14 DAY TRIAL // The mobile space isn't that big in the grand scheme at the moment but it is growing at a breakneck pace and mobile use is expected to make up a very large percentage of the overall Internet traffic in just a few years. Spurred by increasingly powerful smartphones and better data access, users are spending more time online on the go and most services are recognizing the demand for a dedicated offering. Facebook is already well represented in the mobile front but now it's launching a very specialized site dedicated to touchscreen phones.
“We’ve redesigned our mobile site for touch devices (x.facebook.com and iphone.facebook.com) with new features and to make it look and feel like other Facebook mobile and Web properties. The site also has a new domain name, touch.facebook.com,” Facebook told the All Facebook blog. “A user only needs to type Facebook.com into the address bar of their mobile browser and they will be automatically directed to the Facebook mobile site best suited to their device. The goal is for our mobile products to offer a familiar user experience that is simple and easy-to-use regardless of the device they choose.”
At the time 65 million Facebook users access the site on their mobile phones, up from just 20 million at the beginning of 2009. Facebook's audience has also grown tremendously since then but growth in the mobile space outpaces the general one so there is a definite need for a dedicated site. In fact Facebook has several options for mobile users. There is of course the generic mobile Facebook page targeting all mobile phones but it doesn't provide a very good experience for the more advanced phones.
Facebook also provides dedicated apps for the iPhone and Android devices which offer a very good experience and have been praised as some of the best apps available overall. But, despite their popularity, not all touchscreen phones are iPhones or Android-based so Facebook is catering to those users with a site optimized for touch. A dedicated app would be a better option of course but in the meantime the site does a better job than the regular mobile version, allowing users to navigate through the different sections more easily. The site can be accessed at touch.facebook.com and it works on all devices, including on PCs if you want to test it for whatever reason.