Facebook sends out invites for its April 4 event

Another Facebook event coming your way. CNET reports that social networking giant Facebook has sent out media invites for its scheduled event on April 4, 2013. The invite, which reads "Come See Our New Home on Android", does not let out much apart from the fact that the announcement will be pertaining to an Android-related product. The event will take place on Thursday, April 4, 2013 at Facebook's Menlo Park, California headquarters. Despite there being nothing more to chew on at the moment, expectations are pretty high.

This month has been particularly eventful for Facebook with it making its much talked about Timeline design official for all its users earlier this month. The new Timeline, Facebook claims, will help users express what's important to them.

A refreshed appearance has been the most anticipated change in the new Timeline. Facebook says it is a result of the feedback that it received suggesting that the layout was "sometimes hard to read". On the new Timeline, all posts are on the right side, with photos, music and other recent activities on the left.

Facebook unveiled its redesigned news feed to offer users a more visually immersive experience. Co-founder Mark Zuckerberg was quick to point out that the new look is geared for a more mobile world. Facebook will now look the same on both PCs and smartphones, as all the features and UI are consistent irrespective of which device you use. The updated app will hit iOS before the Google Play Store.

The company apparently studied how Facebook is used on different platforms and has designed the apps with that in mind. Facebook said PC users tend to spend a lot more time going through their feeds than smartphone users, so the mobile app is a lot more condensed and now shows you more information on a smaller screen. The PC experience, on the other hand, is sparse and more spaced out. It allows greater play for every update and bigger pictures help them stand out.

There are surprises in the overall layout too. Facebook has done away with the  navigation bar on the left, which took you to events, photos and games. Instead, the News Feed takes up the main space on your browser window. The interface has been scrubbed clean so that all the links, sections and apps you use look cleaner; everything else is tucked away in a sidebar. This sidebar is located on the left edge of the window and is accessible from every page on Facebook, limiting your need to jump to the home screen every time you want to navigate to a new section.

When multiple people share something, hovering over their profile icons on will display their comments on the link. In addition, when a friend adds a new buddy, you will see a more detailed entry on the News Feed, complete with your friend’s cover picture, and the friends you have in common with whoever they have become friends with.

[via CNET]