PicasaWeb

It was only a matter of time, but three months after acquiring Web-based photo editor Picnik, Google has gotten around to integrating the service into Picasa Web Albums.

Now, if a Picasa Web Albums user wants to make a quick edit to a photo, they can do so without leaving the photo page. Previously a user would have needed the software version of Picasa installed, or to use an external editor (such as Picnik)--both of which made for a disjointed experience.

While a seemingly minor move, it's the first step by Google to integrate the Picnik editor into … Read more

About a month ago, Google made some serious price cuts to its Picasa Web photo-storage service. For example, a mere $5 per year now buys you 20GB of online storage.

In other news, Eye-Fi memory cards are really cool. They wirelessly upload photos from your camera to your PC OR online storage service of choice--like, say, Picasa.

Right now, if you sign up for a 200GB Picasa account for $50, you'll get a 4GB Eye-Fi Home card for free.

That card, which works in most digital cameras, normally sells for $69.99, so here's another way to look … Read more

Google's latest version of its software-based Picasa uploader for Mac has a handy new trick up its sleeve. It now lets you download entire albums back to your computer, making it a simple tool for backing up large photo libraries.

The Windows and Linux version of Picasa have allowed you to do this for some time, but seeing as Mac users do not (yet) have a version of Picasa to call their own, this is a far better option than downloading the originals one at a time from the Web, or having to use third-party programs.

I gave it … Read more

On Friday, Google's Picasa Web Albums rolled out a new page that highlights community photography, with featured shots from its users, a stream of live updating uploads, and a game that makes use of media that's been geotagged.

Of all the new features, the "Where in the World?" game is the most fun. It lets you guess where a photo was taken by clicking on a giant world map. You're awarded points for how close you were, with closer guesses racking up massive points. It does this using shots that have been geotagged, although that … Read more

Picasa Web Albums is Google's Web photo hosting service. Users get 1GB of free hosting, and images can be uploaded and manipulated using Picasa, Google's free desktop photo management application. Users who want additional storage can shell out up to $500 a year to bump up the hosted space to 400 times the size of the free hosting service.

We really like the integration between the desktop and Web application. Like .Mac and iPhoto, Picasa makes it really simple to take photos from your desktop and publish them online for others to see. We're also fans of … Read more

Oh Google, you got my hopes up today.

I logged into my Gmail and there it was, a little surprise at the top called "Photos." I speculated that you had created an integrated photo-sharing service, but clicking on the new link just took me to Picasa's Web Albums site. Sure, it's been eight months (to the day actually), since Picasa's Web Albums was born; I just thought you had finally gotten around to combining it with Gmail and the rest of your office apps...but it was just a tease.