Instagram is growing like a weed; the app has already blown past 10 million users, recently launched version 2.0 of its insanely popular iPhone application, and today the Instagram team hasprovided insightinto just how many photos and interactions it facilitates, announcing that it now records 25 photo uploads and 90 likes every second. As a result, the company has had to scale accordingly, making sure not only does its data remain available quickly for its users, but also making sure that it can introduce new features without bogging down its systems....

Witha new APIand the promise of a move beyond the iPhone around the corner, photo sharing appInstagram‘s popularity shows no sign of waning. As its community develops, both through the app itself and third-party apps, one thing that’s been missing until now is somewhere for beginners to get to grips with it all. A site out of Spain aims to solve that problem by becoming something of a cross between a ‘Beginner’s Guide’ and a community hub for its biggest fans....

If you’ve attended an Instagram live video session, you know that the first couple of minutes are dedicated to the host and guests syncing up. Sometimes it all goes smoothly, but other times it’s just messy. To avoid live video startup mistakes, Instagram is adding a new feature called ‘practice mode.’ It’ll let you and your guests join the live video before it’s broadcasted to your followers. This will help you set up the video and check the sound, light, and stability of connections so it looks like a professional production when it goes live....

If you’ve been longing forInstagrambut you’re an Android user, there’s some good news today. Instagram’s CEO Kevin Systrom tellsThe Guardianthat it’s on the horizon: “Android is a major priority for us, but first we have to build the team, and find the best people in the world to work on these projects.” For now, Android owners have been locked into other options such asCamera360andPicPlz. While these are great applications in their own right, neither of them have seemed to pick up the traction that Instagram has found....

ForInstagramusers,the opening of the app’s APImeant we could finally have a web gallery to see all of our filtered, fun photos. While there is no official Instagram web interface yet, Instagram Founder and CEO Kevin Systrom says they are excited to build one. Thanks to@CCKarl, I’ve stumbled upon Instagrid, a simple, easy-to-use web gallery for collecting Instagram photos. Sign up by entering your username, and voilà! Your photos appear in the order they were taken....