Google puts photos on the Web (http://news.com.com/2100-1032_3-6083503.html?part=rss&tag=6083503&subj=news) -- CNet News.com, 2006-06-13
Picasa Web Album initially will be available only to a limited number of Gmail users at http://picasaweb.google.com, said Adrian Graham, a product manager at Picasa. Picasa, technology Google acquired in 2004, is free downloadable software that lets people find and edit photos on a desktop computer and send them to others from a Gmail account or publish them on a blog.

Picasa Web Album is designed to let people easily upload and store their photos on the Web. Uploaded albums can be public and available to anyone who knows the Gmail account under which they're listed, or private ("unlisted") and available only by way of a special link Picasa users can send to whomever they wish. "All users need to do is select the photos they want to share and click on a button and the photos are online," Graham said. When you go to http://picasaweb.google.com you'll be asked to enter your Google account name. I did and was immediately given access to Picasa Web Album. However, it is noted that there are a "limited number" of Picasa accounts available, so if you're interested you should do it right away.

I plan on using this to put up photos from our recent cruise, and then my very large archive of Disneyland pictures. I had been fighting with Gallery2 (http://gallery.menalto.com/) without success for some time and this is just going to be so much easier.

When you go to http://picasaweb.google.com you'll be asked to enter your Google account name. I did and was immediately given access to Picasa Web Album. However, it is noted that there are a "limited number" of Picasa accounts available, so if you're interested you should do it right away.

I did that just a few minutes after you made your post, and it gave me a page that said:

We've received your request and will notify you when the service becomes available.

I was hoping that perhaps that wasn't an actual rejection and that an invite would be coming by email shortly. But it's been some time now and no email. :(

It could be that the initial supply of accounts has been exhausted, in which case I would expect you should get a notification when more are made available--either by Google through direct sign-up, or perhaps on a Gmail-like invitation basis.

I had gotten the same response as Opus a couple of days ago, and today I received an invite.

I had gotten the same response as Opus a couple of days ago, and today I received an invite.

Yep. Just checked my Gmail and there it was. :)

Thanks!