Facebook and Instagram on Thursday announced that the popular picture-sharing platform will be adding video functionality to better compete against Twitter's new Vine offering.
The addition of videos to Instagram is the latest in a recent string of major changes to Facebook, which have also included support for hashtags as well as inline photo imbeds within comments. Facebook acquired Instagram last year for $1 billion.
"Today, we're thrilled to introduce Video on Instagram and bring you another way to share your stories, said Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom in a message posted to the company's blog. "When you go to take a photo on Instagram, you'll now see a movie camera icon. Tap it to enter video mode, where you can take up to fifteen seconds of video through the Instagram camera."
"You'll also find that we've added thirteen filters built specifically for video so you can keep sharing beautiful content on Instagram," Systrom said. "When you post a video, you'll also be able to select your favorite scene from what you've recorded as your cover image so your videos are beautiful even when they're not playing."
The new feature is called Video on Instagram and can be accessed from an icon within the Instagram app. Like Twitter's Vine offering, users will be able to record 15-second long clips, but the video will not play in a loop the way it does on Vine. Additionally, Instagram's trademark filters will carry over to the new video feature, as well as a new function called Cinema that helps users stabilize their footage.
As far as the photo side of Instagram, everything is still more or less the same. The app is already available for both Android and iOS, but it doesn't look like Windows Phone users are being included in the mix. The company has indicated, however, that it is in talks with Microsoft.
