By giving its customers direct access to Facebook, Research In Motion (RIM) successfully took advantage of the growing demands of social network users for access when away from their desktop. Yesterday, during the spring 2008 CTIA Wireless show, RIM announced that there have been more than one million downloads of the application since it launched the software at the 2007 fall CTIA Wireless show last October. “When we launched Facebook for BlackBerry Smartphones, we believed that consumers would recognize the value of marrying social networking with mobility and that vision has now been validated more than a million times,” said RIM VP Mark Guibert. “This innovative mobile application…makes it easier than ever for Facebook users to stay connected with people wherever they choose.”

The BlackBerry Facebook application isn’t browser based, but runs directly on a BlackBerry to better make use of RIM’s BlackBerry architecture. With it, Facebook users can wirelessly send and view messages, photos, pokes and Wall posts. And, as with BlackBerry-based e-mail, Facebook notifications are pushed to the user’s smartphone.

It also allows users to take a picture and upload it to Facebook with captions and tags; send out invitations to friends; as well as manage events, photo albums, and status.

Since its initial launch, RIM’s added language support for French, German and Spanish to Facebook for BlackBerry Smartphones.

It is available as a free download here and here on the desktop and at m.facebook.com or mobile.blackberry.com over-the-air via the BlackBerry web browser.

Warner Music Group Corp., the record company of Led Zeppelin, reported a first-quarter loss on costs to close a business it acquired nine months ago. The shares posted a record drop. The net loss of $16 million, or 11 cents a share, in the three months ended Dec. 31, compares with net income of $18 million, or 12 cents, a year earlier, the New York-based company said today in a statement. Excluding the costs to close the acquired unit, earnings of 1 cent a share missed the 12-cent average of seven analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Warner Music, facing an industrywide decline in compact disc sales, bought concert company Bulldog Entertainment in May to try to boost revenue. It shut down the unit at a cost of $18 million. Revenue rose 6.6 percent to $989 million, driven by Josh Groban’s album “Noel” and currency changes. Excluding the changes, sales rose 1 percent, the first increase in six quarters.

“The write-off shows they were entering a business they arguably shouldn’t have gotten into in the first place,” said Chris White, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles who recommends holding the shares and doesn’t own them. “Revenue growth is still decent but supported by acquisitions that are questionable.”

Warner Music, the world’s third largest record company, tumbled $1.59, or 18 percent, to $7.15 at 10:32 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading after dropping as much as 19 percent, the most since the company went public in May 2005. The shares had declined 58 percent in the past 12 months before today on concern gains in digital sales won’t make up for the decline in higher-priced CDs.

Not `Standing Still’

Chief Executive Officer Edgar Bronfman is also trying to increase sales by adding merchandising and management services. Warner Music invested $50 million in a joint venture with Frank Sinatra’s family last year to market his music and videos as well as his name and likeness. It also paid about $110 million for a stake in artist management company Front Line Management.

Investments and acquisitions are likely to be smaller this year than in 2007, Chief Financial Officer Michael Fleisher said today on a conference call.

“While we were obviously disappointed with” Bulldog Entertainment, Bronfman said on the call, “we continue to believe that taking prudent risks to expand and enlarge our revenue opportunities is a far better strategy than standing still.”

(The company held a conference call to discuss the results at 8:30 a.m. New York time. For a replay, dial +1-888-566-0618 or +1-203-369-3076.)

To contact the reporter on this story: Don Jeffrey in New York at djeffrey1@bloomberg.net