Recently, MySpace (
) launched a new feature for its millions of users: @myspace.com webmail. While it’s unclear if Facebook plans to follow suit any time soon, some new features the social network is announcing this afternoon could make member inboxes a bit more interesting, by way of third-party applications.
Facebook has introduced two new APIs: Inbox and Notifications. For users, what this means is that developers could soon launch desktop applications that integrate features like checking your messages and receiving app notifications. For example, an app like TweetDeck (
) or Seesmic Desktop () could now offer alerts when any of these activities take place on Facebook.
Although Facebook isn’t yet offering an option for sending messages (you’ll still have to login to the site), they don’t rule it out, writing “we’re always thinking about new functionality to offer through Facebook Platform.” I’d certainly love to see this feature, as the current Facebook Inbox leaves lots of room for improvement (a new version is on the way however), and a slick third-party app could create a better interface and user experience.
This development follows news last week of the Open Stream API being extended to Facebook Pages, allowing users to push and pull Page updates to and from desktop apps. In all, it looks like Facebook () is quickly getting serious about giving app developers the tools to build great desktop apps. Now, we wait to see who will build the best mouse trap.
