Windows/Mac: The most noticeable update to Google's photo editing software is "Face Movies," or videos of particular contacts that keep their face framed in one spot. But there's also desktop editing through Picnik and far better Picasa Web Albums integration.
Face Movies, despite the slightly awkward name, are pretty nifty. You select a batch of photos of a particular contact from Picasa's People organizer, then choose the time to freeze on each frame, a transition effect, and the video size. That way, you can create a terribly sentimental and touching video focused on a single person, or prove, perhaps, that someone's expression never changes (that link contains auto-playing audio).
Among the upgrades to Picasa's basic editing deck, the big updates include the inclusion of Picnik, the online editing suite Google acquired earlier this year. Why place a Flash-based, connection-required editing tool into Picasa? That way, Google can roll out new editing tools and improvements without having to issue a whole software update. Picasa Web Albums fans can also now upload multiple albums, remove albums, change privacy on albums, and otherwise manage their online Picasa from their desktop Picasa.
Picasa is a free download, and this update is available for Windows and Mac systems. Tell us what else you like about this new version, or want to see improved, in the comments.
Picasa 3.8: Face movies, Picnik integration, batch upload, and more [Google Photos Blog]