Picasa Launches 'Hello' - The Easiest Way to Securely Share Digital Photos

Oct. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Picasa announces the availability of Hello, a completely new way to share digital pictures. For consumers with an Internet connection, Hello opens a private peer-to-peer network link that enables friends to instantly share and chat about digital photographs.

Hello is offered as a free download at www.hello.com and can be used with or without Picasa, the company's award-winning digital photo organizing software. For consumers who have Picasa, Hello is automatically integrated, allowing one-click photo sharing. To share photos using Hello, consumers simply select the pictures they would like to send in Picasa, click the "Send to Hello" button and specify the person to receive them. Immediately, those images appear on their contact's Hello window. Users can see which pictures their friend is viewing and can chat about them in real-time. Hello makes it simple to send single photos or hundreds without the need for attachments or uploading to websites. Consumers who do not have Picasa can use Windows Explorer to select pictures to share.

Any pictures received via Hello are automatically organized and stored in a Picasa album, organized by the sender's name. To print high quality prints at home, Hello automatically retrieves the high-resolution version of a picture from the sender, eliminating the need to send email requests back and forth.

"Hello recreates the experience of sitting down on your couch with a friend and showing them your photo album," says Lars Perkins, CEO of Picasa. "With Hello, you can watch your friends' reaction as they see your pictures, instead of waiting hours or days for a reply. Unlike e-mail, Hello lets you send 50 pictures just as quickly as sending 5, and your friends will always be able to choose and print the pictures they like best."

Highlights of Hello include:

• Instant sharing of pictures over a private peer-to-peer network - a single click sends one or multiple images to one or many recipients.
• Chat upon receipt lets you narrate your pictures and provides immediate, faster-than-email feedback
• Private network ensures only the people you want will see your pictures
• Allows users to send or request high-resolution images that can be printed at home
• Request online prints with two clicks; days later, they arrive in the mail
• Pre-paid printing option allows friends and family to order prints without the hassle of entering shipping and credit card information

Picasa has been used by hundreds of thousands of people to organize their digital photo collection. Picasa users do not have to manually organize their digital photos; all images on the hard drive are automatically organized into albums upon installation, and new images are automatically added as they are saved to a user's hard drive. Picasa allows people to browse quickly through the entire collection of photos on their PC using thumbnails of each image. The thumbnail system removes the need to search for digital pictures using their original file names, which makes it difficult for most digital camera owners to find the photo they need. Advanced features include: cropping, rotation, red-eye removal, keyword search, slideshow (with music), movie support and photo timeline display. Consumers can purchase Picasa for $29.00 or download a free 15-day trial at www.picasa.net .

Source: Picasa, Inc.