TechCrunch is reporting that Facebook is adding video capability to Instagram, which will be announced at the former's press event on June 20th. According to The Desk, the videos would last between five and 10 seconds, but there's no word on if the photo-sharing app's litany of filters would feature in the new service. Presumably the move has come in response to Vine's popularity as Facebook and Twitter square off against each other -- a fight which would make Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD look like playground squabbling by comparison.

Filed under: Cellphones, Cameras, Software, Mobile, Facebook

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Source: TechCrunch

We managed to grab a quick chat with Nokia's Global Head of Smartphone Marketing, Vesa Jutila, following the global launch of the Lumia 925. When asked about the still-notable absence of some mainstream apps within Windows Phone 8, Jutila was surprisingly frank. With reference to the company's Lumia series, he said that "the biggest complaint is that customers are missing the apps they want."

Nokia has been on a recent charm offensive towards Instagram, not least with a mini Twitter campaign, but it announced earlier today that a new Hipstamatic Oggl app will be headed to Microsoft's mobile OS, capable of sharing through Twitter, Facebook and, yes, Instagram. However, for users coming from other platforms, they may find some first-party favorites missing -- with things like Google+ and Amazon Cloud Player being just a couple of examples. Jutila acknowledged that there were "some gaps" but said Nokia is "addressing this very strongly" with the help of Microsoft. He added:

"[Developer attention] is very much driven by the absolute volume of Windows Phones in the market. That's why we're so pleased when other manufacturers also make Windows Phones."

When asked if Nokia has a strategy for a scenario in which it becomes the only manufacturer of Windows Phones, Jutila replied "No, we don't have a strategy for that."

Sharif Sakr contributed to this report.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Nokia

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It was just a matter of time, really. We're well acquainted with Facebook letting us tag friends in our photos, so it's no shock that a similar feature has just spread to the social network's mobile darling, Instagram. The Android and iOS apps will both hit version 3.5 today, letting users tag others in a shot (whether or not they're human). A new Photos of You section has also been added to members' profiles, where you can see any photo linked to that account. As you might imagine, Instagram is already trying to head off potential privacy issues -- account holders have until May 16th before their Photos of You sections become public, and settings will let them turn down connections to any revealing (or simply inaccurate) images. The update is already available through the iTunes App Store and should be landing soon in Google Play. Hit up the source links if you've ever wanted to see how other Instagrammers see you.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Facebook

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Via: Instagram

Source: App Store, Google Play

Twitter client Tweetbot showed its support for Flickr and Vine in the last update to its iOS apps, and making media easier to consume is again a focal point in newly released version 2.8. Debuting with the update is the "media timeline" -- a feed option which'll only shows tweets that include pictures or video. Also, the in-app image viewer has been treated to a full redesign and among the obligatory bug fixes, issues plaguing Instagram previews have been addressed. The update isn't all about pics and clips, though, as the tweet detail view has now been amended so it shows favorite and retweet figures. If you haven't yet received the update, you know where to go. Alternatively, if you don't use the client but like the idea of putting eye-candy in the spotlight, then Tweetbot can be had for $2.99 from the App Store.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Mobile

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Source: iTunes App Store (iPhone/iPod Touch), (iPad)

Sure, you can head over to Nike's online shoe repository and haphazardly toggle through color options for a custom pair of kicks. Or, you could let your Instagram library do the heavy lifting. With the new PHOTOiD HTML5 web app, the shoe maker combines those filtered smartphone snapshots with its custom ordering process. Once a photo has been selected, the software applies the color palette to a pair of Air Max 1, 90 or 95 sneakers -- based on the available color library for each footwear option, of course. From there, sharing is enabled through the usual social networks and creations can be purchased to hit your doorstep in about a month. Consult the source link below to color your pair of Air Max 90s based on yesterday's sandwich or iced coffee.

Filed under: Internet, Software

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Via: Nike

Source: Nike PHOTOiD

Perhaps after wading through one too many bleach bypass photos of someone's scooter, a trio of Swedish developers thought an Instagram-like app would be an ideal way to sell such things. To wit, they developed Osom, an iPhone app that pays homage to the social shooter in concept as well as design by letting you create photos with a variety of filters, price them and put them up for sale. Other users can find your artwork by following you, filtering by geography, watching a global feed or seeing it on Facebook via a cross-posting option. To buy a photo, they'll need to contact you directly through the app, as there's no built-in payment option. According to TNW, the team hopes to keep images in the feed beautiful and upscale, though so far the selection isn't curated -- and we saw a fire extinguisher and other run-of-the-mill goods alongside vintage dresses, antiques and the like. Osom will eventually include "featured" and "Osom'd" ads to make money, so if you want to enjoy the unsullied version while it lasts, hit the source to grab it.

Filed under: Software

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Via: TNW

Source: Osom (iTunes)

Many of us whose parents discovered the internet in the past decade are all too familiar with Incredimail, mostly through the excessively cute stationery that would come attached to virtually every message. It's time to shake some of those old preconceptions now that an iPad version is here. The tablet port has stationery for anyone who craves it, but it's more focused on becoming a one-stop shop for everything associated with communication: it centers on a unified inbox for IMAP-based email accounts (POP3 soon) that shows quick peeks of both mail and any included links. Users won't have to leave the app at all for a few common non-messaging tasks. There's both an integrated web browser as well as a photo inbox that currently shows Facebook images, with plans to support Flickr, Instagram and Picasa in the long run. Those on Android devices or the iPhone will have to wait for their eventual turns at Incredimail, but everyone using Apple's tablet can give it a whirl today, for free -- even if they have no intentions of sending messages that could be confused with greeting cards.

Filed under: Tablets, Software

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Via: The Next Web

Source: App Store

Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Microsoft, Nokia

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Source: Windows Phone Store

You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

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Instagram started reporting its active user base in what many saw as an attempt to quell talk of an exodus following its terms of service debacle. It has a better reason to post hard numbers today, however: there's now a neat, tidy 100 million active Instagram users every month. The milestone suggests that another 10 million mobile photographers got hooked on square-shaped photography in about five weeks, and it implies that the Facebook-owned company isn't about to slow down just yet. Not that everyone is in a position to join the party, mind you.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Facebook

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Source: Instagram

The mobile OS that needs more big name apps to tether their wagons to insure a boost in user adoption is less one key photography app. According to AllThingsD, there is no native Instagram app in development for BB10 handsets -- at least for the foreseeable future. Quoting sources close to the popular social / photo filtering app, the report goes on to say that future development is also uncertain. Of course, the outfit is working on an Android port that will be usable on BlackBerry's latest, but with significant compromises to user experience to come as the cost of admission. The new operating system did secure native support from Facebook, Foursquare, LinkedIn and Twitter at launch.

Filed under: Software, Mobile

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Source: AllThingsD

Instagram has already made the jump to the web with profile and individual photo pages, but it's fully embraced it today. You can now keep an eye on your entire Instagram feed in your desktop web browser (or mobile browser, for that matter), and make use of most of the functionality found in the mobile app. The key exception is that you still can't upload photos using the web interface; Instagram says that it's "about producing photos on the go, in the real world, in realtime." You can like and comment on photos, though, and take advantage of a responsive design that lets you narrow the site to a single column more reminiscent of the mobile app.

Filed under: Internet

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Source: Instagram

Oh man, Vine is fun. It is already apparent that with creativity and planning you can produce something approaching an epic experience in a 6-second video. Vine is a perfect enhancement of Twitter's casual "what's happening now" social base. With stop-and-go videos that resemble animated GIFs, Vine puts greater movement and reality into life-casting. I showed it to my wife, who is not remotely a Twitter user, and she immediately began storyboarding microvideo adventures for our Serta sheep. So my message to all seven people who follow me on Vine: You've got a lot to look forward to.

Speaking of followers, let's consider the tectonic unfriending that transpired in the ongoing skirmish between Facebook and Twitter, the serfdom of social media users and the historical risks of walled gardens.

Filed under: Misc, Meta, Internet

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Facebook obviously isn't interested in welcoming new social media players, and not long after stopping Yandex's Wonder app from combing its precious data, it's decided to block the friend-finding feature in Twitter's Vine video embed app. Using the "find people" option in Vine now presents users with an error message, essentially killing that labor-saving option. Facebook, as we all know, is notorious for keeping rivals' noses out of its database, and let's not forget it pulled Instagram Card support from Twitter last year. We've contacted the social network for comment, and will update you if we get a response.

Filed under: Internet, Software, Facebook

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Source: The Telegraph

Instagram stayed mum on its current usage figures after its big Terms of Service brouhaha last month, but it's now finally changed its tune and offered some details on its monthly active users for the first time. According to the company, that figure currently stands at 90 million, a number that AllThingsD notes is actually up ten percent from December to January -- Instagram's Kevin Systrom also tells the site that the company "continues to see very strong growth around the world." As for how active those 90 million users are, Instagram says that they're responsible for 40 million photos per day, along with 8,500 likes per second and 1,000 comments per second. There's no word on a breakdown by Android and iOS users, or any further specifics, though.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Via: AllThingsD

Source: Instagram

You've heard of Instagram, right? Are you familiar with Microsoft's Photosynth and Google's Photo Sphere on Nexus phones and tablets? How about Apple's brilliant continuous-scan panorama mode on iOS devices? Well mash all this up and you get TourWrist, an app / social network for sharing photo spheres. The app started life as a social network for virtual tourism and gained one million users since launching in 2010. Here in Las Vegas, the company just launched the latest version of TourWrist with a focus on capturing photos spheres. Unlike Microsoft's and Google's approach, which stitches 360-degree images from discrete pictures, the app uses continuous-scan like Apple's panorama mode. The resulting photo spheres are truly impressive and look significantly better than the competition, especially when captured in tricky lighting conditions. All 360-degree images can be shared with other TourWrist users, Instagram-style, and with other social networks by linking to an HTML5-compatible viewer. Take a look at our gallery below and peek after the break for our hands-on video and sample photo sphere captured on site.

Gallery: TourWrist hands-on

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple, Microsoft, Google

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After upsetting users with changes to its Terms of Service, Instagram announced tonight that it's discarding some of them for now, rolling back the advertising section to the ToS in place since 2010. Reiterating his previous statement that Instagram never had any plans to sell user photos, company co-founder Kevin Systrom explained in a blog post that instead of trying to create terms shaped around "possible advertising products it had not yet developed" it would come back with complete plans and explain to users "how we would like our advertising business to work." There are still changes to the ToS and privacy policy coming effective January 19th, 2013, which can be reviewed on its website.

Also apologizing for a failure to clearly communicate the company's intentions, Systrom noted that any distribution of user photos has been and still is governed by the separate privacy policy. Instagram's changes came as part of its acquisition by Facebook, and the change-policy-face-backlash-then-apologize dance step is a classic Zuckerberg move. So in light of this backtracking, are you going to watermark all your brunch pics before uploading, jump ship to competing services like Flickr or just keep using / not using the service as usual?

Filed under: Mobile, Facebook

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Source: Instagram

Were you among the many put off or freaked out by Instagram's changes to its Terms of Service announced yesterday? You're not alone, as many informed the Facebook photo sharing platform that they weren't pleased by the new language -- they mistook it as a means for their photos to be monetized in unscrupulous ways. Good news is, Instagram heard these complaints and has responded, explaining the changes and pledging to nix parts that caused unnecessary confusion.

In a blog post today, co-founder Kevin Systrom made clear that the ToS tweaks were meant to inform Instagrammers that the company wants "to experiment with innovative advertising." What kind of advertising? Say a company wants more folks following its Instagram account. According to Systrom, the changes allow Instagram to see which of the people you follow also follow that business and can use that information to better promote said company.

Basically, the changes were made so Instagram can find ways to increase ad revenue without spoiling the UX with banner ads, but the service still retains the rights to use your information in ads -- and yes, even users under 18 are included. Additionally, Systrom made clear that users own their content and Instagram will not be selling user photos to advertisers. And, he has pledged that updated language to that effect is in the works. Still uneasy about using Instagram for your filtered photography needs? Head on over to the source for the full explanation straight from Systrom himself.

Filed under: Internet, Mobile, Facebook

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Source: Instagram Blog

Facebook and Instagram will be able to get a bit cozier under that new shared roof beginning early next year. On January 16th, the photo sharing site's new Terms of Service will go into effect, enabling the network to share information, content and usage stats with "businesses that are legally part of the same group of companies that Instagram is part of, or that become part of the same group." In a blog post, Instagram reps outlined the benefits of the revision, explaining that the site will be able to "fight spam more effectively, detect system and reliability problems more quickly, and build better features for everyone by understanding how Instagram is used."

Additionally, in the full ToS, the second item under Rights states "you agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you." In short, Instagram has the right to share content that's already public with advertisers in order to generate revenue. If you're an Instagram user and you care about your rights while using the service, you'll be best served by making your way over to our source links below.

Filed under: Internet

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Via: TechCrunch

Source: Instagram Terms of Use, Instagram Blog, Instagram Legal

We've already seen Google's search-based turn at nostalgia for 2012. Facebook doesn't want to be left out, but it's swinging the focus to a very different subject than the usual politicians and pop stars: ourselves. Now that the Timeline has had a year to weave into our collective consciousness, Facebook is using it to show all the personal highlights of the past 12 months that it deems worthy, such as job changes, new friends and the many photos that reached our news feeds. Not that Facebook isn't willing to look at the bigger picture. It notes that US trends were dominated by elections, The Hunger Games and -- surprise -- Facebook's new buddy, Instagram. There's even more trends to explore at a special 2012 section of Facebook Stories, so you'll have plenty of options if you're as interested in your own life events as reliving the Olympics.

Filed under: Internet, Facebook

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Via: Facebook Newsroom

Source: Facebook, Facebook Stories

We knew good and well it was coming, and come it has: Twitter has begun its all-out assault on Instagram (and in turn, Facebook) by including its own set of (free) photo filters. As of now, just the Android version has been updated with the new lenses, but we're expecting iOS and the rest to follow suit in short order. Much like Flickr did earlier this year, Twitter has tapped Aviary to power all of the company's filters and effects.

As of now, users will find just eight filters -- ranging from "black and white to vintage" -- while the grid view enables you to preview how your image would look if any of the eight were applied. You'll also be able to crop, as well as pinch to zoom in order to focus attention. Moreover, there's an "auto-enhance" feature that'll add a little whiz-bang to whatever you managed to snap, and if you're still struggling to wrap your brain around it, there's an introductory video waiting just after break. (As well as a (NSFW) video that speaks the truth about all of these filters.)

Gallery: Aviary's filter system inside the new Twitter app

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Google

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Source: Google Play, Twitter Blog, iTunes (App Store), Aviary

Instagram knows it can't stay still just because it's under Facebook's wing. Accordingly, a new iOS update has delivered a (quite frankly welcome) remake of the camera and editing interfaces. While snapping photos, there's a more stylized interface with an optional grid to perfect that rule-of-thirds composition, if you like keeping shots neat and tidy. The app makes a greater effort to acknowledge past photos, too: everyone sees the most recent camera roll photo, while iPhone 5 owners' extra screen real estate gives them a new camera roll image picker to sift through their archives. Android users don't get the tweaked layout at this stage, but they do share the same obligatory new image filter, Willow. Check the source links for a fresh coat of paint on a day-to-day app.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Facebook

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Via: TechCrunch, Instagram Blog

Source: App Store, Google Play

If you've taken to Twitter today, it's likely that you noticed all your Instagram photos that were stored as gallery Cards are gone. Unfortunately, this isn't a temporary glitch; as of today, the photo-sharing service has officially killed all photo integration on Twitter. So, although links to your photos will function like normal, there is no way to preview them within Twitter anymore. If you'll recall, it was merely a few days ago that Instagram pulled Card support from Twitter, which made any filtered snapshots display in wonky fashions within the micro-blogging network. While today's move by Instagram isn't totally shocking -- it would rather you view pictures on its new browser-accessible profiles, after all -- it's a shame that the contents of many Twitter galleries have vanished in a flash.

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Via: Gizmodo, Instagram

Something's amiss with Instagram links on Twitter and it's not just the overabundance of unnecessarily filtered photos. Users have noticed that, upon clicking those links, images are displaying incorrectly and, in some cases, showing up as cropped. There's no need to drag out the fail whale though (apart from amusing lead image purposes), as both companies have acknowledged that the issue lies in the Cards - specifically, Instagram's disabling of them. What that means for end users is that preview thumbnail images will no longer show up from within feeds, reverting the integration to a "pre-cards experience." Speaking at LeWeb conference in Paris today, Instagram's CEO Kevin Systrom insists the change has nothing to do with the outfit's acquisition by Facebook and, instead, is framed as a way of promoting its own web service. As for those "lomo-fi" shots you're all so fond of snapping, have no fear, you'll still be able to tweet those out with same ferocity.

Filed under: Internet, Software, Mobile

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Via: VentureBeat

Source: Twitter

You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

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