<p>Facebook on Tuesday released a new version of its mobile messaging app, a move that shows the Menlo Park company is trying to extend its reach beyond its already massive social network.</p><p>The new Android version of the Messenger app doesn't require a user to sign up for a Facebook account, an interesting twist for a company that has been pushing to connect every human activity - from reading a newspaper story to buying a gift - into its social network.</p><p>Users of the new Messenger version can sign in with just a name and phone number, and then send messages through their phones to both Facebook members and non-members.</p><p>For now, the app is available only to owners of Android phones in India, Indonesia, Australia, Venezuela and South Africa, but Facebook says it plans to roll out the same service shortly in other regions, including the United States.</p><p><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/technology/article/Facebook-revises-mobile-messaging-app-4091286.php">Keep reading...</a></p><p>Read also:</p><p><a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/12/04/global-messaging-market/">The Reality Of The Global Messaging Market: It&#039;s Really Freaking Fragmented</a> (TechCrunch)</p><p><a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/facebook-messenger-revamp-could-cut-text-messaging-1C7419266">Facebook Messenger revamp could cut into text messaging</a> (NBCNews.com (blog))</p><p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/shortcuts/2012/dec/04/whatsapp-new-text-messaging">WhatsApp: the new text messaging</a> (The Guardian (blog))</p><p>Explore: <a href="http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=dGft0BeojjFkLBMCa5IJXlqJVkdOM&ned=us">331 additional articles.</a></p>