We just released version 1.2.1 of our freeware iMedia Browser. This update fixes a number of issues that were a result of changes in Snow Leopard — most notably, it solves a problem with display of the "back of the window" where licensing information and display settings are found. It also adds two new localizations: Brazilian Portuguese, contributed by Paulo Neto, and Russian, contributed by Alexandr Slavyshensky.
We thought we'd use this post as a chance to give everybody a sneak peek at the next major update to iMedia Browser. (Since the core functionality of the browser is the open-source iMedia Browser framework, it's not like development can proceed in secret!)
Peter Baumgartner, lead developer of FotoMagico, has been doing the heavy lifting of rewriting the framework from the ground up. This new version is much more responsive than the current release, because it loads its data "lazily" as needed. The new architecture also allows for asynchronous loading, which means that data sources that take a moment to load (such as over a network) can now be used. Case in point: new to iMedia 2 will be a Flickr module, in which Flickr-based photos can be quickly previewed and dragged out in full size, as well as an Image Capture module, allowing you to plug in a digital camera and drag out images from its memory card. Other enhancements to the project include a new "combo view" of lists (a vertically scrolling list with a thumbnail and additional information) and much faster thumbnail display.
iMedia 2 is still a few months away from release, with developers from a number of companies contributing, but it is progressing quite nicely! Of course we welcome other developers to get involved in its development (and incorporating the framework directly into their applications), so developers please stop by the Google Code page for iMedia.