The news that Facebook plans to move into the geo-location arena could hardly be described as an especially well kept secret, but it's only now that the social network appears to have gotten around to confirming its plans.

That's according to a report by VentureBeat, which claims Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has stated a location-based app from the network is currently in the design stage and will officially launch some time 'soon'.

Zuckerberg reportedly made the comments at a developer meet-up in London at the start of the week, although he didn't reveal just what form the location based setup would take.

Pinning down Places

Determining just how geo-location will be integrated into Facebook has sparked off rumours aplenty over the last few months.

Recent speculation had suggested that a 'Places' tab was set to be added to Facebook's mobile site in the near future – perhaps dipping into Localeze's 14 million business strong database.

However, Zuckerberg's admittedly succinct comments hint at a completely separate, native app for the firm's location-based setup.

Either way, VentureBeat's report takes the view that Zuckerberg's vocal stance on geo-location suggests the network is looking to cooperate with, rather than supersede, current offerings from Foursquare, Gowalla, and the like.

Given all such apps let users share their check-ins and activities on Facebook as it is, the suggestion is Facebook might not extend beyond attaching a user's location to a status update – in much the same manner as Twitter – so not to upset the applecart.

VentureBeat