Photo sharing site Flickr has announced a new update to its photo uploading functionality, which will be rolling out in the next few weeks.

 

The company explained on its blog that its new 'uploadr' uses advanced HTML 5 browser technology to bring users a completely new uploading experience on Flickr.

 

More specifically, users will be able to add photos by dragging and dropping them straight into the browser. Preview thumbnails will also enable users to manage and reorder photos before they reach one’s photostream.

 

The company continued that it had made adding titles, descriptions and tags easier. Additionally, the uploadr page will enable users to tag their friends and make any desired changes to licensing before one publishes the photos.

 

 

While all these developments are certainly welcome, the two developments that we are most looking forward to pertain to improved upload speeds, and bigger file sizes.

 

South African users will be gratified to hear that Flickr is predicting 50% to 60% faster upload speeds for its international users. Additionally, file size limits have been increased up to 50 MB for pro users and up to 30 MB for free users; no doubt welcome news for those of us who’s myriad of photos are in the region of 15 MB to 25 MB in size by default, and find it a nuisance having to resize and resave before uploading.

 

The file size increase makes a great deal of sense, when considering that the recent batch of full frame prosumer camera’s, such as the Canon’s EOS 5D Mark III and Nikon’s D800 naturally capture and save higher resolution (and thus larger) files. The uploadr is currently supported on Chrome 6, Safari 5 and Firefox 8 and up.