richard cordray license: Instagram 3.0 adds Photo Maps, infinite scrolling and speed improvements (video)

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Instagram 3.0 adds Photo Maps, infinite scrolling and speed improvements (video)

Wondering if that Facebook acquisition would slow down the pace of innovation at Instagram? Perhaps v3.0 will answer that. The famed photo sharing network -- now some 80 million users deep -- is detailing its latest user interface overhaul today, and geolocation is at the heart of it. Lining up with our own feelings on the benefits of geotagging and the usefulness of tagged photos from an archive / diary perspective, the newest edition of the app introduces a Photo Maps view. As the name implies, it overlays photos with a map underneath, giving people a far more visual look at what they were seeing at a given point on Earth (or Mars, assuming Curiosity hasn't reached its data limit this month).

Beyond that, the app includes "multi-line caption editing, more streamlined photo uploading, speed improvements and infinite scroll," according to our pals at TechCrunch. Interestingly, the Twitter "Find Friends" feature has been yanked in the latest build due to Twitter shutting off its API to the company last month. If you're wondering about a master plan for Photo Maps, it's pretty simple; just as you'd tune into #nbcfail on Twitter to read the latest musings about the Summer Olympics, hovering over London in Instagram could give you a highly filtered look at what kind of photos are emerging from an event in real time. And really, who wouldn't want to see 807 sepia-infused 1:1 shots of Usain Bolt? Per usual, you'll find the demo vid after the break.

Gallery: Instagram 3.0 on Android