some good old games? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.

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Zynga vs Vostu Part 5: U.S. judge calls off Brazilian Vostu shut-down

Honestly, we're almost as bewildered as you might be on this one. TechCrunch reports that a U.S. judge has filed a TRO (temporary restraining order) against the Brazilian court that granted Zynga a preliminary injunction against developer Vostu, demanding that it take down four of its games that allegedly copy Zynga games directly in the face of a massive daily fine. Basically, a San Jose court is telling a Brazilian court that it cannot go through with its ruling in Zynga's favor.

Some brief background: Zynga filed suit in a U.S. court against Brazilian developer Vostu in June for copying its games. Vostu then retorted publicly, pointing fingers at Zynga for doing the very same thing, and filed a lawsuit of its own with the same allegations in July. Most recently, Zynga filed a second lawsuit against Vostu in Brazilian court for the very same allegations, this time bringing Google down with it as Orkut, a Google-owned company, hosts Vostu's games.

"Brazil has an important interest in enforcing its copyright laws," says U.S. District Judge Davila in the recently-issued TRO. "Zynga-which chose the U.S. forum first-now seeks to enforce an injunction it obtained abroad that would paralyze this Court's ability to decide this case."

I guess this is what happens when you file lawsuits in two courts (internationally, mind you) regarding the same allegations. Now, we have two courts from across both sides of the equator that will duke it out over who can make what ruling. In essence, as TechCrunch's Michael Arrington puts it, this U.S. judge is saying that his court's desire to retain decision on this case outweighs the Brazilian court's rights to enforce its copyright laws.

This battle of the copycats just got incredibly nasty (and somewhat confusing), but speaks volumes to one of the most pressing issues the social games industry faces today. As Sean Ryan, director of games partnerships at Facebook, put it recently (in Inside Social Games's words): "The days of monetizing by making a clone of a clone are over." The sooner social games companies stop "borrowing" each others' ideas, the sooner we'll move on from insane international legal battles like so. And social games on the whole will be better for it.

Do you think this legal battle has gotten out of hand? Which do you think is in the right in this case? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.

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Kixeye calls Kabam a copycat; Kabam says, 'Am not!'

Alright, so it's more serious than that, but we just can't help but envision these debates happening in schoolyards rather than public forums. Gamasutra reports that Kixeye has publicly accused Kingdoms of Camelot creator Kabam of copying the hit Kixeye game Backyard Monsters in creating EdgeWorld, Kabam's brand new Facebook strategy game. Of course, Kabam firmly denies the allegations.

"There is no question that the engineers of EdgeWorld had Backyard Monsters open in one window while they coded the copy in another," Kixeye CEO Will Harbin said in a statement. "It's not detrimental to Kixeye in the short term, but this kind of practice is bad for all of us in the gaming industry - it will eventually sour users and it certainly does the opposite of proving that Facebook can be a legitimate gaming platform."

Whoa, those are some pretty harsh--and specific--claims. Kixeye went even further, according to Gamasutra, to compare Kabam's hit Kingdoms of Camelot with fantasy strategy game Evony as evidence that Kabam "is wasting talent and resources on cloning games that already exist."

Kabam CEO Kevin Chou said in response that Edgeworld, which hovers at about 200 thousand monthly players since its launch, draws inspiration from "movies, pop culture, science fiction, literature, history and, most importantly, from our players." That's in addition to borrowing ideas and techniques from its previous four games. (In other words, "Am not!")

Keep in mind that these sort of exchanges aren't uncommon to Facebook games. In fact, Zynga--which has a lawsuit on its plate from SocialApps over allegedly misused source code from its game myFarm that led to FarmVille's inception--knows the feeling very well. We've contacted both developers for comment.

Do you think Kixeye has a case against Kabam? How or when do you think Facebook developers will rise from this level of interaction and give up on the copycat games? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.

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