Hi!

Good news for iPhone & iPod Touch users who use Facebook Chat on eBuddy : An update of our application is available in the App Store, with much improved connectivity & reliability for Facebook Chat!

The ’secret sauce’ we use is Facebook Connect, the official and secure way of connecting to Facebook. As an existing Facebook user you’ll be asked to upgrade to this new connection method when you launch eBuddy after updating to the latest version.

We’ve posted more info on Facebook Connect in a previous blog post: Facebook Chat updated on iPhone & Android.

Also in this update we’ve included support for iOS 4 multitasking. You can now easily switch between eBuddy and other apps instantly by double-clicking on the Home button on your iPod Touch 3G, iPhone 3GS, or iPhone 4.

Last but not least, we’ve also added high-resolution images for a picture-perfect experience on the beautiful new iPhone 4 Retina Display .

So what’s the full list of changes in this version?
- New and improved connectivity & reliability for Facebook Chat
- iOS4 multitasking: Switch between eBuddy and other apps instantly
- High-resolution images for the Retina Display on iPhone 4
- Many smaller improvements & bug fixes

Hope you enjoy this latest eBuddy update!

Ivar

Brand new versions of eBuddy for iPhone (both Free and Pro) and eBuddy for Android have just been released. The biggest change in both versions is that we now use Facebook Connect to log you in to Facebook Chat. This is a major milestone for us and makes chatting on Facebook a lot more reliable.

Facebook Chat
Recently you may have noticed various errors when logging in to Facebook Chat. For example eBuddy told you that your password was incorrect or that your login was not allowed. These should now be resolved after you install the latest version from the AppStore or Market.

Permissions
When you first start the application eBuddy will ask you to connect your eBuddyID account with your Facebook account. You will only have to do this once.

After typing your Facebook username and password in the first screen, you will be prompted to allow eBuddy access to various Facebook permissions. You need to allow them all to chat on Facebook. Here is what we need them for.

Access my basic information - In order to display your Facebook profile picture and the names & pictures of your friends we need access to some basic information from your Facebook profile.

Access my data anytime - We ask this so you only have to supply your Facebook username and password once. We will not access your profile when you are not online on eBuddy. Without this permission, you will have to type your Facebook username & password every time you start eBuddy.

Access Facebook Chat - This is required to actually enable you to chat on Facebook Chat.

What else is new
Our iPhone version now has improved support for iOS4 & the iPhone 4. Multitasking support has been improved and we made some changes to take advantage of the superb high-resolution display of the iPhone 4. We will tell you more about that in a couple of days on this blog.

The Android version also includes various bugfixes and stability fixes, which improve the overall experience of the application.

I hope you find this new updates useful. If you experience any problems with them contact feedback_iphone@ebuddy.com for problems with iPhone or feedback_android@ebuddy.com for problems with Android.

Yeah! We’ve made it to the final! I’m not sure if you are aware, but eBuddy is a Dutch company located in Amsterdam, so we are all very excited and proud that our boys made it to the final of the FIFA World Cup soccer.

Over the last month we’ve noticed that you also liked watching the games. Instead of sticking to eBuddy and chatting with your friends, you go out and watch the matches! And of course, while watching the match, there is nothing but attention to the match and no chatting on eBuddy.

Take for example the match Holland played against Brazil on Friday July 2nd. The match started at 4.00pm European Time, with halftime at 4.45pm, second half start at 5.00pm and final whistle at 5.45pm.

An hour before the match we already noticed that less people started eBuddy to chat with, and that amount dropped during the first half. However, during half time, Brazil was leading 0-1 then, we saw a very short increase in usage of eBuddy (on our mobile products this increase was huge). Catching up on the developments in the first half. But it was even more clear at the end of the second half, the usage of eBuddy almost doubled immediately after the final whistle! Everyone just rushed to eBuddy to discuss the match with their friends.

Just one match to go and then we will know who the next World Champion will be. And don’t forget to shout “Hup Holland Hup!” while watching the final Sunday!

A few weeks back we were happy to share that eBuddy had been downloaded 1 million times in the Nokia Ovi Store.

Now, not even 5 weeks later, we are delighted to announce that we have reached 2 million downloads in the Ovi Store!

Nokia’s official blog, Nokia Conversations, caught up with eBuddy’s CEO Jan-Joost “JJ” Rueb to discuss eBuddy’s success and its rising popularity in the Ovi Store. You can read the article here.

We would like to thank all our users for making this achievement possible, and stay tuned for the next million!

eBuddy was chosen as a finalist for the most prestigious category of the 2010 Gettie Awards!

The Gettie Awards are presented by GetJar, one of the world’s biggest app stores, where eBuddy has recently reached the 50 million downloads mark. The Gettie is described as the premier event designed to showcase the world’s most successful and innovative apps.

eBuddy will run for the Gettie Award, the award’s main prize. Thank you to everybody who visited the Gettie Awards website and nominated eBuddy, we couldn’t have done it without you!

Winners will be announced during the awards ceremony on July the 12th!