By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

Facebook Connect for iPhone was announced last July, and on Saturday at the South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) conference in Austin, TX, they finally launched it. It only took eight months and nearly enough time to launch a new iPhone.

Facebook Connect for iPhone does for iPhone apps what Facebook Connect does for Web sites, which allows Facebook users to login to affiliated sites using their Facebook account and share information from those sites with their Facebook friends.

Here’s what users of such iPhone apps can do:

• Seamlessly connect their Facebook account and information with the iPhone app
• Connect and share experiences with friends who also use the same iPhone app
• Share user information and actions on the iPhone app with friends on Facebook

Dave Morin, senior platform manager for Facebook, said:

“”We have one more thing (Steve Jobs homage, anyone?). It’s all about mobile and the iPhone, so today we’re announcing Facebook Connect for the iPhone.

For the first time, your iPhone apps can now have friends. I can pull out my iPhone and play it not only my other friends with iPhones, but I can also play with my mom—she can join in and play with us on her computer.”

Watch the announcement that took place at SWSXi:

Several popular apps are already available in the App Store, including those from Playfish, SGN, Flixster, Urbanspoon, Tapulous, Whrrl, Zynga, and Binary Game.

And according to Facebook, adding Facebook Connect to your iPhone app can be done in as little as 5 minutes. Yep, watch it: