Google has bought Nik Software, maker of the popular Snapseed photo editing and sharing app, for an undisclosed sum.
The move puts Google in direct competition with Facebook in the photo app market, after its acquisition of Instagram back in July.
“Today I’m excited to welcome Nik Software to the Google family! We want to help our users create photos they absolutely love, and in our experience Nik does this better than anyone,” Vic Gundotra, Google’s senior vice president of engineering, wrote in a Google+ post announcing the acquisition.
San Diego, California-based Nik Software, established in 1995, makes digital imaging software for desktop and mobile devices.
The company’s Snapseed app lets users edit photos, add filters, and share them on Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, or via email.
“We’ve always aspired to share our passion for photography with everyone, and with Google’s support we hope to be able to help many millions more people create awesome pictures,” the Nik Software team wrote in a blog post Monday.
Snapseed is available for iOS devices as well as Mac and Windows computers, and Nik Software is currently working on an Android version. At £2.99, Snapseed is more expensive than some iPhone apps, but has earned high marks amongst reviewers for its powerful photo correction capabilities.
In 2011, Apple named Snapseed the top iPad app of the year – the same year Instagram was declared iPhone app of the year. In 2012, Snapseed earned a further accolade, being named the mobile photo app of the year by the Technical Image Press Association.
Meanwhile, Google’s Gundotra also said that more than 400 million people have signed up for Google+ since it launched a year ago, and the social network just crossed 100 million monthly active users.
https://plus.google.com/+VicGundotra/posts
