The popular photo sharing app Instagram, which allows users to capture photos or import them from a smartphone’s camera roll and then apply retro effects before sharing them with friends, is coming off its biggest month yet. After being acquired by Facebook for $1 billion dollars, the app amassed more than 5 million Android users a mere week after the service launched on Google’s operating system. Instagram continued to see tremendous gains, surpassing 10 million Android downloads and totaling 40 million users in late April. Mashable on Tuesday reported that Instagram now has more than 50 million users and, according to its API, is adding roughly 5 million per week. Instagram is free for both iOS and Android.

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We received a photo of what looks like it could be Samsung’s upcoming flagship handset, the Samsung Galaxy S3. Although it isn’t confirmed at this point, this is one of the most compelling images we have seen so far. We’ll know in a couple days if this is the real deal but compared to all the decoys we’ve seen, we definitely hope the flagship smartphone Samsung unveils next week ends up looking like this instead. This phone also matches up exactly with what we have reported, something many people have continued to miss — the Galaxy S3 will have a physical button in the center beneath the display.

UPDATE: Looks like this image was sent to a few different sites around 3:00 a.m. this morning…

It appears that Samsung’s purported efforts to mask the launch version of its upcoming next-generation Galaxy smartphone have once again paid off. A new image of the Galaxy S III has emerged on a Chinese forum, though the look (and name) of the device will likely be different when the new flagship phone is finally unveiled next week. Few new details can be gleaned from this new leak, though it appears that Samsung may have taken some liberties with the stock on-screen navigation buttons in Ice Cream Sandwich. Samsung’s next-generation Galaxy phone is expected to feature a quad-core 1.5GHz Exynos processor, a high-definition Super AMOLED display, 4G LTE, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and a ceramic case available in either blue or white. Samsung will unveil the Galaxy S III next week at a press conference in London.

[Via The Verge]

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Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom previously confirmed that an Android version of the company’s popular iOS application was in the works, even claiming that “in some ways its better than our iPhone app.” On Saturday, the company launched a teaser page, allowing users to sign up to become “first in line for Instagram for Android.” The release date for Instagram’s Android app is still unknown, however. As an iOS exclusive, Instagram has already racked up more than 27 million registered users, making it one of the App Store’s most popular photography apps. With an Android release imminent, Instagram will soon solidify its position as one of the top photo-sharing app makers in the mobile world.

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Apple on Wednesday revealed that its newest iOS app, iPhoto, has sold 1 million copies in less than 10 days, The Loop reports. The Cupertino-based company unveiled the iPhoto app towards the end of its iPad press conference in San Francisco earlier this month. The application relies heavily on gestures and features smart browsing, auto-enhancing, professional quality effects, brushes, photo beaming between devices, photo journals and multi-touch editing, and it allows users to share images via Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and email. iPhoto is available in the App Store for $4.99.

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During the annual South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger of Instagram teased the company’s long awaited Android app. During an interview with TechCrunch, the duo said that an Android version of the app is coming “really soon.” Systrom briefly showed the app running on his Galaxy Nexus and claimed that “it’s one of the most amazing Android apps you’ll ever see, in some ways, it’s better than our iPhone app.” The company previously announced that an Android app is on the way, however no time frame was given. The app is currently in a private beta phase, and Instagram hopes “to have it out to people really soon.” Finally, Systrom and Krieger revealed that Instagram now has more than 27 million registered users, almost twice as many as it had in December 2011.

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Earlier this month it was revealed that the popular social networking app Path was uploading entire iPhone address books to the company’s servers without first gaining permission. The data uploaded included full names, phone numbers and email addresses. Path quickly confirmed the report and issued an update to allow users to opt-in or out. The New York Times reported on Tuesday that a user’s address book isn’t the only information vulnerable on iOS devices, however. The publications claims photos can also be accessed by third-party app developers. Read on for more.

“After a user allows an application on an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch to have access to location information, the app can copy the user’s entire photo library, without any further notification or warning,” app developers confirmed to the Times. After an application gains permission to access location services, it can then gain access to photo and video files, which typically include the coordinates of the location at which they were taken.

“Conceivably, an app with access to location data could put together a history of where the user has been based on photo location,” co-founder of Curio, David E. Chen said. ”The location history, as well as your photos and videos, could be uploaded to a server. Once the data is off of the iOS device, Apple has virtually no ability to monitor or limit its use.”

In an effort to make photo apps more efficient, Apple first permitted access to the photo library in 2010 when the company released the fourth version of iOS. Developers have often questioned why Apple would allow permission to access location data of photos, however. “It’s very strange, because Apple is asking for location permission, but really what it is doing is accessing your entire photo library,” John Casasanta, owner of app development studio Tap Tap Tap, told the Times. “The message the user is being presented with is very, very unclear.”

With the help of an anonymous developer, The New York Times created a test application that requested location data and then confirming the report. While the application, PhotoSpy, was not submitted to the App Store, it did successfully access photos and their location data with the ability to export everything to a remote server.

“We’ve seen celebrities and famous people have pictures leaked and disclosed in the past. There’s every reason to think that if you make that easier to do, you’ll see much more of it,” said David Jacobs, a fellow with the Electronic Privacy Information Center. “Not just celebrities are at risk. A lot of sites are trying to obtain images from everyday people and politicians to post online.”

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Kodak said it will stop making digital cameras, pocket video cameras and digital picture frames in order to focus on more profitable products, reports the Associated Press. The move isn’t surprising, as the company is slowly emerging from last month’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. “Our goal is to maximize value for stakeholders, including our employees, retirees, creditors, and pension trustees,” Kodak said in a press release. The company’s digital camera and picture frame products will be phased out during the first of half of the year as Kodak instead focuses on photo printing and desktop inkjet printers. The company will continue to honor warranties and provide technical support for discontinued products, and the move is expected to result in annual savings of more than $100 million.

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Next month we’re sure to hear about the latest smartphones from several of the world’s largest phone makers during Mobile World Congress, however that hasn’t stopped a number of leaks from occurring ahead of the show. The latest is a possible image of what is presumed to be Sony’s upcoming ST25i “Kumquat” Android smartphone. Specs are still slim at this point and we’re a bit suspicious since it still features the “Sony Ericsson” branding, but this could easily be an early prototype since even the smartphones on display at CES featured the Sony Ericsson name. Sony recently announced it was purchasing Ericsson’s stake in the Sony Ericsson joint venture and its newest phones are now branded “Sony,” but Xperia Blog, which leaked the image, said Sony may still launch devices with Sony Ericsson branding. 

[Via Engadget]

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Images and specs of a new LG phone codenamed the “CX2″ were recently leaked. The phone is thought to possibly be the successor to the Optimus 3D and may be unveiled during the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona next month. Pocketnow, which leaked the image and specs, says the CX2 sports a dual-core Texas Instruments processor clocked at 1.2GHz, a NOVA display capable of displaying 3D content, a 5-megapixel camera capable of snapping 3D photos, 8GB of storage, Bluetooth 3.0, NFC and support for 21Mbps HSPA+ networks. The phone could launch as soon as this spring, but unfortunately the phone is said to run on Google’s older Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) operating system rather than Ice Cream Sandwich. A second image of the CX2 follows after the break.

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One of RIM’s first BBX BlackBerry devices could be the BlackBerry London, pictured above. The London is purportedly equipped with a dual-core TI OMAP processor clocked at 1.5GHz, 16GB of storage, an 8-megapixel camera, a 2-megapixel front-facing camera for video chat and 1GB of RAM. The Verge said that the London, which could make its debut next year, is about the same thickness as a Samsung Galaxy S II and thinner than the iPhone 4. RIM is also reportedly working on a thinner BlackBerry Torch with a 3.7-inch screen and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. The Verge says that the authenticity of the above image and reported specs is questionable, so this could just be a hoax. In either case, we like that someone is designing a sexy new smartphone for RIM.

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Nokia may be poised to unveil at least two new Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) devices during its Nokia World conference next week. Pocketnow spilled an image of the Nokia “Sabre” on Thursday, which reportedly packs a 1.4GHz processor, a 3.5-inch WVGA display, a 5-megapixel camera and 1GB of storage. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said we can expect to see “a bunch” of Windows Phone handsets from Nokia during Nokia World, which kicks off on October 26th. We have already published plenty of purported details on the Nokia 800, also known as the Sea Ray, but perhaps Nokia still has a few surprises up its sleeve. The good news is we have just under a week until Nokia makes it all official. 

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The first purported image of the upcoming Nexus Prime smartphone has been published by GSMArena.com, possibly giving the world its first glimpse at Google’s next flagship Android handset. The image doesn’t reveal much, though it does show a sleek contour and it seemingly reaffirms the presence of a 720p Super AMOLED HD display. BGR reported exclusive preliminary details on the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich-powered Prime back in June, and we followed up with additional details later that month. In late August, we reported that Verizon Wireless would launch the phone this month as the DROID Prime, helping to explain why the carrier passed on Samsung’s wildly popular Galaxy S II smartphone. Samsung and Google are expected to unveil the device at a press conference next week, where BGR will be reporting live.

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BGR exclusively reported in March that Research In Motion was working to bring its popular BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) platform to Android smartphones and the iPhone. Now, images that purportedly show a beta version of the chat application running on an Android device have been leaked by TechRadar. Reportedly, the app is set to launch on Android before next year and RIM is already in the final stages of testing the solution. The leak lines up with BGR’s original report that RIM would develop an Android client before an iOS version. In addition, BGR reported that RIM will likely limit the features of BBM on iOS and Android in an effort to woo users who want a more robust BBM experience back to a BlackBerry. RIM has plenty of stiff competition in the chat space, however. Applications such as Kik, Skype-owned GroupMe, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger all offer similar features and are available across multiple mobile platforms, and Apple’s iMessage service will launch this month with iOS 5. Hit the jump for a second image that provides a better look at the UI.

UPDATE: As pointed out by a tweet from Chris Parsons, it appears as though the image used in the screenshot below was pieced together from a marketing shot posted by RIM in August.

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The American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and seven other privacy groups have contacted the U.S. Federal Trade Commission asking it to investigate Facebook for “secretly tracking users after they logged off of Facebook’s webpage.” A 34-page complaint filed by EPIC asks for an injunction, investigation and “other relief” from the social network. EPIC said Facebook is home to more than 60 billion photographs and alleges it developed its “tag suggestions” feature to collect data on Facebook users “without knowledge of consent in order to develop facial recognition technology.” The complaint specifically states:

Given these extraordinary circumstances, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, The Center for Digital Democracy, Consumer Watchdog, and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, urge the Commission to investigate Facebook, determine the extent of the harm to consumer privacy and safety, require Facebook to cease collection and use of users’ biometric data without their affirmative opt-in consent, require Facebook to give users meaningful control over their personal information, establish appropriate security safeguards, limit the disclosure of user information to third parties, and seek appropriate injunctive and compensatory relief.

EPIC’s letter also details how the social network violates its own terms of service and shows how hard it is for a user who has been tagged in a photo to delete the original image which, in most cases, is owned by somebody else. EPIC wants Facebook to create a detailed privacy program and to immediately suspend its face-tagging feature.

[Via AP]

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