Facebook continues to change the world, this time by making its presence felt in vehicle dashboards. Luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz announced on Tuesday the launch of a service called mbrace2 which includes online services such as Facebook, Yelp and Google.

In keeping in line with the need to be connected most of the time, the service would enhance the driving experience of Mercedes-Benz owners. To make the number one social networking site as well as other online portals available, the carmaker uses cloud-based services which will connect not only the dashboard but other tech gadgets as well such as mobile phones and tablet computers running on iOS and Android.

The new service was unveiled by Mercedes-Benz at the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas. It will be launched in spring with the MY13 SL-Class and will be a standard offering in most MY13 passenger cars.

"It works seamlessly, automatically, and 24-7. I admit that (it) won't change the world, but it is a very real improvement in terms of independence," PCMag quoted Dr Dieter Zetsche, head of Mercedes-Benz Cars.

Facebook on Mercedes-Benz is limited to a set of feature and was specially designed for motorist since it focuses on location of friends and businesses to help the driver navigate better.

"One of the core things that people do on their screens in the car is GPS navigation and the ability to see which of your friends are nearby is something we think will be really interesting for people," Facebook Vice President for Partnerships and Platform Marketing Dan Rose told Reuters.

However, there are concerns that it would also increase distracted driving. Robert Policano, product manager for Telematics Services of Mercedes-Benz pointed out that the Facebook application is just like the standard in-car navigation system or radio which helps rather than distracts the driver.

He said that other Facebook activities that needs the user to enter a text is disabled while the vehicle is moving, but the application shows standard, pre-written postings that the driver can post by taps or turns of a knob. That particular Facebook posting comes with a statement that says the user is on the way to a destination. The information includes estimated time of arrival taking into account the current traffic patterns.

Facebook also disabled the social games features such as Farmville in the Mercedes-Benz dashboard.

A few hours after the launch, bloggers commented on the collaboration between Facebook and Mercedes-Benz.

"Great. More accidents on the road as idiots try to check what their friend had for lunch on Casebook," wrote blogger blinker1315 on Digg.

"The last place I want Facebook is when I'm driving!" said Heidtmann on Bandwidthblog.

Another blogger, zbeast, agreed that the only apps that a car needs are INRIX Traffic, Trapster, Buzzed and a good GPS software.

With Facebook's unstoppable influence based on 800 million members alone, observers said that the number one social networking site is acquiring the reach of an OS by powering human experiences through various devices.

Amid reports of a Facebook phone, a major American daily suggested to start calling Facebook a social operating system.

Charles Golvin, a Forrester analyst, thinks Facebook is "a set of applications that pervade consumers' lives."

"I suspect that no matter where its customers are and what they're doing, Facebook wants to ensure that it's present and available to them," Mr Golvin told Fast Company.