Facebook introduces video on Instagram

Facebook is adding video to its popular photo-sharing app Instagram that will allow users to record and share 15-second clips by tapping a video icon in the app. They can also apply filters to videos to add contrast, make them black and white or different hues.

"This is the same Instagram we all know and love but it moves," Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom said at an event held at Facebook's Menlo Park, California, headquarters.

To use the video feature, Instagram users can tap on the same camera icon they use to snap photos. A new video camera icon will appear on the right side. Tap it and a screen with a red video button will let you record clips of sunsets, kids running in parks or co-workers staring at their computer screens.

The app will record as long as your finger is on the red button or for 15 seconds, whichever comes first. Not unlike Twitter's growing video-sharing app Vine, taking your finger off the button will stop the recording, allowing you to shoot the scene from a different angle or record something else altogether. Once you have 15 seconds of footage, you can play it from the beginning and post it on Instagram to share with others.

Vine, which launched in January, has 13 million users and lets people create and share 6-second video clips. Instagram has 100 million users, up from 20
million when Facebook bought the company more than a year ago. If users like it, Facebook's move could propel mobile video sharing into the mainstream.

With AP inputs