The acquisition of Instagram by Facebook marks the largest buy out of another company or product in the history of the social network. The deal between Facebook and Instagram was announced just days after the application launched a new version for use on Android devices. Instagram attracted an extra 5 million users in just six days after first launching the Android app.

Facebook say they plan to run Instagram independently, allowing users to post images from the app of other social networks and the ability to have followers, and follow users. outside of their circle of friends on Facebook.

Instagram users can utilise a range of filters to give special effects to the snaps they take using their phone. Users can transform their pics to look like Polaroid’s, or give their images a 70’s makeover with use of lens flare, or a saturated colour effect for a vintage look. In total there are 11 different photo effects available to Instagram users.

The photo sharing software was first launched in March 2010 and by the end of the year Instagram had attracted a million users. However the app’s popularity really took off the following year, with Instagram reaching 30 million users in just 15 months.

The news is likely to be welcomed by the UK government which is hoping to promote London as the tech capital of Europe by investing in the East London Tech City, dubbed Silicon Roundabout. It’s been reported that the Skype London office will increase its workforce by 40%, creating an extra 100 jobs bringing the London office headcount to 330 by June.

Skype was sold to Microsoft last October for $8.5 billion. The internet call provider estimates its has between 600 – 700 million registered users worldwide, just lagging behind the world’s most popular social network, Facebook, which boasts 850 million members globally.

There will be a variety of roles made available at the expanding Skype office in London including vacancies for software engineers, product managers and designers and the Microsoft owned brand will also be looking to recruit new staff members for its newly created X Box division.

Skype will be recruiting new staff at five cities between London and Stockholm. Following the latest round of hiring, Skype’s workforce will be brought to a total of 1,600 worldwide.

In recent months it has emerged that some employers and government agencies have started to request that job seekers provide log-in details to their personal Facebook profile to the employer so they can log into the social network as that person and see what they’ve been doing online.

While it has become common place for employers to view a potential employee’s Facebook profile as a fellow social network user, asking for the log-in details and to go online as that person is a breach of privacy rights argues the social network.

In a blog post today, Facebook’s chief privacy officer, Erin Egan, points out that requesting the log in details of a Facebook account is a violation of the social network’s privacy regulations. The Privacy officer for Facebook added that anyone who solicits these details, and anyone who provides them, will be in breach of Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities and Facebook will reserve the right to drop such people from the network or delete their account.

Many legal experts have branded the practice intrusive, with one legal professor comparing the acquisition of Facebook account log-in details to that of requesting a person’s house keys.

Have you ever been asked for your Facebook log-in details in a recruitment process? Do you think the practice is intrusive or an effective method for employers to find out more about a potential employee? Let us know your thoughts by dropping us a comment below.

Domino’s iPhone and Android mobile ordering apps have been shortlisted in the Best Food and Cooking category. The shortlist is compiled by over a thousand Carphone Warehouse staff from across the UK who suggested their favourite apps in the first stages of nominations. Entries from Carphone Warehouse staff were then debated by a panel of expert judges, who carefully selected the top five apps for each category to go through to public voting.

Simon Wallis, sales and marketing director of Domino’s Pizza, said: “We’re always looking for convenient new ways for our customers to order and first launched online ordering over 10 years ago. Mobile was the obvious next step for us and since launching our apps, the number of downloads and sales through these channels has been phenomenal. Mobile currently accounts for 14% of our online sales.

“We’re over the moon to be shortlisted for this award, which has been voted for by staff at Carphone Warehouse and a panel of expert judges. When it comes to mobiles and apps, these guys really know their stuff so we’re very pleased to have been selected. We designed our apps to be fun, fast and easy to use and hope our mobile customers will vote with their fingers for us in the Appys.”

Public voting is now open. To register your vote for Domino’s, log onto www.appys.com<http://www.appys.com>. Closing date for votes is 31st March 2012 and winners will be announced on 25th April.

The Tesco Direct webpage offering the new iPad, which is due for release on Friday March 16^th, for sale at just £49.99 first appeared online on Tuesday afternoon. The link to the faulty webpage spread like wild fire through social networks in particular, with Facebook and twitter users sharing the link on their pages.

By 6:30pm yesterday evening, Tesco removed the webpage with the incorrect price for the new iPad which ordinarily retails between £399 and £659. However it was too late for a number of customers who’d already parted with their payment detail and received confirmation emails to say they’d successfully purchased the new iPad for the bargain price of £49.99.

Tesco say it’s not yet clear how many people took advantage of the computer glitch to buy the new iPad while incorrectly priced on their site, however a spokesperson said that every customer would be contacted to make them aware of the error. It’s believed they’ll all be offered refunds.

LimoForum.com celebrated its official launch this week, which proved especially timely as the longstanding forum, LimoChat, went offline just days earlier. As a result, LimoForum.com managed to successfully act as a crossover, with many of the members from the now defunct site signing up with the new and improved website immediately, where one of the main topics of the chat has been the forced closure of LimoChat.

The LimoChat domain is owned by The National Limousine Chauffeur Association who has been operating the forum for many years. However a rise in the number of derogatory and offensive comments meant that the website managers were having to spend more and more time policing the site, until it got to the point that the association decided their time would be better spent putting their efforts into other areas of the organisation, and so the decision was taken to pull the entire forum.

While LimoChat’s members were largely UK based, however the new LimoForum.com is an international web forum with limo operators from across the globe including Europe, USA and Canada all being invited to join the chat. The easy to navigate website is being monitored for negative comments and statements as the site owners say they plan to stamp out any forum abuse swiftly, taking action to remove those who post argumentative messages, to ensure a similar situation such as the one LimoChat found itself in does not arise.

If you work in the limo hire industry and would like to interact with likeminded people, share views and opinions, advice and tips, sign up for LimoForum.com today. Membership is completely free so what are you waiting for? Head to LimoForum.com right away.

The All Things Digital website is reporting that Apple will launch the iPad 3 at a special event at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in March, the same venue in which Apple introduced the iPad 2 last year and also at the same time of year as the launch of the iPad 2. The report goes onto estimate that the iPad3 would go on sale in the US a week or so after the launch.

A sketchy image of what is believed to be either a prototype iPad3 or the casing for the new tablet has also surfaced online sparking further excitement. From this image, experts believe the new iPad will have a bigger battery judging from the size of the casing leaked in February. It’s also thought the new tablet will offer a better display to its predecessor, also a faster processor and improved graphics.

The iPad is the biggest selling tablet on the market, shifting 15.43 million units in the last quarter which is an increase of 111% compared to sale for the same period last year.

Limo Broker

The UK’s leading provider of limousine hire, Limo Broker, have been developing the idea of the Audi R8 limo behind closed doors since last year; finally revealing the plans for the project for the very first time at the annual Transport Broker Awards earlier in the month. Bespoke vehicle manufacturer, Carbonyte UK, have taken the project onboard and have been confirmed as the designers who will take the Audi R8 limo from the drawing board, to the road.

News of the Audi R8 limo has ricocheted around the globe since the project was first announced with everyone from Forbes magazine in America to Top Gear in the UK featuring the exclusive supercar on their pages. Thanks to the huge press coverage the Audi R8 limo has been receiving, the YouTube video depicting a 3D image of the design for the Audi limo has gone viral , with the video being posted across thousands of websites and receiving a massive 102,000 views in just 10 days.

Check out the Audi R8 limo video on YouTube right now and see why everyone’s talking about this supercar which promises to be the world’s fastest ever limousine.

News source: Wedding-News.co.uk

Since being launched on YouTube, the Audi R8 Limo video has attracted almost 5,000 hits, just 48 hours after going live on the worldwide video sharing site. As news spreads about the never-seen-before supercar, hits of the online video on YouTube are expected to go through the roof.

The Audi R8 will become the signature car for leading UK based limousine hire provider, Limo Broker, who are sponsoring the creation of the new supercar. Carbonyte UK, the designers of the world’s only Ferrari limo, have been named as the creators of the Audi R8 limo and are already working on the design for the jaw dropping limousine.

To help keep supercar fans up to date on the development of the new Audi R8 limo, Limo Broker have established an Audi R8 Limo Facebook page dedicated to the exclusive limousine. The Facebook page will enable fans of the page to access information about the development of the model, also behind the scenes videos of its creation, and they’ll also be able to submit their own suggestions for features they’d like to see included in the new limo.

If you’ve not already done so, check out the state of the art video of the Audi R8 limo on YouTube right now.

Useful links:

• Updates and details: http://www.limobroker.co.uk/audi-r8-limo.htm
• Youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCPXsxMuVno
• Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/AudiR8Limo

Specialising in the provision of Rolls Royce hire vehicles only, Rent-a-Roller are targeting a niche market by offering luxurious chauffeur driven cars for weddings and birthdays celebrations, also corporate functions and airport transfers and also other special occasions.

The sleek looking new website RentaRoller.co.uk features state of the art graphic design including an eye catching company logo, high quality images and also a number of professionally shot videos which showcase the stunning Rolls Royce cars and limos at the their best. The easy to navigate website makes it very accessible for all types of website visitors allowing users to search for a specific Rolls Royce model such as a brand new Phantom or Ghost, or a vintage Rolls Royce vehicle such as the Silver Dawn model or the classic Rolls Royce Silver Ghost.

In terms of search engine optimisation, this website has been built with the specific aim of generating some serious traffic through its site. With keyword heavy and highly relevant text content and semantically rich keywords and breadcrumb tracking on all pages, the new Rent-a-Roller website is right at the cutting edge of the latest SEO techniques. Plus the new site was tested extensively on all modern browsers including all mobile devices to ensure compatibility with all technology.

Take a look at the immaculate new Rolls Royce hire website right now let us know what you think of this state of the art website.