Facebook to launch App Center

International Travel News Thursday 10th May, 2012

• The new hub will promote apps that integrate with the social network such as Spotify or Pinterest

• To promote innovations, the App Center will encourage developers to make apps for Facebook.com too

• The Apps Center would also provide a platform for stores to list their app

NEW YORK - Social networking giant Facebook is planning to launch an online hub App Center, where consumers will be able to find and buy games and applications even as the company is preparing an initial public offering that would value the company between $77 billion and $96 billion.

Not so much a store, but a showcase where users can browse the best Android, iOS, mobile and web apps that integrate with the social network, the App Centre will be launched in the next few weeks. It will be a new revenue generator for the company.

To be used primarily to promote apps that integrate with the social network such as Spotify or Pinterest, the hub will have its own ranking system based on the usage. The ranking will reveal the popularity of different apps among Facebook friends.

To promote innovations, the App Center will encourage developers to make apps for Facebook.com too, with the company taking a 30 per cent cut in the sale price.

The Apps Center would also provide a platform for stores to list their app. Ranging from social games to music services, app are popular activities on Facebook, the online social network with roughly 900 million users.

According to the company, 200 of the apps that are available on Facebook have more than 1 million users.

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