Facebook buys Face.com, a face recognition technology startup

Facebook on Monday said it has bought a startup specializing in software that lets computers recognize people's faces in digital images.

It was not disclosed how much the leading social network paid for Face.com or what its plans are for the company.

"People who use Facebook enjoy sharing photos and memories with their friends, and Face.com's technology has helped to provide the best photo experience," a Facebook spokesman said in response to an AFP inquiry.

"This transaction simply brings a world-class team and a long-time technology vendor in house."

Face.com announced the acquisition in a blog post that heavily hinted the company's talents would be put to work for Facebook on smartphones, and cameras which are commonly used to snap pictures and post them to the social network.

"Like our friends at Facebook, we think that mobile is a critical part of people's lives as they both create and consume content, and share content with their social graph," Face.com said in the blog post.

"By working with Facebook directly, and joining their team, we'll have more opportunities to build amazing products that will be employed by consumers."

Facebook has made a priority of staying connected with its members who are increasingly using smartphones or tablets to interact with the service, but has yet to show how it plans to make money from the lifestyle shift.

In recent months, Facebook spent a billion dollars on the startup behind photo-sharing application Instagram and an undisclosed amount of money on "social discovery" startup Glancee.

Glancee founders behind the smartphone application for finding like-minded people nearby joined the Facebook team in what was seen as a talent grab by the Menlo Park, California-based social network.

Face.com promised to continue working with developers that use the company's technology in their applications.