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Official Google Mac Blog

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Picasa's Macworld DebutJanuary 6

By Stuart Morgan, Software Engineer

Last year we had a blast at Macworld demonstrating all our Mac products, but as Mac users, we also know that the best part of Macworld is new product announcements. This year, we're getting in the spirit by making a little announcement of our own: we're happy to say that Picasa, Google's photo management software, will be joining the ranks of the free Mac OS X applications from Google!

If you've never tried Picasa before, it's a program that helps you manage, edit, and share your photo collection. It works especially well with Picasa Web Albums, Google's free photo-sharing site, so it can help you manage the photo albums you've shared online with friends and family as well as the photos on your computer. In addition to photo editing tools, the Picasa client includes features like automatic web sync, fast and simple sharing, collage making, and simple movie editing. And on the web side, Picasa Web Albums offers unique features like name tags, which help you automatically organize your photo collection based on the faces in each picture.

You'll notice that Picasa for Mac is still in Google Labs and has a "beta" label attached--a few minor features like geotagging and webcam capture aren't functional yet, and we plan to sand and polish some parts of the user interface to make sure Picasa feels right at home on Mac OS X. Still, we think you'll find plenty to like in this first beta, and we're excited to get this release out into the hands of the Mac community at this year's Macworld! We're looking forward to making Picasa for the Mac even better, and to hearing what you think -- Picasa engineers will be at the Google booth's demo stations throughout Macworld, and we always listen to the feedback on our Help Forum.

There's plenty more to say about Picasa on the Mac, so check out the video below, swing by the Google Photos blog to learn more and download a copy to play with--and of course, come see us at Macworld!

Bringing Your Photos HomeDecember 9 2008

By Greg Robbins, Software Engineer

The Picasa Web Albums Uploader makes it easy to share your photos and videos with friends and family. But occasionally you may want to use it in reverse, and download an album back to your computer. If you've ever had a hard drive crash or had to work from a new computer, you know how important it is to get your photos back.

The latest release of the Picasa Web Albums Uploader application makes downloading photos as easy as uploading. After you sign in to your account, select the Existing Album tab, choose an album and click the Download Album button. You'll soon have copies of your photos in a new folder on your Mac.

If your copy of the Picasa Web Albums Uploader hasn't updated itself to the latest version, 1.3, you can get it now from the download page. The album download feature is available only in the Picasa Web Albums Uploader application, not in the iPhoto Exporter. This release downloads photos, but not yet videos. You can give us feedback about the uploaders at the Picasa Help forum.

Google Calendar now supports Apple iCalDecember 2 2008

By David Besbris, Engineering Director

The Google Calendar team is proud to announce the public release of our support for the CalDAV protocol. You can now use Apple iCal with your Google Calendar, so you can work even when you're offline, sync almost instantly, respond to invitations from others and see the free/busy data of your friends and coworkers.

We launched CalDAV support to our developers last July for feedback, and since that time a few of us whipped up a nifty setup program for iCal. This tool makes it a breeze to get iCal working with your Google account. We've released this as open source and the program is available for download at our Google Code site.

Vocito (Voe-kee-toe)*November 19 2008

By Dave MacLachlan, Google Mac Team

For those of you who are lucky enough to be be part of the GrandCentral Beta Program, there's a new toy on the Google Mac Playground. Vocito* is a quick dialer that lets you dial your phone directly from your desktop.

Vocito is also integrated into Address Book, QuickSilver, and Automator, and is fully AppleScriptable.

Just say it! Searching by voice with the new Google Mobile App for iPhoneNovember 14 2008

Posted by Bill Byrne, Mobile UI Witch, Google

Call me lazy, but sometimes I just don't have the time or the patience to type a search query on my iPhone. Well, no more excuses. With the new release of the Google Mobile App for iPhone, I can just hold the phone to my ear, wait for the tone and say stuff like "Indian restaurants." And just like that, I'm looking at a bunch of places that will easily satisfy my craving.

And, of course, while I'm enjoying my Tandoori chicken, I can use the voice search feature to settle important disputes with my friends without ever having to lift a finger. I say "lyrics to Purple Haze" and Google quickly proves I was right. Ha ha! "How much wood COULD a woodchuck chuck?" I knew it! "Where HAVE all the flowers gone?" Wow. Didn't know that one.

The new release can also make use of my current location when I search. So whether I'm in San Francisco, Chicago, or New York City, "Indian restaurants" is all I have to say to get my next Tandoori chicken fix.

Just remember not to search with your mouth full. It's going to be harder now, for sure.

To get the latest Google Mobile App for iPhone, go to the App Store and search for "Google Mobile App." Note that voice search will be enabled by default for U.S. English users only. You can learn more about the new Google Mobile App for iPhone on the Google mobile blog and by watching this overview video: