Popular social media network Instagram have released a new video taking application which goes by the name of Boomerang. In a statement on the networks website they said, “Today, we’re announcing Boomerang from Instagram, a new video app that lets you turn everyday moments into something fun and unexpected.”

Press the camera button and the app will then take a burst of photos which it will then combine into a mini video which will play backwards and forwards and is around a second in length. The video’s can be shared on Instagram and are automatically saved to your phones camera role. This may sound very much like a GIF, but Instagram are adamant it is something never done before “It’s not a photo. It’s not a gif. It’s a Boomerang.”

Boomerang is available today for free on the App Store and Google Play. Continue reading this post ->

As a pretty active Instagram user, it’s safe to say I check my Instagram feed a good number of times throughout the day and plenty lots of time on the app. Recently stumbled upon by Cult of Mac, a neat little program by the name of Feeday adds your Instagram feed to the notification center of your iOS device. While this may not seem that significant — it definitely saves on time taking to constantly open and reload your feed right within the Instagram application.

To get started all you need to do is head on over to the App Store and download Feeday, which is free to download with in-app purchases. After that you’ll want to login with your Instagram account in the app, add the widget by opening your notification center, go to the “Today” view, tapping “Edit” and make the Feeday widget viewable.

Quick version:

• Download Feeday from the App Store (free).
• Open the app and connect your Instagram account.
• Add the widget in your notification center.
• Boom! You’re good to go.

As noted by the folks at Cult of Mac, the free version only supports a maximum of three thumbnails, while the in-app purchase ($0.99) allows you to view a total of 9 images. The only caveat is that you can’t like, comment, or share any pictures — the only thing you can do is simply view them. All in all, it’s a decent little widget if you follow a lot of people on Instagram or find yourself checking it often. Continue reading this post ->

ISBIT Games and Deep Silver Fishlabs have announced the worldwide release of Clashtag earlier today. While the diverting social game has already gone live as a free app on the App Store in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, it will be released globally in Summer 2015.

Clashtag revolves around duels between friends or random opponents, who try to beat each other in a series of addictive mini games like “Puzzle”, “Fill The Gap” or “Most Likes?”. What makes these mini games interesting is the fact that they all center around images derived from Instagram’s live feed.

Therefore in theory, no two game rounds are the same and offer a different challenge each time. To make the player’s experience better, players can also upload their own images and define the hashtags on the basis of which the motifs of the individual game rounds are picked.

In addition, Clashtag allows players to like the images they have played with and to follow the Instagramers they have challenged as well. This way committed Instagram users can use Clashtag to increase their followers.

As of now this is all the information we have available, however, we’ll keep you updated on when it is released globally. Continue reading this post ->

The Salone Del Mobile Design Fair in Italy kicked off earlier today, with Apple showcasing the Apple Watch at the event. Going far and beyond just trying on typical Apple Watches, the company’s design Chief, Jony Ive just unveiled several new Apple Watch Sport bands tonight in Milan.

According to an image posted to Instagram, the design chief unveiled… Continue reading this post ->

If you’re into online marketing, either for your own website or blog or on behalf of your clients, then you’ve know doubt come to the conclusion that social media is an integral part of increasing an online presence, building a brand, reaching a wider audience, and engaging customers in order to keep them coming back, encourage them to share with friends, and potentially even turn them into brand ambassadors. It’s a pretty tall order, but these are the overall goals of online marketing, or marketing in general. But a big part of utilizing social media platforms to your best advantage is being able to track your efforts. If you can’t collect user data and analyze results in order to tweak you`r efforts, you might not be getting the full benefit of social networking profiles. Luckily, there are all kinds of tools to help you do this, from Google Analytics to Raven tools, but not all social networking sites provide the native tracking and reporting tools you need to do your job. Instagram, in particular, could pose a problem. However, Tapculture Inc. may be able to solve your problem with a freebie called GramPro Stats for Instagram. Continue reading this post ->