Flickr's New Android App: Real-Time Photo Sharing

Flickr announced its first official Android app today.

(Credit: Yahoo)

 

SAN FRANCISCO--Yahoo today unveiled the first official Android Flickr app, as well as a new feature that will allow users of its popular photo service to quickly and easily share pictures in real time with family and friends.

The new Flickr Android app gives users the ability to see their own photos, albums, and photostream, as well as that of friends and contacts.

(Credit: Yahoo)

Released at a press event here that was meant to highlight part of Yahoo's overall mobile strategy, the new Android Flickr app is the first Yahoo has released, although developers have already built dozens for both Google's and Apple's mobile operating systems. There is already an official iOS app.

Within the new Android app, users will be able to access all their own photos, as well as their albums and contacts. They can see activity streams, and photos that friends have uploaded.

In addition, Flickr developed its own camera experience that is built into the app. It has a custom viewfinder that allows a user to select different photo ratios, and lets him quickly name new photos and add metadata. The app also automatically appends geolocation data. Any new photograph taken inside the app can be instantly and automatically uploaded to Flickr, and can also be sent to other social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr, by clicking a check box.

Photo Session
In addition to its new Android app, Flickr also unveiled its new Photo Session feature, which is intended to replicate the traditional way that people would show others pictures from vacations or of their kids or pets. But instead of requiring that everyone be in a room together, Photo Session is meant to make it possible to share such experiences regardless of where anyone is.

It works, said Eileen Hiromura, the product manager for Photo Session, by generating a unique URL that a Flickr user can then send to up to 10 friends or family members. Once they click on the URL, those people can then join a group viewing of an album.

Flickr unveiled Photo Session, a feature that makes it possible for users to share photos with friends and family in real time.

(Credit: Yahoo)

The idea here is that the person who generated the session controls how those he or she shared it with see the pictures. So, as that person moves from photo to photo in the album, others taking part in the session will see the same progression. The feature works on computers, iPads, and iPhones. The URL lasts for 24 hours.

Photo Session also lets others who are partaking in an album viewing to make modifications to photos--such as drawing on them--that are instantly seen by everyone involved. And anyone invited to join a Photo Session group can also choose to browse the photos at their own leisure rather than look at them at the speed chosen by the photos' owner. If they want, they can then re-join the group whenever they want.

Photo Session will allow anyone participating in a group to modify photos. Everyone else in the session will see the modifications, such as drawings.

(Credit: Yahoo)

Flickr lead product manager Markus Spiering suggested that it's not entirely clear when users will create new Photo Sessions, but said it's likely that people who want to ensure friends and family members will be available to join a group together will contact those people in advance of sending out the session invitation.

Yahoo's eight mobile pillars

Flickr's announcements today were part of what Yahoo head of communications and community products Steve Douty said was the company's newly defined eight mobile strategic pillars.

Those pillars are, Douty said, delivering personal, quality content; a three-screen approach that brings Yahoo content in a seamless fashion to users' tablets, mobile phones, and computers; creating app-enhanced experiences; creating social and local scenarios that take advantage of what Yahoo knows about its users; creating continuous conversations between users irrespective of what kind of device they're using; sharing companion experiences with friends and family across devices; doing a better job of monetizing the company's mobile base via better mobile ads and commerce; and lastly, building new partner-friendly capabilities.

Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-20112921-52/flickr-launches-android-app-real-time-photo-sharing/#ixzz1ZIqPO51y

Google+ is FREE for ALL! No more invitations!

Google+ on the Google Search Engine

Google+, the search giant's bid to boost its relevance in the socially networked world of the Web, is now open to the masses.

Google had required invitations to the service since its debut as a "project" in June. But this morning, Google opened the doors of Google+ to all. Google+ has also graduated to being a "beta" product. 

"We're nowhere near done, but with the improvements we've made so far, we're ready to move from field trial to beta, and introduce our 100th feature: open sign-ups," Google Senior Vice President of Engineering Vic Gundotra wrote in a blog post. "This way, anyone can visit Google.com/+, join the project, and connect with the people they care about."

Lifting the sign-up restriction comes just two days before Facebook's F8 conference. There, Facebook, the service that caught Google flat-footed and led to the creation of Google+, is expected to introduce a number of new features, potentially including a new music service that would help turn Facebook into more of a media platform. Some reports suggest that Facebook might even unveil a major site redesign.

In addition to opening up Google+ to all, Google is rolling out a host of new features to Hangouts, the videoconferencing service in Google+. Since its debut, the Hangout feature was limited to Google+ users on a PC, even though the social network was available as an application for devices running its Android mobile operating system as well as Apple's iOS.

Google is now making Hangouts available to mobile devices running Android version 2.3 and later that have front-facing cameras. And it says it will add mobile Hangouts to iOS devices "soon."

Google is also turning Hangouts into a broadcast medium. From launch, Google limited the number of participants in a Hangout to 10. The company is now letting "a limited number of broadcasters," likely those with the biggest Google+ followings, set up Hangouts On Air. The new feature still limits the number of participants to 10. But anyone can tune into a broadcast. The company is kicking off the service tomorrow night with a Hangout On Air featuring Black Eyed Peas member Will.i.am.

And Google is giving users the ability to share their computer screens with others during Hangouts as well. Previously, users could watch a YouTube video together. Now they can share computer screens to show off vacation photos, plan trips, collaborate on documents, or even scribble together with a new Sketchpad feature. And, as is Google's way with beta products, the company says it's testing the various features, which it expects to change over time.

"The extras are still under construction, but we wanted to preview these features and get your feedback sooner versus later," Gundotra wrote.

The company has also created application programming interfaces to let third-party software developers create their own applications that take advantage of Hangouts.

Google has also added search to Google+, a feature that had been surprisingly absent from the search giant's service until now. Users can type queries into the Google+ search box and get results from people and posts from the service, as well as content from around the Web.

Google also seems to recognize that users want to tap into their social network on the go. In addition to participating in mobile Hangouts, Google+ users can now post to updates and comments, receive notifications, and respond to group messages using text messages, according to a separate blog post from Punit Soni, Google+ Mobile product manager. And iPhone users can show approval for a comment with Google's +1 feature, akin to a Facebook's like feature. Google says that using +1 from Android devices will be available soon.

Google is also renaming its Huddle mobile group messaging feature to Messenger. With the new name comes a new feature: photo sharing. Users can now snap a picture with their mobile phone and share it with their circle of friends instantaneously.

Souce: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20108879-93/google-opens-its-social-network-to-all/#ixzz1YeuVdJ54