Yes, you read that right. Facebook is apparently closing a deal to buy super cool photo sharing service Instagram for a Billion dollars.

Facebook CEO Mark Zukerberg announced the deal on, where else, his Facebook page. Here’s the gist of the deal from Zuck himself:

I’m excited to share the news that we’ve agreed to acquire Instagram and that their talented team will be joining Facebook.

We believe these are different experiences that complement each other. But in order to do this well, we need to be mindful about keeping and building on Instagram’s strengths and features rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook.

With the exploding popularity of smartphones like Apple’s iPhone, there was also a corresponding rise in the number of people taking photos with those devices. One of the most popular photo apps ever to hit the iPhone is Instagram.

Since its release, Instragram has been exclusive to the iPhone. However, as we previously told you, that exclusivity is now at an end because, as of today, the app has been released for Android.

In case you haven’t used Instagram (you really should, btw), the app allows users to capture photos and edit them using a number of filters that give images a cool “retro” look. Users can also use selective focus tools to enhance and customize photos further.

Said pictures can then be shared with other Instagram users and also on Twitter, Facebook or via email. Filters can be applied to images imported from a device’s camera roll as well.

The new Android version of Instagram supports devices running Android 2.2 or later. It is available immediately for free in the Google Play store.

With the popularity of smartphones like the iPhone and myriad of Android-powered handsets, one of the things users love to do is take and share photos with friends and family. One of the best apps for doing this when using the iPhone is Instagram.

This app allows you to take a photo, manipulate it if you choose and then upload it to your photo stream for all to see. People can then subscribe to your photo stream and view your photos on their devices. Or, you can upload them to Twitter, Facebook or Flickr.

It’s extremely popular on the iPhone (many of us here use it, in fact) but so far, it’s only been available for iOS devices. Apparently, that’s not going to be the case much longer.

Speaking during the LeWeb conference in Paris this week, Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom confirmed that an Android version of the company’s popular iOS application is coming soon. ”We have two people working on Android now,” Systrom said.

I know what you’re thinking. Two people doesn’t sound like very many. However, keep in mind that the whole company probably isn’t that much bigger and has been exclusively an iOS app since launch.

No launch date was forthcoming from Systrom but we expect to see the Android version of Instagram sometime early next year.