Ever wanted to shoot a video on your iPhone as you stroll across town, then speed it up into a 15-second cinematic romp that you can post to Instagram or Facebook with a single tap?
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Well, maybe not, but now you can with the launch on Wednesday of a new stand-alone app from Instagram called Hyperlapse.
Instagram, which Facebook snapped up last year for a jaw-dropping $US1 billion ($1.07 billion), appears to be playing a game of one-upmanship against popular rival Vine, the six-second video loop app owned by Twitter.
Many "viners" have perfected the art of time-lapse video using stop-motion - such as this Californian man's film of his wife's pregnancy, which has clocked up 38,500 likes in the three days since it was posted.
Time-lapse videos are relatively straightforward to make by holding your phone or camera still (a tripod comes in handy), taking stills at intervals and then stringing them together into a film using basic video-editing software such as iMovie.
Making a time-lapse video with the camera changing angles and traversing long distances, however, usually requires far more advanced cinematographic expertise and equipment as it is difficult to keep the frame steady while filming in motion. Any discrepancies are magnified when a video is sped up.
The new app overcomes this problem by using motion data from your mobile device's accelerometer and gyroscope - sensors that measure orientation and rotation - to stabilise jerky camera movements into a smoother video with a "real-time" feel.
RMIT University media and communications lecturer Phred Petersen said the development of new technologies in film post-production was changing the game in cinematography.
"There are apps for camera phones that let you stand up and push a button and if you turn in a circle you can now stitch together these beautiful panoramas," he said. "In the past, matching those pics and everything up is what you spent a lot of time doing before you took the shots; now; you can do it after."
While Hyperlapse can record up to 45 minutes of real-time video, those wanting to post to Instagram or Facebook and take advantage of Instagram's tools and filters must cap their final vids at 15 seconds.
 
Instagram added video capability in December last year, while Vine launched in 2012.
Instagram is not the only tech company venturing into hyperlapse - also the name of the video technique.
Canadian developer Teehan+Lax has developed technology that lets you string Google Maps imagery into a time-lapse video in a few simple steps.
Earlier this month, Microsoft announced its researchers were working on its own hyperlapse software using complex algorithms. The result? An "advanced stabilisation technology that virtually eliminates camera shake, creating a fast, smooth visual path through the full length of a video".
Videos of the work in progress are impressive, but so far there is no time-frame on releasing it to consumers.
Instagram's Hyperlapse app will only be available on iOS devices via Apple's App Store from Wednesday.
An Instagram spokesperson said about half its customers used Android but the operating system did not yet have the right application programming interface to support the app. Instagram has 200 million active users worldwide.
