Having kids is clearly impacting my assessment of applications… And there is no greater proof for this than a new product by IncrediMail called PhotoJoy, an application I would never have given a second thought were I not a father of two.
PhotoJoy is a free downloadable application that uses your photos to produce neat desktop widgets, 3D photo screensavers and wallpaper collages. You can either use photos located on your computer, or ones uploaded to your Flickr account. PhotoJoy can also use your Flickr stream to keep your photos fresh. Notably missing is the ability to import photos from your Facebook account, which is where I for example keep all my online photos on.
The application should run on most Windows XP setups. Sorry, no Mac support at the moment. I’ve been running it on my machine for a week and have noticed no negative performance impacts.
To see PhotoJoy in action check out the video embedded on the bottom of this post for a demo the company whipped up using some photos of my kids.
In many respects the product is similar to long gone Filmloop (remember them?) which both had a hard time dealing with increasing competition courtesy of Slide and RockYou and a blatant lack of support from one of its VC’s. Filmloop was also a one-trick-pony, whereas PhotoJoy is just one of several IncrediMail products—HiYo is another one.
Seeing no immediate business model and with the company’s history in mind, I requested a clarification on PhotoJoy’s ad-ware practices and its business model strategy. IncrediMail’s CEO, Ofer Adler, addressed my concerns:
“We are never going to push any other installation with this product.
We are going to use an advertising through search business model similar in concept to the one of picasa / yahoo messenger / now even AVG antivirus and that to have a free version that will suggest the user during the installation to accept our Google / other partner search properties such as homepage / toolbar / default search provider, assuming a certain % of the installations will accept them. (of course any one who doesn’t want will be able not to accept them). In addition there will be probably a premium version with some more features / content.”
So go ahead and call me a sap, but PhotoJoy puts a smile on my face and sometimes that’s not only good enough, it’s plenty!
I could actually imagine non-technical people using this App as a simple “digital signage” tool.
Load your commercial product or service photos, add some text labels, save to desktop, connect your flat panel display, point the display at the public — at trade shows, retailer windows, etc.
Are there other companies specifically targeting low-cost, but still attractive and professional, digital signage solutions? If not, why?
This is pretty cool, I like the Flickr integration aspect.
The 3D screensavers are really cool.
When do we get a mac version?
Paid ($20?) iPhoto plugin, and I’m there?
It’s pretty clear what the real business model is: get purchased by Apple/Adobe/MS as a feature upgrade to their consumer photo editing apps. I mean, what other “real” features are left to add???
ha, i probably will not pay to get that on my mac. One of the most useful ways i can see this being used commercially is for wedding events and maybe integration into digital photo frames? Again, even so i will want it free, or very very cheap.
“which is where I for example keep all my online photos on.”
WHO EDITED THIS?
And this paragraph is pretty clunky, too.
“Seeing no immediate business model and with the company’s history in mind, I requested a clarification on PhotoJoy’s ad-ware practices and its business model strategy. IncrediMail’s CEO, Ofer Adler, addressed my concerns:”
Roi, are you more of a math person?
Ouch! Points taken
Wow, really nice. the photo bubbles are super cool and also the desktop collages. facebook integration is missing though.
This is pretty neat actually, I got thousands of pictures that just sits on my drive without getting the slightest attention. This can answer a real need that people have today with so many pictures taken.
Good job Photojoy!
Why is it that Erick Schonfled is constantly on Android. I see him online on my own G1 phone and he never reports on Android apps?
http://picasawe...000826593337810
I’ve seen him on Android from my G1 for at least 2-3 weeks now.
What a hypocrite. TC continues to favor iPhone but actually uses G1 HTC phones with Android in real life.
I frown on that type of hypocrisy.
Only thing i like here are the screensavers.
Oh btw
Check out http://www.jobstaxi.com
New Jobs. HUGE Inc. Starbucks. Facebook. Puma North America Inc. Ignition Entertaiment.
Cool application – finally something to do with the 1000 photos that are easily snapped off over a weekend and subsequently uploaded to flickr (or wherever) and never seen again. I do like the idea of created the slideshow background for marketing events, etc…
i like this wallpapers.
thanks
http://www.csshook.com
why do people put their photos on Facebook when only other FB users can see them? Wouldn’t it make more sense to put them on Flickr or another platform that doesn’t care if your audience is registered or not?
You are allowed to change the settings of who can and who cannot view your photos on Facebook.
Actually, Flickr integration is kind of misleading. I took this “You can use photos uploaded to your Flickr account” to mean that it could screen save using my Flickr photostream- which I would love. It does no such thing. You can search Flickr for a random subject (eg Sunsets) and thats all. Other than that you have to use your local hard drive. My hard drive has millions of photos, Flickr has hundreds. I really only want to use photos I’ve deemed worthy of uploading. And I don’t want to create a separate local folder that is “flickr uploads” – thats not how I organize ‘em. So after the excitement, now comes the uninstall. Hope this helps someone else.
Use tags on your filckr pic’s and the search will return only your pic’s.
Have fun….
If this is such a cool product why did they lay off all the employees who worked on this for years – “Have you murdered and inharited?” shame on you $2 stock, lost so much money on this incompitants.
cant wait for the collapse of internet to get rid of all this useless shit- and back to basics.
This is one of the best photo apps i have seen. it’s really cool to see all your forgotten photos on your desktop every day. very cool 3D. nice job.
Sure, something we all need.. more adware, as if we don’t have enough.
A failing company who was cut off by google earlier this year for a period of time for questionable adsense practices, a company who sold their opening stock last year at $9, and its been worth less then $3.00 most of this year, a company who if you read the privacy policy pretty much can do whatever they want and a reviewer who thinks cute is worth overlooking the fact that a company in Israel can install and update and store your personal info and target you with adware?
No wonder companies like this suceeed.
Another piece of Incredimail tomfoolery.
A magical, colorful trap to entice the unwary and un-savvy Internet neophytes, who like bugs are attracted to baubles like bugs to lights. Old Adler sure knows how to use people and attract the newbies who are sucked into his sinking empire. His Incredimail program is sinking faster than the stock market and his “Magenta Desktop” which promised investors a unique and groundbreaking application was a profound flop – mainly because it wasn’t new, groundbreaking, or unique.
Adler will continue to live off the money he gleaned (stole?) from bright-eyed, naive investors, who, like the cadre of Internet newbies who swear by Adler’s clumsy and bloated “Incredimail” application, until he drains every last drop from the coffers.
With his company in shambles and the foolish investors left holding the bag, no doubt Adler will resurface somewhere else in the adware-spyware industry – maybe as an executive with Zango/Hotbar. He should find himself a home with that camarella.
In the final analysis though, you have to give Adler credit, it’s not often that one could sneak a Privacy Policy past millions of unwary, apparently unconcerned users, that contains a clause so egregious as this one:
“CONSENT TO PROCESSING
Users, including without limitation, Users in the European Union, fully understand and unambiguously consent to the collection and processing of their personally identifiable and non-personally identifiable information, in the United States. ”
Can you imagine anyone who read that clause installing Incredimail?
Adler, you old cad, you’ve done it again!
Harvey G.