Google?s Android platform is getting more connected to popular Web sites thanks new applications from social networking giant Facebook and Internet radio service Pandora.

Pandora?s new application is fully integrated with its Web site, allowing users to access their current stations. The Facebook application integrates into the core user experience of Android?powered phones and lets users publish status updates, upload photos, access their Facebook news feed and view and write on other profiles.

?At Facebook, our mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected,? said Henri Moissinac, director of mobile at Facebook, Palo Alto, CA.

?We think that what we are doing right now in the mobile space with companies like Google will give even more people the opportunity to share and connect, whenever they want and wherever they are,? he said.

Both applications are free to download.

Facebook spreads its mobile reach
Facebook, one of the world?s largest social networking Web sites has approximately 65 million mobile users.

Mr. Moissinac said Facebook for Android?s demographic is broad and that it is an ideal application for individuals with Android-powered phones who are looking to take their Facebook experience with them when they are away from their computer. 

Google is leading the marketing efforts and strategy behind the new application.

?The launch of Facebook for Android is a positive thing in that the application integrates Facebook into the core user experience of Android-powered devices and leverages Android?s latest release to help us deliver on our mission of giving people the power to share and make the world more open and connected,? Mr. Moissinac said.
  
Pandora tuned into mobile
Pandora is a personalized Internet radio service available anytime and anywhere. The radio station has more than 30 million registered listeners and is available on mobile devices such as the Palm Pre, BlackBerry and iPhone.

Adding Pandora to Google?s Android platform is just another step in the radio service?s strategy to expand Internet radio access.

?We?re essentially making Pandora available to be widely adapted on several devices,? said Tim Westergren, founder of Pandora, Oakland, CA. ?It is part of a larger strategy for us. Making Pandora ubiquitous is a priority.? 

The Pandora application is available for the HTC Hero from Sprint, as well as the HTC myTouch 3G and HTC G1 for T-Mobile.

Pandora gets more than 65,000 new users daily and depends on viral word of mouth to spread the word.

The Pandora application for Android will be ad-supported with visual banners. Mr. Westergren said audio advertisements will be coming to Pandora soon.

National advertisers such as Levi?s, Best Buy, Target, Honda, Procter & Gamble and Nike give Pandora ad support.

To download the Pandora application, users can go to Pandora.com from their phone, download Pandora from the Android Market or use one of the available bar-code-scanner applications on the Android-powered phone to scan a 2D bar code at Pandora.com.

Mr. Westergren said with the Android platform being available on more than one carrier, it opens up a larger market for Pandora, something very important to the Internet radio service as it makes the product available to more users.

With the new application, users can control Pandora playback from a widget on the Android home screen while using other Android applications.

Additionally, while listening to a song from the music player a listener can use that song or artist to create a Pandora station.

The application also lets users share a station with someone from their phone contact list.

?Launching Pandora for Android makes us available on a whole new set of phones we couldn?t access before,? Mr. Westergren said. ?The Android platform is poised for growth.?