Facebook unveils Timeline and Open Graph apps at f8 Developer Conference

The first feature that was unveiled was Timeline. This is a complete revamp on which the site has been working for over a year. Timeline is a new way to express yourself to the world. It basically aggregates all the content you have created, uploaded on Facebook in a nice Flipbook sort of way. The idea behind this being that a person is much more than his present status, according to Zuckerberg.

 

There is a central line which splits your screen into half and there are dots which expand on either side of the line to give information on the person. As you scroll down you will get to know about the major events from the person’s life in the form of photos, videos, status updates, apps, etc. This timeline goes back upto 2004 and then you have a ‘Way Back’ section where you can upload content from before 2004.Think baby pictures from your birth year, your award winning school essay, videos from your uncle’s wedding, etc., all before 2004. 

 

One interesting aspect of Timeline is the huge header image which it allows you to upload, which you can change according to your mood or volition. Scrolling through the profile can also highlight aspects of the users personality. For instance if you are a photographer or a musician, then you can put up a powerful header image which communicates that fact. You have complete control over who views your timeline, which pictures you want to highlight from your past, among other things. 

 

 

This is what Facebook Timeline will look like http://www.facebook.com/about/timeline

 

Another feature in Timeline is the Maps feature which lets you view where all you have been all these years. This is possible thanks to the Facebook Places integration.

 

How many times have you wanted to check out an app and had to answer that pop up asking your permission? Well, Facebook plans to do away with that altogether with Open Graph. It is a new category of apps which will allow you to add activity to your stream without addressing any unwanted prompts asking for permission. You will get a single Permissions page that will allow publishing all the app related data on your timeline. 

 

Pattern Recognition was a common theme in the keynote of Zuckerberg. He plans to make sharing a seamless experience on Facebook. Stuff like streaming music, TV content and news sharing has been around since ages. But Facebook with its new Open Graph app ecosystem plans to collaborate with a lot of news websites, music streaming services and TV content streaming services to allow you to read news, watch TV and listen to music based on what your friends are doing. So if your friend is listening to a particular song, you will get an update in your Facebook ticker about the same, and you can start listening to that same track simultaneously provided you have the necessary app.