Users of the photo-sharing app will now be able to choose from eight filters including koala ears that move and twitch and math equations that spin to create amusing effects for their photo or video posts.

Other new features include a rewind mode for videos as well as hashtag stickers to visit hashtag pages.

Facebook has been developing its camera tool in an effort to compete with its tech rival’s features such as vanishing messages and face-tracking filters, which are very popular among teenage and millennial users.

The gambit comes after the world’s largest social media netwoek has already added several Snapchat-like features such as Stories, which allows users to upload pictures and video slideshows that are erased after 24 hours.

At present, Instagram does not support sponsored face filters, where advertisers can create their own content – a major revenue-generating feature for Snapchat.

Kevin Weil, Instagram’s head of product, admitted that the app’s new features bear stark similarities to those of Snapchat’s existing ones. At the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in New York, he said: “if we’re being honest with ourselves, this is the way the tech industry works and frankly, it’s how all industries work.”

“Kudos to Snapchat for being the first to Stories, but it’s a format and its going to be adopted widely across a lot of different platforms,” he added.

In April, Instagram reported over 200 million people used Stories daily.

Snap Inc, in its first earnings report as a listed company last week, said it had 166 million daily active users as of March – a significantly lower number than that of its competitor.

Since its IPO in March, Snap’s shares have been volatile, plunging 23% last week after the company posted lower earnings than expected on their quarterly report. However, it revived confidence after several institutional investors including George Soros and Daniel Loeb disclosed stakes in the company.

The post Facebook Introduces Snapchat-like Camera Filters to Instagram appeared first on Gazette Review.

Samsung blamed the issue on problems with its batteries and pledged tighter quality controls and more rigorous testing.

As a result, LG said it’s doubling the separation between the battery’s positive and negative chambers to mitigate the risk of a short. Investigators involved in the Samsung probe found that overtly thin separators were partly to blame for Note 7 setting on fire.

Moreover, LG also redesigned the phone’s interior, separating the two primary sources of heat – the main processor and the display driver – and turned other components into heat sinks to disperse heat.

Frank Lee, spokesman for LG, said: “We started by placing these two (sources) as far apart as possible and then built the phone around it.”

Despite the fact that LG had not experienced Samsung’s failures with the Note 7 batteries, Lee said that wireless carriers are seeking tighter safety assurances for all phones they sell.

“What’s important for them is to make sure that they present to their subscribers a quality, stable product,” Lee said in an interview. “This caught the entire market off-guard.”

The G6 features a 5.7-inch screen and is adopting an 18:9 aspect ratio, meaning the display’s height is twice the width – wider than regular high-definition TV, though not as wide as what most movie theaters offer.

It is also matching rivals by including water and dust resistance, which it has done by abandoning the concept of replaceable batteries and new modules – which at the time was considered a gambit to set itself apart from competitors. The G6, however, still retains a wide-angle camera.

In offering an 18:9 aspect ratio, LG hoped to capture a larger share of the smartphone market. Since its release in earlier this year, sales increased 9.7% at $12.70 billion.

The post LG Determined to Prevent Samsung Note 7 Troubles appeared first on Gazette Review.