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"Now you can call your Facebook friends for free \u2014 if you\u2019re an iPhone user, that is. The company has rolled out a new feature in the U.S. that allows Facebook Messenger app users to place voice calls with friends over the social network using their data connection or Wi-Fi.\nThe feature started rolling out in the United States Wednesday, and comes as a simple \u201Cfree calling\u201D button in the existing app. Users don\u2019t have to update the existing Messenger app in order to take advantage of the feature.\n\nFree calls are placed by tapping the \"i\" icon on the top right side of chat, and then selecting \"Free Call\" from your friend's contact card. Your friends will need to have Facebook's stand-alone Messenger app installed on their phone in order for the feature to work (otherwise the \"Free Call\" icon will appear grey and marked out).\nCalls have a similar look and feel as traditional voice calls you might make on your iPhone.\n\nFacebook started testing the feature in Canada earlier this month. The functionality was announced alongside an update to the company\u2019s iOS and Android apps that allows Facebook users to send short voice messages to each other.\nVonage launched an app in 2010 that allowed Facebook users to call friends for free, however, the app required that both parties have the Vonage for Facebook app installed on their devices in order to do so.\nMessenger is one of several stand-alone apps developed by Facebook. The company often uses the apps to test new features with power users before deciding which features to include in the traditional Facebook app for the social network's general audience.\nWill you use Messenger to call your Facebook friends? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.\nImage courtesy of iStockphoto, akinbostanci"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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