A Facebook product without Facebook -- but not in U.S.
- Messenger app isn't available in the U.S. yet
- App will eventually become available on iPhone
- It will draw in contacts when users enroll
Facebook on Tuesday unveiled its first product available to people who don't have a Facebook account.
The Messenger for Android app will allow sign ups with a name and phone number. "Starting today, you can create a Messenger account ... start messaging your mobile contacts," the social media giant said on its website.
The hitch: It's not available in the U.S. just yet. The rollout for the upgraded app, running on Google's Android mobile software platform, will be available in Australia, India, Indonesia, South Africa and Venezuela right away. Facebook said it plans to expand it to other countries, including the U.S., but did not say when. The Messenger application will eventually become available on Apple's iPhone, the company said.
Users need only install the app and tap "Get Started" to quickly access contacts, share photos and start group conversations.
"We're doing this because we're serious about messaging and realize that limiting the reach to just those on Facebook limits the ability for people to reach anyone in their address book," Menlo Park, Calif.-based Facebook said in the statement.
Facebook mobile product manager Peter Deng was scheduled to reveal more details later Tuesday.
When users sign up, the free app will draw in their contacts. Peter Deng, a product director at Facebook, told The New York Times the Messenger app will not include ads. But he said the easier sign up could lead users to sign up for a Facebook account so they can use the messaging service elsewhere.
Deng said messaging was "ripe for innovation" because it had been held back by old technology created by phone carriers like AT&T and Verizon. "It's limited to 160 characters, and it's not at all rich in its expression," he told the Times. "People want to connect deeply with each other, and they don't want to be constrained by various technical boundaries and decisions made 20 years ago."