Facebook rolls out video for Instagram

A photo illustration shows the applications Facebook and Instagram on the screen of an iPhone in Zagreb April 9, 2012.

(Reuters) - Facebook Inc introduced video for its popular photo sharing application Instagram in an attempt to go to head-to-head with rival Twitter.

The world's No. 1 social network said on Thursday its more than 130 million Instagram users can now record and post 15 second videos on the platform.

The move takes aim at Twitter's Vine video platform that allows users to record and share six-second videos.

"There's definitely a one-upmanship going on," said Brian Blau, research director, at Gartner.

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom were on hand to unveil the offering at Facebook's Menlo Park, California headquarters.

Among the features of Instagram video, which works with Apple's iOS and Google Android operating system, are a video stabilization technology and spate of custom design filters.

Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion in April 2012 as a way to keep its users hooked on new features weeks before the social media network became a publicly traded company.

Instagram is part of Facebook's mobile strategy as it seeks to get more advertising revenue.

More than 60 million people in the United States regularly watched video on their phones last year, according to research firm eMarketer. Almost 75 million are expected to do so this year.

(Reporting by Jennifer Saba in New York; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)