Thanks to WMPU for the heads-up, by the way.
The idea here is that you create an event folder in the cloud (on Picturex's servers) and then invite others to collaborate in stocking this folder with images from the event, with everyone able to download as well. It's an idea that's been tried before, of course, notably in the Android world with Samsung's imaging quite, but Picturex's tri-platform launch (if anything, centred around Windows Phone, which makes a change!) does seem slick and functional. Here's the promo video:
It's soo..... tempting to point out that for such an indoor fancy dress party, most people's photos will probably be blurred and rubbish - but hey, maybe they all have Lumia 1020s with Xenon flash, so I'll cut the concept some slack!
Event photos hang around for a week by default, giving people a chance to contribute and download. All that's required of each of them is that they have a mobile device and have installed the Picturex application, logging in through the usual Facebook, Google or Microsoft accounts, any of these via OAuth.
Sounds good, right? It IS all very nicely implemented, though there are some caveats:
- There's no generic web view - unless I'm missing something, you can't view event photos in a web browser on any laptop or tablet - you have to use the mobile app, which means you're limited to small screens. Unless you then download and re-share/sideload from there, of course.
- Some of the promised benefits (e.g. full quality downloads) are freemium features and have to be paid for, by each person joining the event. though at least it only needs the event creator to pay, the quality is then available to all invitees....
- The freemium 'credits' system is a little complicated, though admittedly it's all still in 'beta' and to be fair, the initial testers/users get given a load of credits up front - time will tell how the balance of features/pricing shakes out in the long run.
- On Windows Phone, at least, uploading isn't done in the background, so you'd have to have the app in the foreground and the screen lit up while any uploads finish.
Here's Picturex in action:
The traditional introductory tutorial...
Sign in can be using one of four services; (right) getting started with a new event ('PicEx')....
Handily, the application can trigger off photo dates in your phone and auto-suggest those that might fit a typical 'event' - nicely done; (right) a multi-photo upload in progress....
Once the event is created, time to invite others (typically by email, though there's also a QR-coded URL system in the app, which will work well for some) - they'll need to download and install the Picturex app on their phone; (right) the default set-up is fair - 200 photos in total, per event, in low quality and with a watermark - which is where freemium comes in, of course.
The credits system allows you to remove restrictions, though the wording is confusing. Here I've activated the removal of the watermark, after which the 'Remove the watermark' system is 'Deactivated'. Eh? I'm confused....
Some possible uses for Picturex, according to the app's own intro screen; (right) at least buying credits is fairly inexpensive, though bear in mind that every single person you invite will need to grab some if they want to fully join in and download at full quality.
The generous beta test offer (at the moment) of 1000 credits means that we can all try this freemium app out, but hopefully some of the caveats above will be addressed by the developers in short order....
PS. See also the lengthy comment by the developer below!