The next time you visit a restaurant’s Facebook page on your mobile phone, you’ll be able to do more than browse photos and posts: You’ll also be able to book a table for four.
The feature is part of a new integration with OpenTable, which allows you to make online reservations at about 20,000 U.S. dining establishments. Beginning later this week, the booking service be available on Facebook’s mobile site and newly updated apps for iOS and Android (see below screenshot, left). A Facebook spokesperson says the company plans to gauge use and performance before rolling it out to other platforms, like the desktop.
Since the launch is taking place on mobile, there are some device-specific advantages: Namely, the ability to use Facebook’s “Nearby Places” function to find restaurants in your immediate proximity.
Facebook says its integration is far more seamless than with OpenTable’s other partners, like Yelp and Google Maps, which require you to open a browser window to complete a booking. All reservations can be made without leaving the Facebook app. In fact, you don’t even need to register with OpenTable to make a reservation.
Reservations will not generate any posts in your News Feed, nor will you be able to share a reservation with friends.
Also going out with the Facebook mobile update is a new feature called “Airings on TV.” Facebook has partnered with Rovi so that viewing information — channel, airing time, etc. — will automatically show up on the Facebook pages of TV shows and movies (see above screenshot, right).
A Facebook spokesperson says it’s all about making pages “more useful and actionable for people” — and indeed that’s exactly what Facebook is doing. Existing OpenTable members will no doubt find it easier to make reservations through the OpenTable app, which offers better search functionality across neighborhoods and cuisines, but it’s certainly a welcome improvement for Facebook users. Useful, too, is the viewing information for TV shows and movies.
Image: Flickr, Unique Hotels Group and Facebook
