Facebook Buys Instagram Photo Sharing Network For $1bn

Facebook has announced it is to buy Instagram - the popular photo-sharing smartphone app.

Facebook is paying $1bn (£629m) in cash and stock for the takeover.

Instagram was only launched in October 2010 - initially just for the iPhone before being offered as an Android app last week.

Facebook's chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has pledged to continue to develop Instagram as a separate brand, allowing it to post to rival networks.

"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."