Google, in a surprise move, acquired Nik Software, the German company famous for its Snapseed app. If you're an iOS user, you've probably heard about Snapseed. It's one of the best photo editing apps around and won the iPad App of the Year award in 2011 for its unique editing interface. At $4.99 it has least 9 million users, according to Snapseed. Unfortunately, it's not available for Android, but this will change in the future. The acquisition is a big step forward for Google+ users in terms of photo editing tools. In a blog post on Google+, Google's Engineering Chief Vic Gundotra said: "We want to help our users create photos they absolutely love, and in our experience Nik does this better than anyone." Although nothing is certain, Google can do two things with Snapseed: Integrate it directly into Google+ (and upset iOS users), or start building an Android version to integrate inside Google+. The Snapseed team will reportedly relocate to Google headquarters in Mountain View to work directly on Google+. I believe the best thing Google could do is continue to develop Snapseed as a photo editing app. Otherwise, it might risk losing those 9 million users. Let's hope that the company doesn't dump the iOS user base just to favor Android fans. No one knows how many millions Google paid to acquire Nik. The Snapseed app could make live more difficult for Facebook and Apple, since now they'll have to invest in photo editing solutions. Though Facebook has Instagram, Apple needs to come up with something, because it appears that smartphone users are passionate about photo editing apps. Google's Snapseed Purchase Aimed at Facebook, iOS Users
Google, in a surprise move, acquired Nik Software, the German company famous for its Snapseed app. If you're an iOS user, you've probably heard about Snapseed. It's one of the best photo editing apps around and won the iPad App of the Year award in 2011 for its unique editing interface. At $4.99 it has least 9 million users, according to Snapseed. Unfortunately, it's not available for Android, but this will change in the future. The acquisition is a big step forward for Google+ users in terms of photo editing tools. In a blog post on Google+, Google's Engineering Chief Vic Gundotra said: "We want to help our users create photos they absolutely love, and in our experience Nik does this better than anyone." Although nothing is certain, Google can do two things with Snapseed: Integrate it directly into Google+ (and upset iOS users), or start building an Android version to integrate inside Google+. The Snapseed team will reportedly relocate to Google headquarters in Mountain View to work directly on Google+. I believe the best thing Google could do is continue to develop Snapseed as a photo editing app. Otherwise, it might risk losing those 9 million users. Let's hope that the company doesn't dump the iOS user base just to favor Android fans. No one knows how many millions Google paid to acquire Nik. The Snapseed app could make live more difficult for Facebook and Apple, since now they'll have to invest in photo editing solutions. Though Facebook has Instagram, Apple needs to come up with something, because it appears that smartphone users are passionate about photo editing apps. 
