Facebook upgrade now promises bigger, faster photos

Faced with threats from rivals like Google+, social networking giant Facebook is giving its users another reason to stick with it by making its photos bigger even as the uploading is twice faster. Product manager Justin Shaffer said the photos being shared on Facebook are bigger at 720 x 960 pixels, and load twice as fast, promising users “quicker access to more detailed images." “With over 250 million photos uploaded each day, sharing pictures is one of the most popular activities on Facebook. We are constantly working on making Facebook Photos better and today we’re introducing some improvements to the way you experience photos," Facebook product manager Justin Shaffer said in a blog post. Shaffer said that after Facebook launched its first version of the photo viewer earlier this year, it built on feedback from users on what changes it should make. He said the new photo viewer is more streamlined now and features “that makes it even easier to enjoy your photos." “The light box is now set against a simple white background that puts more of the focus on the photo, and less on the surrounding frame," he added. Shaffer said the new features will be gradually rolling out to everyone over the next few days. In recent weeks, Facebook had faced the threat of a major rival in Google’s upcoming social network Google+. — LBG, GMA News