Within less than a month of its acquisition by Facebook, Face.com is shutting down its facial recognition APIs. The move comes in contrast to the company's assurance to developers saying that it will continue to support the developer community and that it will offer greater opportunities to build products.
The Next Web report that in an e-mail addressed to developers using the APIs, the company said, "We're excited to move forward to work with all our friends at Facebook. Part of this process includes closing down other products and services that we are no longer able to support, and this includes the Face.com developers API."
Not just that, Face.com's iOS app, Klik, is also being removed from the App store. The app, that allowed users to tag Facebook friends in photos even before the shot was taken, will go offline from July 20th. Users will have time to retrieve their photos until then, post which all their data will be deleted.
Face.com was acquired by Facebook on June 18 this year for an undisclosed amount. It specialised in software that lets computers recognise people's faces in digital images. Face.com had launched its open API in 2010 to help third-party developers use the technology in their apps.