June 30, 2008 5:04 PM PDT

Will Picasa become Google Photos?

There are signs Picasa Web Albums could be renamed Google Photos.

Google's Picasa Web Albums

Google Operating System noticed several references to the term in the code that powers the Web site.

Among the examples: "This photo will be available to view and share in Google Photos, Google's free photo hosting service." And: "By submitting this form, you're alerting the Google Photos team to inappropriate content on this page."

Poring through a source code may sound like a dodgy way to predict the future, but programming code snippets can be revealing. Some wording in the Apple iPhone developer kit indicated a change might come to the company's .Mac online service, and sure enough, it became MobileMe earlier this month.

Picasa also is the name of software Google offers for free to perform basic photo editing and to upload photos to the Web site.

Stephen Shankland writes about a wide range of technology and products, but has a particular focus on browsers and digital photography. He joined CNET News in 1998 and since then also has covered Google, Yahoo, servers, supercomputing, Linux and open-source software, and science. E-mail Stephen, or follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/stshank.

Topics:: Consumer content

Tags:: Google,; Picasa,; photography,; photos

Share:: Digg; Del.icio.us; Reddit; Facebook

Inside CNET News

Scroll Left Scroll Right

The Space Shot
Shuttle Atlantis glides home after station visit
The shuttle Atlantis returns to Earth after an 11-day three-spacewalk mission to deliver 15 tons of equipment and spare parts to the International Space Station.
Gallery
Top-rated reviews of the week (photos)
Crave
Investor forecasts show Psystar is crazy
Documents uncovered in Apple's ongoing litigation show Psystar told investors it would sell millions of Mac clones by 2011. In reality, it sold 768 in the last year.
Beyond Binary
Windows 8 in 2012?
It's not clear what Microsoft's desktop plans are, but the Windows Server team included slides at PDC suggesting a new major release coming around 2012.
Video
Google Chrome OS demonstration
Crave
AT&T has refurbished 16GB iPhone 3Gs for $49
Carrier is offering refurbished 16GB iPhone 3Gs for $49 and waiving the $35 activation fee.
Video
Google Chrome OS unveiling
Geek Gestalt
A wild ride on NASA's massive flight simulator
The Vertical Motion Simulator trains all comers in capsule landings, helicopter flights, and even bobsled runs. Now it's helping in the design of next-gen lunar landers.
Cutting Edge
CERN particle accelerator sees first collisions
Four days after its restart, the scientific work at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland has headed "into new territory. It's been going quite remarkably fast."
Gallery
Motion simulator readies NASA for moon landing (photos)
Technically Incorrect
How can Dell Netbook be 'perfect for tweeting'?
On its Web site, Dell sells a Netbook that is, allegedly, perfect for using Twitter. How can one Netbook be more suitable for tweeting than any other?
Green Tech
Science untarnished by 'Climategate,' U.N. says
Chair of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says stolen e-mails do not damage the credibility of findings that humans are to blame for global warming.