Photo-Sharing Software Reviews

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Photo-Sharing Software Reviews Reviewed
Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Photo-Sharing Software Ratings Comments on Reviews
1. PC Magazine >> Details/Subscribe	Five New Approaches to Photo Sharing Cade Metz Mar. 15, 2006		Editors of PC Magazine discuss five photo-share programs, including three which are in a beta-test phase (BubbleShare, FilmLoop and SnapJot). AOL Pictures has benefits for AOL members, including the ability to use AOL Pictures from a cell phone or PDA. BubbleShare sets itself apart by allowing voice captions and not requiring registration. FilmLoop allows you to share pictures with strangers and organizes photos in a long strip which can scroll across your computer screen. Phanfare costs about $55 per year to use, but allows up to a gigabyte of content to be posted to your personal Web site each month. Cade Metz says the software is quite simple to use. SnapJot focuses on "storytelling," allowing photographers and visitors to add discussion to photos. Metz says one drawback to this site is the inability to post photos in a group; each must be uploaded one-by-one. Overall, AOL Pictures gets the highest rating.
2. PC Magazine >> Details/Subscribe	P2P Goes Private Cade Metz Jan. 12, 2005		Here PC Magazine's Cade Metz touts the merits of peer-to-peer applications, and briefly reviews PiXPO, OurPictures and ShareALot. PiXPO and OurPictures both get "very good" ratings, while ShareALot lags behind, primarily because people can't view photos without downloading the software. Metz doesn't seem as impressed by Hello (mentioned briefly), which works only when both parties are online at the same time. In addition to the photo-sharing apps, Metz also reviews a few programs that exchange multiple file types. Grouper gets an "excellent" rating, while Qnext and ShareDirect also score relatively well.
3. PC World >> Details/Subscribe	Better Photo Sharing Nikki McDonald May 2005		Nikki McDonald reviews two peer-to-peer applications, OurPictures and Hello, and two online photo-sharing services, HeyPix and Flickr. She seems most interested in fun high-tech features such as camera-phone and blog support (her favorite online service, Flickr, has both), and focuses more on viewing than printing. Hello (reviewed with Picasa) comes in next, followed by OurPictures and HeyPix. OurPictures Deluxe 2 is given further review (and 4 out of 5 stars) in the August 2005 issue of PC World. OurPictures is now owned by Simple Star, Inc. and has been renamed PhotoShow.

Photo-Sharing Software Reviews above this line are significantly better than reviews below.

Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Photo-Sharing Software Ratings Comments on Reviews

4. Macworld >> Details/Subscribe	Share Your Photos on the Web Jim Heid Apr. 2005		Contributing editor Jim Heid covers a few photo-sharing options for Mac users, including smugmug and Flickr online services. (He doesn't mention peer-to-peer software.) Heid likes smugmug because it lets users store high-resolution images that other people can download with permission. Flickr, on the other hand, has lots of slick extras, including support for RSS news feeds; friends and family can subscribe to the user's photo feed and view images instantly. Heid also notes that Flickr can automatically publish photos to blogs. No other services receive ratings.
5. The New York Times >> Details/Subscribe	Photo Sharing, Desktop to Desktop David Pogue Apr. 1, 2004		Technology writer David Pogue discusses the pros and cons of various photo-sharing methods and concludes that peer-to-peer programs like ShareALot and OurPictures are the way to go, since they bypass e-mail and Web sites. Pogue rates ShareALot as the simpler of the two programs, but that's not to diminish its picture-sharing powers. Pogue praises ShareALot's ability to send high-resolution pictures at the click of a mouse. Plus, it's free and available to Mac, Windows and Linux users. But with ShareALot, both sender and recipient must have the software installed. OurPictures, on the other hand, does not require the recipient to have the software; it sends notification e-mails to nonusers, so they can view images on a backup Web page.

Photo-Sharing Software Reviews above this line are significantly better than reviews below.

Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Photo-Sharing Software Ratings Comments on Reviews

6. PC Magazine >> Details/Subscribe	Grouper 2.0 (beta) Cade Metz Feb. 9, 2006		Cade Metz reviews the newest version of Grouper – Grouper 2.0 – which is still in beta. While photo-sharing is a part of the program, its main focus is on video sharing. Photos and videos can be uploaded from certain cameras, added to other photos or videos, and shared with the entire Grouper community or privately shared with friends. Users can also tag photos and videos from others in the Grouper family. Metz gives it a 4 out of 5 rating for these enhancements, and for its price (free).
7. The Wall Street Journal >> Details/Subscribe	The Best Photo Organizers Walter S. Mossberg Mar. 30, 2005		This article is only moderately helpful because it compares a Mac program to a PC program (most people wouldn't have to pick between the two). However, Walter S. Mossberg does provide a thorough review of Picasa 2, the free program that works in tandem with photo-sharing app Hello (both from Google). Apple's iPhoto is rated as the better application, according to Mossberg.
8. The Wall Street Journal >> Details/Subscribe	A New Way to Share Digital Photos Walter S. Mossberg Apr. 26, 2006		This article reviews a new service called Smilebox, which is currently in a beta-testing phase. Scheduled to be released June 2006, Smilebox sets itself apart from other photo-share software in its use of design features. Photos can be dropped into the user-friendly program and enhanced with the creation of slideshows, photo books, postcards and scrapbooks, all with added text and even background music. To share, simply e-mail a link to the finished project. Mossberg calls Smilebox "simply enjoyable."
9. Consumer Reports >> Details/Subscribe	Photo-Sharing Web Sites Editors of Consumer Reports July 2005		Consumer Reports gives an overview of photofinisher sites – those that allow you to edit, store and share photos – and community sites –, which provide users with advanced editing features and let visitors post their own pictures and comments. Thirteen sites are listed in a chart, but there are no ratings.
10. About.com	Photo-Sharing Software Sue Chastain Not Dated		Sue Chastain reviews an assortment of photo-sharing software, including KoffeePhoto, Corel Snapfire, Ulead Photo Explorer 7 and Picasa, all in separate articles. A grouping of reviews is available for Windows-specific, as well as Macintosh-specific, programs. Reviewed programs are given a max of five stars. Picasa and Ulead rate high - each with 4.5 stars.
11. PC Magazine >> Details/Subscribe	Picasa 2.0 Cade Metz Jan. 18, 2005		Cade Metz gives this Hello companion great scores, praising its price (free), intuitive interface and batch of new organizational and editing tools.
12. The Washington Post >> Details/Subscribe	A Leap to Thumbnail Photo Sharing Leslie Walker Feb. 20, 2005		Leslie Walker echoes PC Magazine reviewer Cade Metz's sentiments toward Photoleap software. Walker found that the software sent photos fast (even over a dial-up Internet connection). But she, too, sees a problem with requiring recipients to download the application. No other services receive ratings.
13. Family Tree Magazine >> Details/Subscribe	Grin and Share It Nancy Hendrickson Dec. 2004		Genealogists spend a lot of time swapping photos, and here, Family Tree Magazine contributing editor Nancy Hendrickson rounds up six photo-sharing applications: Electric Shoebox, Hello, OurPictures, PiXPO, SendPhotos Gold and ShareALot. Hello gets the highest rating, since it's "quick to install, simple to set up and performs flawlessly."

Photo-Sharing Software Reviews above this line are significantly better than reviews below.

Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Photo-Sharing Software Ratings Comments on Reviews

14. Choice.com.au >> Details/Subscribe	Share Photos Online Editors of Choice Jan. 2006		This is a good first step in determining whether to commit to photo software or to a photo-hosting site. The pros and cons of both are debated. Editors of Choice discuss things to consider such as the type of camera you have and if you need to link photos to other sites. Examples of photo-share software programs are mentioned but there are no ratings.

Photo-Sharing Software Reviews above this line are significantly better than reviews below.

Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Photo-Sharing Software Ratings Comments on Reviews

15. Amazon.com	Photo-Share Software Contributors to Amazon.com Not Dated		There aren't a lot of photo-sharing software titles listed here at Amazon.com, and of those, only a handful are rated by readers.
16. Epinions	Photo-Sharing Software Contributors to Epinions.com Not Dated		Epinions doesn't offer up a wealth of photo-sharing products. In fact, there are a mere three listed, none of which are reviewed. This site is typically a good source for feedback from consumers, but not in the category of photo-sharing software.