Ecce Terram publishes Photo2lab Online Client Version 2

Ecce Terram launches its new software just a few weeks after Adobe’s announcement to abandon its Flash player for mobile platforms. Version 2 of the Photo2Lab Client covers the complete range of photo products – from prints, posters, and canvas right through to photo gifts and personal print products such as photobooks, postcards, and photo calendars. It is is based on an award winning software architecture ("PMA Retailer Hot Pick 2010"), and optimized to support HTML5, the next-generation open web standard that is currently rapidly reshaping the way content and services are presented online.

"For large retail chains and photo service providers, the launch of our new Photo2Lab Online Client sends a clear message," says Frank Simon, President and CEO of Ecce Terram USA: "They will be able to offer the full range of modern photo products and mobile ease-of-use that todays customers demand. Due to Ecce Terram’s strong commitment to HTML5, they will also be able to avoid the costly burden that comes with outdated or highly proprietary mobile technology platforms."

By 2013, the customer base for photo services and products will have gone mobile, predicts Simon, pointing to recent industry surveys. With the launch of the new Photo2Lab Online Client, Ecce Terram joins the ranks of companies – the largest include Apple, Google and Facebook – who see HTML5 as the technology platform that will dominate the way online media are used and interacted with, for years to come.

According to Ecce Terram, recent surveys indicate that 2012 will be year where worldwide sales of smartphones and tablet computers will surpass those of desktop and notebook computers. "You don’t want to bet your company’s photo business on developer solutions that support outdated, or esoteric proprietary platforms," says Simon. "If you do that – within 18 months, you are likely to reach less than 50 percent of the online users your company should reach."

The rapid recent shift in the online and mobile technology field has many large providers of photo processing and product services, like drug store chains and large electronic retailers, worried about how to protect their existing investments, while being still able to develop new product lines. Industry analysts familiar with the photo services market like Frank Baillargeon, founder and president of F/22 Consulting, agree with Ecce Terram’s assessment: that the safest and most cost-efficient solutions will have to include full support for the HTML5 standard.

"HTML5 will make it far easier for photo retailers and their service providers to develop and deploy critical cross-platform mobile applications," says Baillargeon, whose Eagle, Idaho-based firm provides market research and consulting services to the photo industry.

According to Baillargeon, the combination of quality image capture and immediate access to satisfying photo product shopping experiences on mobile devices "can and should represent massive revenue growth opportunities for retailers."