Google buys Instagram rival Snapseed

Washington : Following social networking site Facebook’s purchase of photo-sharing app Instagram, Google has announced the acquisition of Nik Software, maker of the popular Snapseed photo editing and sharing app.

“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.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. 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, according to PC Magazine.

“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 $4.99, Snapseed is more expensive than most iPhone apps. Apple in 2011 named Snapseed the top iPad app of the year. The same year, Instagram was declared iPhone app of the year.

Meanwhile, 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.

Photo : AFP & Nik Software