Scrabble for iPhone gets a Facebook boost

Say the words 'Facebook' and 'Scrabble' in the same breath and you're likely to get the evil eye from fans of the lamented Scrabulous application that formerly called the social network its wordy home, even though the official game has made its way back onto Facebook. Despite the stomp job on the unofficial version from Hasbro The Hardnosed Holder of the copyright, the game is still addictive in analog, online and iPhone formats.

Now a new version of the iPhone Scrabble game, which previously permitted networked head-to-head play over WiFi, is giving players the option of using the Facebook Connect tools to play against friends far and wide. Announced today at the Game Developers Conference, the FBC-friendly build of the app requires you to add the Scrabble application on Facebook, then log in from the iPhone to connect the two. If you don't already own the iPhone app, it's $4.99US. Play can cross over between the web and iPhone versions of the game with no difficulty -- I'm loading it up as we speak and challenging my Facebook buddies (who are, without exception, better at Scrabble than I am) to a match or two.

We'll have a full rundown of GDC opening day iPhone news later on tonight.