It's only available so far in the United States, but it's hoping to take over the world of instant messaging.
Facebook Messenger is a new app for iOS and Android devices. It works separately from the main Facebook app and lets users send instant messages to their Facebook friends. When you receive a message you get an instant notification.
Not only that, you can also use the app to send SMS messages to other contacts.
So far, the world of instant messaging has been dominated by RIM with its Blackberry Messaging Service, which it's thought has 45-million users around the world. But, of course, that's just Blackberry-to-Blackberry.
Facebook Messenger has launched on iPhones and Android smartphones and it has the might of 750-million established Facebook users worldwide.
But why has Facebook done it now? Well, when Apple releases iOS5 update for iPhones and iPads later this year it will include Cupertino's foray into instant messaging - iMessage. But that, like BBM, will only be iOS-to-iOS.
Looks like Facebook's offering could be a winner.
Update: It's reported that hackers have discovered that the Facebook Messenger app is ready to support video calling. It's not activated yet, but shows just how much Facebook is planning for future development.
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