Facebook releases a 'Lite' version for Android

SAN FRANCISCO, June 4 (Reuters) - Facebook Inc rolled out a new Android app for its social media service on Thursday that uses lesser data and runs faster in regions with spotty connections.

The app, called Facebook Lite, is available in countries across Asia and will soon make its way to parts of Latin America, Africa and Europe, Vijay Shankar, product manager forFacebook Lite, said in an interview. In many of the target regions people still use 2G networks that have much lower bandwidth compared to the the 4G networks in many developed nations.

"We want to offer people a choice so if there are limitations, they can still get the full Facebook experience," Shankar said.

The app uses less than one-half of a megabyte of data to limit data usage and rates for those in emerging markets. While it still supports Facebook's News Feed, status updates, notifications and photos, it excludes the more bandwidth-intensive features such as videos and advanced location services.

Facebook Lite is part of the world's largest social media network's expansion into emerging markets. Earlier this year, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg announced Internet.org, a platform developed with six technology partners to connect 4.5 billion people with no current access to the Internet.

If you're reading this on an Android phone, directly download the app here.

Reporting by Yasmeen Abutaleb; Editing by Richard Chang