A good new from Google. It has announced the availability of a piece of software designed to help users manage their digital photo collection, and for some reason they are giving it away for free.

Picasa 2 is built upon the original Picasa software, created by a company which Google bought out around six months ago. The original Picasa software wasn't free, but the new and improved software version is.

Picasa 2 offers more than just the ability to find and index digital images on a users hard drive. Basic photo manipulation tools are also available, with options such as red-eye removal and light editing also thrown in. Picasa 2 also lets users automatically post photos onto a blog and features integration with Gmail so users can send photos automatically. The software also lets users order prints online.

Google's motives for providing this software totally free are currently unclear. Presumably the fact it can integrate with other Google systems is one part of this, as users will start to see Google as more than just a search engine. However this doesn't automatically mean they will generate revenue.

It is of course possible that Google are trying to expand away from their more traditional markets. Rumours abounded a while ago that Google were intending on launching an internet browser, although so far nothing has come of this. On the other hand, Google do seem to launch a lot of tools seemingly for the good of the end user, although these do often happen to provide a channel for their adwords system.

We will have to wait and see what in what direction the search engine giant is trying to go. Reassuringly their company motto is "Don't Be Evil", so there is some hope that this is not a bid for world domination. Still, a world run by Google may not be too bad. At least we'd be able to find information.