Facebook is letting users of its flourishing social-networking community play together on the road by using Apple's popular iPhone and iPod Touch mobile devices.

"For the first time, your iPhone apps can now have friends," Facebook senior platform manager Dave Morin said on Saturday at the South By Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas. Panelists then demonstrated applications that expand the borders of Facebook's online community onto iPhones and iPod Touch devices.

Facebook Connect for the iPhone debuted with 9 applications available at Apple's online iTunes store and a promise that more will launch in coming days.