Adobe releases Carousel app for Mac, iOS

Apple's recently released Photo Stream feature for Mac OS X and iOS already has some competition. Adobe has released its Carousel app and service for Mac and iOS, and from the initial buzz about Carousel, it might be a formidable competitor to Photo Stream and iPhoto.

The Mac and iOS apps are free, but since your photos are stored in the cloud, you will need to purchase a subscription for the app. You can use the full version of Adobe Carousel at no cost for 30 days, after which you'll need to spend $5.99 per month or $59.99 per year. That's the introductory cost -- if you sign up after the introductory period (we don't know when that will end, by the way), the price goes to $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year.

The subscription lets you upload any of your photos to a library in the cloud, where it can be instantly viewed on your iPad, iPhone or Mac. Apps for Windows and Android are forthcoming from Adobe as well, although no date has been set for their release. Once you've created your library, you can crop, rotate, adjust exposure, and make corrections to the photos from any of your devices. There are also "Looks" or themes that may be applied to your photos to create a certain mood.

In fact, you can change your images as many times as you like without worry, as the original photo is maintained without changes in perpetuity. Once you've made your changes, you can share the photos by inviting friends and family to look them via the app, and others can even add photos to your library. Sharing to Facebook, Twitter, and Tumbler can also be done with a tap or click.

It does not appear that Adobe Carousel supports RAW format -- at this time, a release note says that you can "import, edit, and share all your JPEGs, the most common file format for photos." Your photos don't have to stay in the cloud; at any time you can download them for use in other apps or services.

TUAW will have a full review of the apps in the near future. In the meantime, be sure to watch the video below to get an idea of what the Carousel team intended the app to do, and how they've accomplished their goals.