Tomorrow, Scrapblog, a hybrid media-sharing and online journal site, will be demoing the new version of their Flash-based online scrapbook application at the We Media Conference in Miami. The public version of the new product will be out in March. Co-founder Carlos Garcia let me in for a quick look around at the redesign, though, and I liked what I saw. Scrapblog was already a great product. The new version runs more smoothly, has the look and feel of a proper desktop application, and has incorporated more types of media and editing tools.
The new version has the same drag and drop functionality of the original, but more closely mimics a desktop application by following the same menu bar metaphors along with a full screen option. They have also beefed up the editing features a bit without making it too intensive for the web. Users will be able to use “edit” and “properties” toolboxes to control transformations on photo and layers, effects, as well as photo cropping. Transitions between frames have also been added (various types of fades and wipes).
The release will allow users to import photos from more sites sites, such as Webshots, Photobucket, and Yahoo!. They only supported Flickr previously. Audio and video will also be added to the product. Users will have the option of having songs play along with their Scrapblog slide show and embedding YouTube videos into their pages. You will be able to rotate and scale the videos just like photos. Scrapblog also hopes to have the slide shows import into YouTube as well. Scrapbook pages can already be exported into Flickr accounts.
Scrapblog is shaping up nicely and looks to be branching out of the scrapbook niche as it more closely resembles slide show web apps like RockYou, BubbleShare, Slide, Photobucket, and Filmloop.
Scrapblog is currently privately financed through Carlos Garcia’s previous company Nobox.
i didn’t know there could be four co-founders, but that’s another story
i checked out the screenshots on their site, looks captivating to say the least
I tune out as soon as I hear “flash-based” for some reason.
datter
Datter, your loss then. I’ve heard a bunch of great things about this app.
I met Carlos and his team at a presentation at the University of Miami a few weeks ago, they are a really great team, I know they have been working really hard on this release. I can’t wait to play around with it soon!
Anything that improves use usability is always good, I will now try it out.
Linux has made setting up servers and businesses so cheap that a clutter of services is being created in the Intenet market, ultimately only the mature boys with deeper pockets and a capacity to pay higher marketing expense are going to survive.
http://www.tekn...ld.blogspot.com
Don’t underestimate the passion of the scrapbooker. Those people (I mean us people) are quite crazy about this and this looks pretty cool.
Well it certainly seems that Flash-based blog(ish) services are in vogue! flip.com yesterday and now scrapblog – seems that we are in the right business…
But seriously, I do think these new services (that target directly at mainstream users) are indicative of a rapid mainstream adoption of web apps – to replace functions traditionally restricted to the desktop.
I had dinner with these guys last night at the Miami Blogger’s Dinner. Great guys and a great idea. I see all kinds of people bringing their media into scrapblog.
Their DEMO video does a good job of explaining their service:
http://www.demo...6fall/79931.php
Nick, before you call scrapbooking a niche, do some research.
Here are some stats from Scrapbook Industry Trends.
1) The 2004 SIA (Scrapbooking in America) survey estimates annual industry sales at $2.551 billion, representing a 27.8 percent increase from 2001.
2) There are 4.4 million new scrapbooking households since 2001, for a total of over 26 million households and 32.1 million scrapbookers.
3) Spending on scrapbooking supplies by households that scrapbook has increased 6.3 percent to $96.76 annually since 2001.
4) Almost one in four, or 24.5 percent of U.S. households, participate in the hobby of scrapbooking, with Western states showing the most households involved in the hobby (between 26–31 percent of households). Following is the breakdown of scrapbooking households by region.