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Many Facebook users (us included) noticed that the top navigation bar is now locked on top of the screen even if you scroll the page down. This behavior is new: Before, the top navigation bar would scroll up with the page, and now it’s visible all the time.

This subtle change lets users always access some of the most important features on Facebook: friend requests, messages, notifications and search on the left side, as well as home and profile anchor buttons and account settings on the right.

For comparison, Twitter uses a similar floating design for its navigation bar, which is also always visible on top.

Inside Facebook thinks this may be the first stage in a much bigger redesign, which is to be unveiled at Facebook’s F8 conference. If they’re right, Facebook is looking to lock the ads on the right side of the screen to be always visible, too, which would surely increase the click-through rates but would also make the page a bit more crowded.

Has the new, locked top navigation bar gone live for you? How do you like it? Please, share your opinions in the comments.

More About: design, Facebook, navigation, social network, social networking, trending

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Google has granted all Google Maps users the ability to view aerial photos taken at a 45° angle. Just zoom in at one of the supported locations and you'll get a better view than you could before.The feature was previously only available to developers and as part of Labs for Google Maps, a set of work-in-progress features that you had to opt in to. Now anyone who uses Google MapsGoogle Maps can see the aerial images, but the locations are limited to just a few cities in Europe and South Africa, and on the west coast of the United States.These pictures are taken from the air, not from orbit, so they're sharper and their angle allows you to appreciate landmarks and buildings as they appear from the side, not just directly above. Microsoft's Bing Maps has offered similar, higher-quality images by default for some time, so Google'sGoogle playing catch-up here.

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Where It's Available

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Google Maps 45° aerial imagery is only available for a few locations in North America, Europe and Africa at present, but hopefully it will expand to more locations later. For now, the supported locations include places in Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Nelspruit, Polokwane, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria, and Rustenburg in South Africa; Portland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Jose, Santa Cruz and Santa Clara in the United States; Dortmund in Germany and Venice in Italy.Here's a map of the support locations. You can browse the map yourself at Google's website.

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