Facebook has announced a new feature for its iOS application called Places. Using location data, Facebook will begin to post information about nearby places — restaurants, museums, etc. — to the top of users’ newsfeeds.
The tips will appear as cards, which will contain information about the place’s location, hours, and web site as well as photos and/or ratings shared by the user’s friends. It mimics some of the behaviors of Foursquare. Places relies on cellular, GPS, and WiFi radios to determine location, but Facebook is also testing location placement with Bluetooth-based beacon technology. The feature is optional and users can turn it off any time.
Places for Facebook is baked into the iOS application, which is available today. Facebook didn’t say when it might add the feature to its Android app.
