Facebook announced today that they are officially going to purchase Instagram for $1 billion in cash and stock. 

Instagram, a popular photo-sharing app, was launched in October 2010.  It was initially an iPhone exclusive application until it became available to Android users last week.

The free app allows its 30 million users to apply 17 filters to the pictures they take.  Before the images are uploaded users also have the ability to change the color balance to give the images a different effect.

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's chief executive officer, said that he will continue to develop Instagram as its own brand.

"We think the fact that Instagram is connected to other services beyond Facebook is an important part of the experience," Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook page.

This is the first time Facebook has acquired a product/company with so many users making it a milestone for the social networking giant.

This is one of the most impressive uses of the iPad technology to date.  Take a few minutes and watch this presentation for Stockholm.  Prepare to be amazed.

A party was recently held in a New York City penthouse in honor of Zynga's recent purchase of Omgpop, a New York based game maker founded by Charles Forman.

Omgpop was an almost unknown producer of social games until Draw Something was released a mere 7 weeks ago!  The smartphone game became a breakout hit and drew the attention of Zynga, best known as the maker of FarmVille.  Zynga bought Omgpop for a cool $180 million solidifying its role as king of social games.

Draw Something puts a twist on Pictionary and involves players producing quick sketches that illustrate words and phrases for a friend to guess.  Since its release on February 6, 2012 the game has been downloaded more than 35 million times and players have generated over 1 billion drawings.

Go your Gmail account.  Look in the bottom right hand corner.  See that blue button that is asking you to learn more about their new look?  Click it and upgrade!

Google officially rolled out their new look and, personally, I like it.  The addition of the bold, red buttons is visually stimulating against the white background.  The new spacious layout seems to be easier to read due to the space between rows and buttons.

Check out the video and decide for yourself whether you're willing to jump on the Gmail new look bandwagon.

A new study reveals that kids under 8-years-old are more media savvy than ever before. According to a report, 52% of kids know how to use a mobile media device before their 10th birthday.

The report also notes that during a "typical" day, 11% of those kids use a cellphone or other mobile device for "media consumption" spending an average of 43 minutes using these electronics.

The information was collected from a survey that used a pool of 1,384 parents of children up to 8 years old and was conducted from May 27-June 15 of 2011.

The survey also learned that most children under 8 spend double the time watching television than they do reading.

Do you think this is excessive, or is it just a natural progression in an age when things are more digital than ever before?

Angry Birds is seemingly taking over the world.  Well, at least the digital world.  If you're not already familiar with the phone app, Angry Birds is a puzzle game developed by Rovio.  Since its release, over 12 million copies of the game have been purchased from the Apple App Store.

Check out this Google Chrome commercial featuring the angry birds from Angry Birds...

Well, the big announcement has been made and Apple has left a lot of people disappointed. Many people were under the impression that today's press event was going to be in honor of the iPhone 5 announcement, but instead were told that Apple will be releasing the iPhone 4S.

The device will feature a retina display and dual-core processor that will make the phone twice as fast as its predecessor.  The new camera inside the 4S will have an 8-megapixel sensor which is 60% more pixels than the iPhone 4 sensor.

The video recording system will use video image stabilization in real time.  The phone will also offer 8 hours of talk time on 3G and 14 hours of 2G talk time.

For more on the iPhone 4s click here.

The saying goes, "The future is now."  A list was recently compiled of nine things that are projected to become obsolete in our lifetime.  This list includes everything from technology to forms of banking to the abstract.

Take a look at the list, and before you think that it will never happen take some time and recall things like the cassette tape, the floppy disk, and beepers.

1. The Post Office: Email, FedEx and UPS have wiped out the minimum revenue needed to keep most post offices alive and running.
2. The Check:  Britain is already planning to do away with the check by 2018.
3. The Physical Newspaper: Our younger generation doesn't read the paper and certainly aren't subscribing either.
4. The Physical Book:  Kindle or Nook anyone?
5. The Land Line:  Ring, Ring!  Hey everyone...pick up your CELL PHONES.
6. Music:  The industry is dying a slow death with profit margins steadily decreasing.
7. Television: Revenues to the networks are down and cable rates are steadily skyrocketing forcing people to stream from their computers.
8. The "Things You Own": Many of our possessions will eventually become stored in our virtual cloud or on a hardrive.
9. Privacy: This has been gone for quite some time now, but how long do you think it will take the public to finally take notice?

As the dust settles in the aftermath of Steve Jobs’ resignation announcement, Tim Cook has already started his era at Apple by appointing iTunes leader Eddy Cue to oversee iAds, iCloud and all Apple online stores.

Cue's been at Apple for 22 years, and is known as an innovative and influential member of the apple team.  In what appears to be an Apple memo leaked to 9 to 5 Mac, Cook credits Cue with taking a "major role" in creating the Apple online store, the iTunes store and the App Store --- moves that have helped Apple lock customers into its ecosystem.

Leaked internal memos are not the only Cook e-mails to surface on the Web, however. It appears that several people are claiming the new CEO is taking a leaf from Jobs' book and answering the occasional fan e-mail sent to his Apple e-mail address.

MacRumors reported that Cook apparently responded in kind to the battle cry of a fellow fan of Auburn University (the CEO's alma mater), while a Tumblr user posted screenshots of a short but sweet exchange on his blog.

In response to an e-mail that read "Don't be Steve Jobs, be Time Cook," the CEO apparently wrote, "Don't worry.  It's only person I know how to be."

Source: The Washington Post with Bloomberg

Apple's Board of Directors today announced that Steve Jobs has resigned as Chief Executive Officer, and the Board has named Tim Cook, previously Apple's Chief Operating Officer, as the company's new CEO.  Jobs has been elected Chairman of the Board and Cook will join the Board, effective immediately.

“Steve’s extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world’s most innovative and valuable technology company,” said Art Levinson, Chairman of Genentech, on behalf of Apple's Board. “Steve has made countless contributions to Apple’s success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple’s immensely creative employees and world class executive team. In his new role as Chairman of the Board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration.”

“The Board has complete confidence that Tim is the right person to be our next CEO,” added Levinson. “Tim’s 13 years of service to Apple have been marked by outstanding performance, and he has demonstrated remarkable talent and sound judgment in everything he does.”

Jobs submitted his resignation to the Board today and strongly recommended that the Board implement its succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO.

As COO, Cook was previously responsible for all of the company’s worldwide sales and operations, including end-to-end management of Apple’s supply chain, sales activities, and service and support in all markets and countries. He also headed Apple’s Macintosh division and played a key role in the continued development of strategic reseller and supplier relationships, ensuring flexibility in response to an increasingly demanding marketplace.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

SOURCE: Huffington Post