The Inquisitr » picasa

Google Issues First Update for Picasa for Mac

Duncan Riley — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:34:15 +0000

This didn’t take long. One day at launching Picasa for Mac, Google has issued an update.

The update addresses a reported problem with right clicking on a photo causing Picasa to crash, a problem I haven’t been able to recreate, but reported extensively on the Picasa for Mac help forums. Also included in the update is improved handling of network failures during upload.

The one issue I have been having and can’t seem to fix hasn’t been addressed: the ability to remove buttons. Not the original buttons, but installed ones. The option is available via configure buttons, but selecting remove buttons doesn’t actually remove the buttons.

If you don’t have a lot of Google software on your machine, you’ll be surprised to learn that Google Picasa comes with an updater that runs in the background: the above shot was taken with Picasa not opened, it just popped up.

Bye Bye iPhoto: Google Finally Releases Picasa for Mac

Duncan Riley — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:10:55 +0000

Google has finally released Picasa for Mac.

According to Google, Picasa for Mac brings all of the sharing and sync features of Picasa on Windows and Linux to Mac users. The software offers features including non-destructive editing, and the ability to keep track of photos anywhere on your hard drive, then automatically account for new images as you add them, something iPhoto doesn’t do.

Picasa for Mac launches in Google Lab, so it may be a little buggy. Although Google advises that it is available now, I wasn’t able to download it at the time of writing, with the button indicating it was available, but the download offering only the Picasa Web Albums uploader.

As someone who switched from 20 years on PC’s to Macs two years ago, Picasa has been one of the few things I’ve missed since making the move. iPhoto is ok, but I’ve never felt it was close to Picasa in features or usability. Whether I’ll switch full time to Picasa is a call I can only make once I get my hands on the download, but it’s something that wouldn’t be hard to do.

Last but not least: I broke the story exclusively last year when I managed to catch a Google employee on the spot at Macworld More than one person at the time said I was full of shit. To those people I simply say: told you so.

Here’s the official demo video for Picasa for Mac, and the download link can be found here.

UPDATE: If you’re having issues downloading it directly from Google, Download.com has a working copy here.

UPDATE 2: Installed and it’s everything I remembered it to be and more. Simpler and better range of image editing tools in particular. Now I just have to work out how to make it default for images, not just from the camera, but in applications as well, which can be an issue given how iPhoto is built into Apple apps.

Picasa head Mike Horowitz leaves Google

Duncan Riley — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 05:57:52 +0000

Senior Product Manager at Google, and the head of Picasa Mike Horowitz has left Google.

Mike Horowitz joined Google after a short stint at Applied Semantics in 2003, at lead the development of Picasa from what was originally a small acquisition for Google, into a top 3 internet photo property today.

During his reign over Picasa, Horowitz supervised and managed the launch of new features for Picasa Web Albums, including facial recognition, search, GData API, mobile viewer, slideshow widget, and geotagging, and expanded Picasa support into 38 languages.

Most recently he announced the launch of Picasa 3 late October, and it would appear that his departure may have been timed to coincide with the completion of the project

We’re trying to find out where he’s gone, and we’ll update the post if we find out. He will be sorely missed, although despite a Google employee telling me in January that they were developing Picasa for Mac, I’m still waiting

Picasa Gets Smart With Facial Recognition

JR — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:22:30 +0000

It’s a big day for Google. In addition to the company’s official Chrome browser announcement later today, the G-Team is also planning to reveal plans for a revamped Picasa that’ll feature cutting-edge facial recognition technology.

The new tool will analyze people’s faces and link images it sees as having the same person. Once you fill in that person’s name, Picasa will let you access all of his or her pictures with a single click. It’s basically tagging, without the work.

A new beta version of Picasa’s image editing utility will also be released. The software is said to include new “movie making” options for photo-music montages as well as advanced retouching tools, collage capabilities, and dynamic synchronization for photos uploaded from external Web sites.

The stuff is set to go live just after noon PT Tuesday.

Introducing Google Media Server

JR — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:02:21 +0000

Google’s getting into the game of home media networks.

The company quietly unveiled its new Google Media Server desktop gadget this week. The tool works with the Google Desktop program to find and catalog all videos, music, and photos on your computer — then stream them to any Universal Plug-n-Play devices in your home. The PlayStation 3 is the UpnP device Google engineers specifically mention.

Once set up, you’ll be able to use the system to access any of that media from a TV. It also gives you the option to remotely browse through Picasa albums and watch YouTube videos.

Google Media Server is only available for PCs thus far.

6 Alternatives To Flickr Now Yahoo Is In Full Control

Duncan Riley — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:53:00 +0000

The sad news today: Flickr founders Caterina Fake and Stewart Butterfield are leaving Yahoo. Flickr has thrived despite being owned by Yahoo, and much of its ongoing success has been down to Fake and Butterfield keeping control over the layout and feature set on the site. If you’re like me, the only reason you actually have a Yahoo login or regularly use a Yahoo login is due to Flickr and nothing else. With both gone the site will be left to a Yahoo design team that.. well…creates stuff like this. Many users kept using Flickr post Yahoo acquisition in loyalty to Butterfield and Fake, but with both gone some users will be looking elsewhere. So what’s on offer?

Smugmug

Smugmug is a leader in the Flickr alternatives space. Great looks are combined with good traffic and a strong community to deliver a viable and attractive alternative. The one catch though: Smugmug is a paid service with only a free trial period, a speedhump for the majority of Flickr users on a free account, but premium Flickr users with pro accounts won’t mind paying $39.95/ yr for unlimited uploads and storage. Smugmug also offers video hosting for $59.95/ yr, although with a huge range of free options in the video space I don’t immediately see the appeal.

Zooomr

Zooomr was once the Flickr in waiting, but after uptime issues last year the site now calls itself a “social utility” that offers a Twitter style short message service. Founder Kristopher Tate has also been focusing on the Japanese market. Worth consideration as the traffic is reasonable and the user base fairly active.

Photobucket

Before you ask, the answer is yes, Photobucket. The MySpace (FIM) owned Photobucket has matured past its roots as a photo uploading site for social network profiles and is now a fully fledged photo sharing site with its own community. The selling point: stable, strong ownership means that you’ll never lose your photos. The downside: it’s still as ugly as sin. Great for 12 year olds with ADHD, bad for anyone older than 25 with 20/20 vision.

Picasa Web Albums

Google has long lagged in photo sharing, but more and more lately images hosted on Picasa Web Albums keep popping up. Focused on Google’s excellent Picasa photo editing tool, Google offers functional and easy to use photo hosting that will never go down. For Mac users there is a Picasa photo uploader which looks nearly identical to the Flickr equivalent, so the switch isn’t that big. My guess is that Picasa Web Albums is the next big service in photo sharing, although it won’t appeal to serious photographers. Also like most things Google, it’s not exactly pretty either.

Dot Mac/ Mobile Me

Apple’s Dot Mac (soon to be Mobile Me) service isn’t cheap, but the built in support for photo galleries within iPhoto creates seriously good looking photo galleries. The downside is a complete lack of social sharing or social anything really, it’s great looking photos and nothing else. I personally use this service for private galleries, or to be more precise photos my 5 year old son has taken that I want to share only with family and close friends.

23 is the smallest service we’ve put on this list, but it stands out as being a simple, well designed, attractive photo sharing site with a active community. The risk with smaller services is that they might not go the distance, however everything feels right about this site.

I’m not about to cancel my Flickr membership, but already I know I’m not alone in considering other services, so I hope the list helps. If there are any services not included that you’d recommend, leave a comment below, and also let us know why you use them.