Facebook Buys Instagram For $1 Billion

Facebook has announced it is to buy Instagram, the popular photo-sharing smartphone app. Facebook is paying $1bn in cash and stock for the takeover.

Instagram is a mobile-only photo-sharing app. It grew from 1 million users in January 2011 to 15 million in December 2011. It has 30 million users now. With the Facebook iphone app, there are 6 screens a user has to go through before a user can actually take a picture. With Instagram, there is one.

Facebook's chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has pledged to continue to develop Instagram as a separate brand, allowing it to post to rival networks.
The app is free and allows users to apply 17 filters to the pictures they take, changing the color balance to give the images a different feel - before they are uploaded.
It has proven hugely popular. The firm says that it has more than 30 million users uploading more than 5 million new pictures every day.
The company has "roughly" 10 employees, according to the Associated Press.
"We think the fact that Instagram is connected to other services beyond Facebook is an important part of the experience," Mr Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook page.
"We plan on keeping features like the ability to post to other social networks, the ability to not share your Instagrams on Facebook if you want, and the ability to have followers and follow people separately from your friends on Facebook."

He added: "This is an important milestone for Facebook because it's the first time we've ever acquired a product and company with so many users. We don't plan on doing many more of these, if any at all."
Instagram's FAQ says it had previously raised $7.5m in funding from three venture capital firms and "a small group of angel investors".
When it launched on Google's Android platform last Tuesday, more than one million people downloaded it within 24 hours.
Mr Zuckerberg's post says Instagram's employees will be joining Facebook when the deal is completed.
The deal marks the second time in four months that Facebook has taken on staff from another social network.
In December, it announced it was hiring the co-founders of the location-based check-in service Gowalla. The network closed down shortly afterwards.

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Ozzie Guillen will return to Miami

Ozzie Guillen facing criticism over comments published last week in which he expressed admiration for Fidel Castro, he says he intends to fly back to Miami to answer questions in person about his thoughts and feelings about the Cuban leader.

Guillen speaking in the Marlins' dugout before their afternoon game against the Philadelphia Phillies, said he felt "guilty" and "embarrassed" and wants to address questions personally. He return to Miami after Monday's game.

"I want to make everything clear what's going on. Then people can see me and know what I think," Guillen said.

"I think it's the proper thing so people can see my eyes and ask every question they want to ask."

By a news conference with Guillen is expected to be held Tuesday in Miami, at a time and place to be determined.

A Cuban-American advocacy group in Miami, Vigilia Mambisa, has said it would boycott and demonstrate against Guillen until the Marlins fire him.

Guillen told Time magazine for an article published last week that he loves Castro and respects him for staying in power so long. The Marlins subsequently issued a statement clarifying that the organization has no respect for Castro, calling him "a brutal dictator who has caused unthinkable pain for more than 50 years.

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