Facebook Buys Instagram For $1 Billion

Last week Instagram was made available for Android users and now Facebook has acquired the application. In the first 2 hours 1.4 million Android users downloaded the app. Facebook will pay $1 billion in cash and stock shares.

Instagram soared to 30 million iOS users in 18 months and was named iPhone app of the year in 2011. It is one of the best apps for taking and sharing photos. Its square images and assorted image filters let anyone make retro, techno and pretty pictures out of mundane shots of their kids, pets, food.

“I’m excited to share the news that we’ve agreed to acquire Instagram and that their talented team will be joining Facebook,” said Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. “For years, we’ve focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family. Now, we’ll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests.

Kevin Systrom, Instagram’s CEO said, “It’s important to be clear that Instagram is not going away. We’ll be working with Facebook to evolve Instagram and build the network. We’ll continue to add new features to the product and find new ways to create a better mobile photos experience.”