Corel’s new SnapFire digital photo-editing and -sharing platform aims to dethrone our longtime favorite, Google and Yahoo.
Corel Corp. got clobbered several years ago when it tried to beat Microsoft Corp. in the PC software market. Today, after being revamped top to bottom and recently re-listed as a public company, Corel faces an equally formidable competitor: Google Inc.
Corel is to take on Google with a new web-based audio and video management system supported by adverts.
Corel recently took the wraps off a brand-new catch-all app for digital camera owners; a free downloadable software called SnapFire, and it joins an already massive number of apps that let you browse, edit, and share digital photos and videos.
The software is part of Corel’s new modular software platform, code-named Alta, which allows users to keep downloaded applications on their desktop. The platform also allows users to pay and download individual features, called modules, from premium versions instead of entire suites.
Snapfire allows users to upload, share, edit and organize images for free. Snapfire Plus offers more features and sells for $40.
Like Picasa or Preclick, both of which are completely free, SnapFire is designed for average user. The interface is simple and intuitive enough to learn in a matter of minutes.
Google has developed a competing portfolio of graphics, digital imaging and productivity software.
Snapfire will compete with Google’s Picasa. Picasa is free software which allows users to organize and quickly tour through images stored on their computers. In May 2006 the search engine released a Linux version of Picasa and Picasa Web Albums in June. Picasa Web Albums allows Picasa users to select and upload pictures to the web where they can be shared. Not only does the Internet search giant have a much more powerful brand than Corel, but its business model is tough to beat.
Snapfire encourages users to arrange photographs into slideshows known as “Snapfire Shows” which can include additional visual effects and music.
With Snapfire Shows, users of all levels can indulge their creative sides and create visually arresting, highly customized slideshows that truly bring their digital photo and video collections to life. No other free photo software combines these impressive capabilities and special effects with superior ease-of-use and simplicity, said Blaine Mathieu, General Manager of Corel’s Digital Imaging business.
Plenty of other companies already offer free image software. Google’s Picasa software for the PC is one of the most popular tools for organizing and sharing pictures. In June, Yahoo Inc. launched Yahoo! Photos, which lets users store images on Yahoo servers, share them with friends and order prints on-line.
Hewlett-Packard Co. also has an on-line storage and printing site called Snapfish. And Eastman Kodak Co. operates its EasyShare Gallery, which lets users store images and order prints off the Web.
What is different about Snapfire is its modular component that lets people purchase additional pieces of software to customize their photo storage and editing tools, Mathieu said in a phone interview from Corel offices in Minneapolis.
Snapfire does not lock customers into a propriety system, like Kodak’s EasyShare, and is simpler to use than Google’s Picasa, he adds.
“We are very confident that we have a competitive product against the Microsofts and Googles of the world.”
Snapfire will face fierce competition from Flickr the social image organizer bought by Yahoo. Flickr has a significant market share and is integrated with del.icio.us – Yahoo’s social tagging site. Flickr allows users to easily post their stored images to blog communities such as SixApart’s LiveJournal.
The growth in online photograph storing, sharing and searching is in part boosted by the falling costs of digital cameras and the growth of broadband access. Brands such as Kodak are also represented in the marketplace with products like EasyShare Gallery.
Not only do home users and professionals want their digital photos and videos to be more readily accessible, they are also looking for more fun, easy ways to share them with friends and family from their home PC, Mathieu commented.
According to an on-line survey of more than 700 individuals done by the company this year, 55 per cent of respondents found the task of organizing and managing digital photos “overwhelming and confusing.”
“In many cases they feel like they are losing control of their memories — who controls what, who sees what, and what gets backed up,” said Mathieu.
Corel, which already has about 40 million customers using its PC software, is betting that people will get hooked on free starter versions of its digital imaging software and then pay to personalize and enrich it.
The first component piece that will be available for Snapfire Plus will let customers copy slideshows to a DVD and play them back on a television DVD player. That product will sell for $10 later this year. Corel expects to add a wide variety of features from third parties in the future, Mathieu said.
Once, one of Canada’s best-known technology companies, Corel was never able to compete effectively against Microsoft’s Windows franchise that still dominates the personal computer industry today. But the Ottawa Company thinks it has found a way to prosper against Google and other companies offering free Web-based services that are increasingly supported by ads.
Corel was founded in 1985 and battled Microsoft after an acquisition of WordPerfect in 1996. Corel’s software failed to make inroads in the market and the company was forced to lay-off a significant percentage of its workforce and later came under scrutiny from the Ontario Securities Commission. Corel now owns rights to Paint Shop Pro and the popular WinZip archiving software.
The company announced its new digital imaging platform earlier this summer after working on it for three years. Corel aims to eventually have “many million” Snapfire customers but it does not expect any material gains from Snapfire until after fiscal 2007.
Recently, the company announced plans to round out its multimedia product lineup with a $196-million agreement to buy InterVideo Inc. The Fremont, Calif., company’s software is used to play; record and edit video on DVDs.
Snapfire, like Picasa, requires a software download. Corel’s recommended system requirements for the image organizer are a processor running at 1.0 Ghz or faster, 512MB RAM, Windows XP and a 1024 x 768. This compares to Picasa’s 300MHz processor, 128MB RA and Windows 2000 or Windows XP. Snapfire is not currently available for Linux users.