Instagram ads will soon prompt you to buy and install more things

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Sometimes it’s easy forget that Facebook owns Instagram, given how differently the platforms operate, and the relative lack of ads on Instagram. But the parent company is about to hone in on Instagram’s commercial potential with more advertising tools and, well, more ads overall. For one, Instagram is rolling out “direct response” ads, which allow you to sign up for, buy or install something. Instagram says it will begin testing these “in the coming days,” but the action buttons first appeared with the carousel ads the network introduced in March. Advertisers will also have access to more information about you…

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Kiss your productivity goodbye: Imgur brings its image sharing service to Android

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Imgur has launched its fully native Android app on Google Play today, allowing its community of users to view and share visual stories easily. Built from scratch, the new app features a card-based gallery to showcase image posts. You can swipe left or right to browse Imgur’s endless stream of content and tap to comment, vote or favorite posts. There’s also an option to browse streams by topic. In addition, Imgur has also updated its iOS app to enable users to create posts, by shooting pictures or uploading images from their camera roll. ➤ Imgur [Android | iOS] Read next: Imgur is…

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GameFly debuts a new video game streaming service exclusively on the Amazon Fire TV

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The days of Blockbuster DVD-by-mail rental service may be far behind us, but GameFly is still trucking on with its game rental service. To keep up with the times, GameFly today launched a video game streaming service, exclusively on the Amazon Fire TV. The service will be available as a monthly subscription with different game packs. At launch, GameFly will offer six packs with varying amount of titles, designed for gamers of all genres and ages. Details of each packs and the prices are as follow: Action Pack (7 titles) – $6.99/month includes F.E.A.R. 3, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, Red Faction:  Armageddon, Red Faction: Guerilla, Mafia…

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Kamcord’s Android app lets you record footage from any game on your mobile device

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Kamcord has launched its Android app that lets you record in-game footage from any title on your device, provided you’re running Lollipop. The company’s technology previously required game developers to integrate it into their releases, but the app now works with any title. You can add sound and record your voice to include in your videos. The app lets you share your creations with Kamcord’s community and also lets you watch videos made by other users. Kamcord says it’s working on title-agnostic recording for iOS and support for live-streaming mobile game footage. ➤ Kamcord [Android | iOS] (via VentureBeat) Read next: Twitch…

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New WordPress Insights tool shows you the best time to post

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WordPress is introducing more powerful analytics with a new tool called Insights. The main new feature is the ability to tell you what times and days your website is most popular, for example 9:00AM and Tuesdays. One neat tool for independent publishers is the Posting Activity visualization, a sort of calender infographic describing the days you post most frequently. The deeper the blue, the more often you’ve posted. Meawhile, your old stats such as Comments, Followers, Tags & Categories and Publicize have also moved to the new insight page. Although other services already provide these sort of analytics, it’s nice…

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Lego launches its Minecraft competitor

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A few days ago, we reported on Lego possibly launching its own Minecraft competitor, but it’s now confirmed: Lego Worlds launched on Steam today (in beta). Here’s the description from the game page on Steam: In a galaxy of procedural worlds made entirely from LEGO bricks, will you… EXPLORE environments filled with adventure, then alter them? DISCOVER secrets and treasures, then play with them? CREATE your own models, then make a world your own? Yep, sounds like Minecraft to me. As you might expect, however, Lego’s game allows you to create worlds based on some real-world Lego kits, as well…

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Meet the chat app where you can role-play as Bill Gates talking to Steve Jobs’ ghost

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You might not realize but role-playing online as real people and characters from fiction is a huge thing. A quick search of Twitter or Tumblr throws up thousands of people who indulge in it as a hobby. It’s the inspiration behind Studio, a new messaging app with anonymous role-play using trademarked characters and famous people at its heart. The developers have included a copyright statement on Studio’s website saying they “claim no ownership or rights over the videos or the fictional characters used in the creation of the content” and that “none of the content that is used in the app has been…

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You can now hail an Uber straight from the Foursquare app

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Getting to a restaurant or business from Foursquare is about to get a bit easier – the company has partnered with Button, an app-linking service, to integrate the taxi service into its app. When you click the map on a business’ Foursquare page, you’ll see the option to travel there with Uber and be able to select the type of vehicle you prefer. “Uber was already a Button partner, so Foursquare just had to link to it through the platform.” It’s a small but useful addition – if you’re looking up a business on Foursquare, there’s a good chance you’ll…

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HangKeys custom iOS keyboard lets you play Hangman in any messaging app

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We’ve seen plenty of iOS custom keyboard since the feature arrived with iOS 8 – from personalized emoji to smart calendar shortcuts and Taylor Swift lyrics. HangKeys might just be the simplest and most fun one yet: It turns any messaging app (or even SMS) into a venue to play Hangman. It’s very simple. Once you’ve installed the keyboard, you can choose a word, then send messages with the game layout, updating it each time your opponent guesses a letter. The small letters are a little bit fiddly to type with on an iPhone 5s, but otherwise it’s an enjoyable time-waster that might add something…

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