Report: Twitter eyes own photo app acquisition

With social networking juggernaut Facebook having acquired popular photo app Instagram for $1 million, micro-blogging service Twitter made moves to get a mobile photo-sharing service of its own. A report on Bloomberg said Twitter executives held talks with “Tap Tap Tap,” maker of the Camera+ photo app, but failed to come to terms. Quoting people aware of the meeting but asked not to be named since the talks were private, Bloomberg said talks broke down before Twitter could make an offer because the startup’s far-flung workforce was reluctant to relocate to San Francisco. It said that while 10 employees are already based there, Tap Tap Tap has 20 others in Austria, New Zealand, Spain and elsewhere. Camera+ is similar to Instagram in that it lets users take photographs with an iPhone, tweak the image and share it on its own social network or through Facebook and Twitter. The Camera+ iPhone app, which costs 99 cents, has been downloaded 7.5 million times in about two years. Instagram, which debuted four months after Camera+, has 50 million people signed up to use its free software that runs on Google’s Android system and Apple’s iOS. Bloomberg also noted Twitter had expressed interest in buying Instagram in recent months with Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey having invested in Instagram. Dorsey also frequently posted pictures using the app, the report added. But Bloomberg also cited a recent interview where Dorsey claimed Instagram has more in common with Twitter than with Facebook, as people rely heavily on Twitter and Instagram to post photos instantly from mobile phones. Hours before Facebook deal Bloomberg reported that two hours before Facebook announced its deal on April 9, Dorsey uploaded a photo on Instagram of a San Francisco bus. On April 11, he added his first picture to his Camera+ profile, and hasn’t posted to Instagram since. Bloomberg quoted the people with knowledge of the talks as saying Dorsey helped lead the negotiations with Tap Tap Tap. They added Twitter Chief Executive Officer Dick Costolo was not directly involved, they said. Carolyn Penner, a Twitter spokeswoman, declined to comment. — LBG, GMA News