Application lifecycle and content management company Telerik has this week officially launched the perplexing named f!acedeck Microsoft Silverlight-based client application for Facebook.
The product, formerly known as “Microsoft Silverlight Client for Facebook Beta” and first released in early 2010, has been further developed by Telerik and is now available as the first official version under its new brand name.
Powered by Silverlight 4, Telerik f!acedeck is said to give Facebook users some cool new features, such as drag-and-drop from the local file system and access to a video camera. These highly requested new features in the official version also include instant loading and smooth scrolling of the Facebook wall, notifications and chat.
“We are very proud to have been selected by Microsoft to enhance the Silverlight client for Facebook Beta. Our new application, Telerik f!acedeck, demonstrates the value that Silverlight delivers in terms of user experience and performance,” said Svetozar Georgiev, CEO of Telerik. “As a Microsoft partner deeply vested in Silverlight ourselves, we are committed to take this application to the next level in terms of usability and capabilities.”
Pre-release notes and reports suggest that the most important new feature in Telerik f!acedeck is the chat capability, which allows users to send messages and instantly communicate with their friends. Also new is the notifications menu, which displays all relevant recent activities mimicking the official Facebook site. Finally, the central wall has been significantly enhanced to offer instant loading and smooth scrolling even with a very long list of items.
“Microsoft built the Facebook Toolkit to empower developers to create rich, compelling user experiences on the Web and we’re pleased to see Telerik taking advantage of the resources provided,” said Brad Becker, director of product management at Microsoft Corp. “Telerik’s innovative use of the Microsoft Silverlight-based toolkit demonstrates that next generation application experiences can be created today.”
