Instagram has surpassed Twitter’s 284 million active users, hitting the 300 million mark nine months after recording 200 million users.
“We’re thrilled to watch this community thrive and witness the amazing connections people make over shared passions and journeys,” the company said in a statement.
Instagram also announced it would be rolling out verified badges for celebrities, athletes and brands – in the same way that Facebook and Twitter has verified users.
The social network is also cracking down on spam accounts in order to “improve” the user experience. As a result, the company has warned that some users’ follower counts may change.
Instagram was purchased by Facebook for $1 billion in 2012. More than 70 million photos and videos are shared on the platform each day.
Apple and IBM have launched the first apps resulting from their partnership today, in a bid to bring mobile analytics to enterprises.
The software includes apps made for companies such as Air Canada, Citi and Sprint.
Senior vice president of IBM’s Global Business Services, Bridget van Kralingen, said in a statement the new enterprises will see businesses be able to unlock big data and drive individual engagement in a mobile-first world.
“Our collaboration combines IBM’s industry expertise and unmatched position in enterprise computing, with Apple’s legendary user experience and excellence in product design to lift the performance of a new generation of business professionals,” she said.
Google has opened up watch-face creation to third-party developers for the Android Wear community, according to TechCrunch.
The tech giant has also created a dedicated section of the Google Play store so that users can download watch faces just as they do with apps.
The updates will be rolled out over the next week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 267.7 points to 17,533.47. The Australian dollar is currently trading at US83 cents.
