Facebook, is rolling out some marked improvements to its Photos product which include hi-res photos, photo-download links, bulk tagging options and a nice lightbox interface for viewing images throughout the site. The lightbox is a similar features that Flickr rolled out recently which have, in the past, prevented Facebook from competing in the photo-sharing realm. Starting today and rolling out across the board soon, you will be able to upload and download hi-res photos up to 2048 pixels wide or high — that’s large enough for print-quality images. (Much bigger than the current 720 pixels.) Each photo will come with a link to download the JPEG file, as well.

The site’s new bulk tagging options will allow the uploading individual to temporarily group images and tag friends by simply clicking on thumbnails.

Another interesting change is Facebooks lightbox which puts the main focus on the images by creating a darker background box and simple navigation as the picture shows below. This will be activated by clicking on any image through out the Facebook page (Album, News Feed or on friend’s Wall).

As you can see that ads are also appearing in the lightbox which although not great we do understand that hosting hi-res photos costs more and will attract a lot more usage  / more strain on Facebook’s servers.

What do you think about these changes? Do you think Facebook that already dominates the social market, and competes now with Google on advertising is about to stand and take on the photo world? 500 Millions users suggest so….

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