Google tends to play nice with photographers, and yesterday the search giant announced that photos were going to start getting some love on its social network — love of the pan and zoom variety. With cell phones, point and shoots and SLRs alike all churning out 12MP+ photos (at the very least), Google thought it was time you were able to see all of that glorious detail. Read more…

For photo enthusiasts, Google’s new Google+ social network is something like Flickr mixed with Facebook. It has the social sharing power of Facebook while providing features and tools Flickr users would appreciate thanks to the fact that Google runs a full-fledged photo-sharing service in Picasa (soon to be brought into the Google+ fold and renamed Google Photos). One such feature is the EXIF data section, easily accessed for each photo by Action->Photo Details. Most Facebook users would likely be confused by having a histogram pop up for their images, but for loyal Picasa users using Google+ for sharing and viewing photos, it’s quite a nifty option.

(via Reddit)

Mashable is reporting that Google will be rebranding Picasa as “Google Photos” within the next six weeks, coinciding with the public launch of its Google+ social networking service. Blogger will also be rebranded as “Google Blogs”. Furthermore, images up to 2048x2048px won’t be counted towards the 1GB of free storage offered by the service for Google+ users, up from the 800px rule announced earlier this year. Larger images uploaded after the storage limit is reached will be automatically resized to 2048px, meaning Google is offering virtually unlimited storage for sharing photos online.

As Google continues to improve the photo sharing experience it offers, Flickr’s going to have to innovate quickly to prevent a mass exodus of photographers looking for greener pastures.

(via Mashable)