Facebook's new Home interface, the social network's Android home screen replacement, may be labeled a success as it nears 1 million downloads.
The company showed off some upcoming changes of its Android overlay today while bragging that Home increases Facebook use by roughly 25 percent.
Facebook Vice President Cory Ondrejka claimed that Home users spend 25 percent more time using Facebook and send 25 percent more comments and likes, according to TechCrunch.
"Chat Heads," that bobble head message feature, increase Facebook chat participation by 7 percent and increase messages sent by 10 percent, Ondrejka said.
Flattery by imitation
Facebook also showed off some new features that will be added to Home in future updates, though not in an update being pushed out today, which focuses mostly on performance improvements and bug fixes.
But future features include a deeper tutorial for new users, a "dash bar" that will make it easier to start new chats, and a dock that will give users more convenient access to their apps.
Sure, Facebook Home is looking more and more like iOS, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Teach us your Waze
Elsewhere, reports came in today that Facebook is in talks to buy Israeli map app company Waze for up to $1 billion (around UK£64 million, AU$99.4 million).
That's what Facebook paid to acquire Instagram, and Hot Hardware reported today that Facebook is considering paying the same for Waze.
Waze is a social GPS app that uses live data from drivers to provide the best routes based on traffic and other conditions.
The acquisition is reportedly in the due-diligence phase, which means both sides have signed a principle agreement. News of the deal first appeared in the Hebrew-language business newspaper Calcalist.
With Facebook's attempt to take over an entire OS with Facebook Home, it's not inconceivable that the social network would look to add social map functionality in the future.
Are you listening, Google? May want to pay attention to what's going on in Menlo Park.
