14 DAY TRIAL // Picasa is doing a roundup of some of the new features that have been quietly rolled out to users. A number of new features have been introduced in the past few weeks, but there's been no official word from Google. It looks like the features are now fully baked and Google is highlighting the changes.
"We are starting off the year with a few new features in Picasa Web Albums. From metadata, to security, to a new way to zoom, there is a little bit for everyone," Google's Lisa Conquergood writes.
One new feature spotted not long ago is the possibility to view a lot more metadata for the photos stored. Most cameras today store a lot of EXIF tags and photo edit apps usually add some of their own.
Picasa already displayed the more relevant data, but for those needing every last detail, there are now over 200 EXIF tags supported and displayed by clicking on the "full details page" link.
"You can now get over 200 EXIF tags that are available from your photos including Metering Mode, White Space and Color Balance. From the individual photo page -- where you currently view ‘Photo Information’ like Camera, ISO, Aperture and Exposure," the blog post explained.
A more recent addition is support for HTTPS connections, which was enabled a few days ago. It allows those looking for a more secure environment to connect to Picasa Web Albums via the encrypted protocol.
The feature is not enabled by default for now, but Google says that HTTPS will eventually be the default way users connect to Picasa Web Albums, like it is in Gmail.
Finally, there is also a new lightbox view which enables users to view photos in detail and zoom in to the original resolution of the pic.
"Now, you can view images in their full resolution splendor by clicking on the magnifying glass on the photos page. This will bring up your image in a lightbox view, from which you can zoom into the image, up to its full resolution," the post added.