Although the exact mechanism is still not entirely understood, it turns out that illuminating the liquid crystal, applying a voltage across a small region of it, and then turning off the light source causes a small amount of charge to be stored in that region.

ECONOMIST: Just press print

It is also promising not to make recipients pay, and to charge originating banks only a small amount per transaction.

ECONOMIST: Jeux avec fronti��res

It's a tiny piece of software, and if they had figured out a way for us to store our photos locally or to pay a small charge for server space exceeding some amount (as Flickr does), it could have stayed a rather noncommercial affair.

CNN: Instagram users should wise up