Is Facebook aiming to take over your inbox? New messages service unveiled - and it looks just like email

• Users say design is 'very similar' to Apple's iPad mail software
• Expected to roll out to all users

Facebook has unveiled a new look for its messages service.
The social network giant revealed the new look today - and it looks uncannily like Apple's iPad mail software.
It is party of a complete overhaul of Facebook's messaging system which the firm hopes will attract more users to the service.

Facebook's new messages service has been completely redesigned, and now resembles an email inbox. It is believed the firm it hoping to lure users away from traditional email with the service.

However, some users have already accused the firm of simply copying Apple with the two-pane design.
It places a list of a user's friends one one side, and the message content in the left.

Some users have accused the firm of copying, saying the look is 'really similar'.
Facebook said it hopes the new look will makes its system more reliable.
'A lot of thought and care went into this new version of messages, and we hope you'll like it.

 

'There's so much more we can do to make the world more open and connected, and to make our messaging system more reliable and more flexible.'
The firm has also overhauled the way users can share pictures, and added emoticons in a bid to attract people to the service.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has faced major criticism over the firm's share price in recent week. It is hoped a new messaging service will keep users on the site tonight.

It comes in a week that saw many of Facebook's first investors dump their stock.
A regulatory filing said that Thiel, a former CEO at PayPal sold about 20 million shares of Facebook through affiliates such as his Founders Fund and other firms last week.
The shares were sold on Thursday and Friday for between $19.27 and $20.69, for a total of $396 million.
He also sold 16.8 million shares in the company's May initial public offering, making $640m.
It is now believed he has sold most of his stock in Facebook.
As Facebook’s share price continues to plummet, critics have accused Mark Zuckerberg of being ‘in over his hoodie’ and called for him to step down as CEO.
'There is a growing sense that Mark Zuckerberg, talented though he may be, is in over his hoodie as CEO of a multibillion-dollar public company,' Sam Hamadeh, head of research firm PrivCo, told the Los Angeles Times