Google has just made a big photo buy—it has acquired Nik Software, a.k.a the company behind iOS app Snapseed and other image software. It's a big boost to Google's picture editing capabilities, though Facebook and Instagram are probably not freaking out so much as definitely listening to this news.


Snapseed isn't nearly as popular as Instagram, but people use the two apps similarly, and now Google has something in its arsenal it an use to take on the Facebook/Instagram cartel as well as Apple's cadre of photo editing offerings. And if anyone cares, it might mean image editing is coming to the Google+ app. Snapseed, which was Apple's 2011 iPad App of the Year, isn't going anywhere—in fact, the first order of business will be to finally get a Snapseed Android app in Google Play. Let's just hope Google doesn't have any plans to screw it up. [Nik Software via The Verge]