Yahoo seeks slice of smartphone photo-sharing pie

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Yahoo joined the fray over smartphone photo-sharing on Wednesday by making it more enticing for iPhone users to use its Flickr service amid a rift between Twitter and the popular photo app Instagram.

Improvements to Flickr software tailored for iPhones and iPod touch devices included the addition of Instagram-style "filters" that let people imbue photos with artistic effects.

"We know that some of your best photo moments happen on the fly, so we've made it easier to get the perfect shot when inspiration hits," said a Flickr blog post by Mr Markus Spiering. "Once you get the shot, there's a built-in editor to quickly correct, crop, or enhance it with one of the new (high-resolution) filters."

Pictures taken with iPhones or iPods can be shared on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Flickr, or by email, the Yahoo-owned photo service said with a promise that photos will "look gorgeous no matter where they are viewed".