Web (2.0)

Photwo Makes Easy Photo Sharing Even Easier

By EAN ⋅ January 21, 2008 ⋅  Email this Post ⋅  Print this Post ⋅ Post a Comment

The photo-hosting niche has to be a tough one to crack into. There is a ton of competition from the dozen or so sites already popular among the masses. If it wants to stand out from the crowd, a newcomer really has to provide a hot new angle that nobody has thought of before. Hence, Photwo’s claim that anyone can make a photo album in two minutes. A lofty claim. Let’s see if it holds up.

Alright, so I’ve signed up, and it’s time to start the clock. I’ll be timing the process with the handy iChrono widget from TOSSEN. Click the new album button and GO!

My first test took only 2 minutes and 22 seconds to make a new album and upload 15 pictures with a total file size of about 1.7MB. Not bad at all. But you can’t judge something on one time trial alone–so I did another with the same pictures and came up with a time of 1 minute and 24 seconds. Photwo’s claim was spot on–it’s a snap to make a photo album in roughly two minutes.

Photwo runs so quickly because it uses a unique photo uploading style. Instead of the traditional “browse around your disk for individual files” approach, Photwo provides a Java powered upload box that you can drag photos or whole folders right into. It works with all of the most common image types, although it doesn’t support RAW files.

Once the files have been uploaded, just click a link to create one of two different slideshows. A traditional left to right style slideshow and a fancy looking stacks style slideshow (below). In the near future, users will be able to buy prints too.

Along with the “two minute” photo album, Photwo also offers some pretty decent features for free. 200MB of storage, individualized web addresses, and album embedding for blogs and websites. Email activation isn’t even required.

I love the simple and straightforward layout. Everything is right there, easy to get to, and even easier to use. There are quite a few features that need to be added. Categorization, easy single image embedding, etc. Photwo is a fantastic product that should easily establish a foothold in the photo-hosting market.

The Details:
Developer: Gnus (Magnus Andersen)
Version: N/A
Price: Free for basic features
Website: Photwo

powered by Photwo.com