One of the most exciting Flickr developments in recent times, the Flickroom application allows desktop browsing of Flickr using the Adobe Air platform.

But this isn’t just another way of viewing Flickr…no, this is to Flickr what Tweetdeck is to Twitter. And its dark, neutral and pleasing appearance is very reminiscent of the Twitter desktop client. Take a look:

Ok, so what does it actually do? First of all, you authorize the app to access your Flickr account. Now you can browse your photostream, your groups, your sets…it is like being logged into the web interface only better presented (depending on your opinion – that’s mine). Across the top of the app are your main menu functions, including:

1. A button to view the most recent uploads of your Flickr contacts
2. A button to open the upload tool in Flickroom
3. A button to access the Flickroom chatroom – IN the app
4. A button to search Flickr – photos AND users
5. A button for the obligatory settings
6. A button to give feedback to the developers

There are a couple of things I want to focus on there.

The Upload Function

This is very, very clever. Easy to use, offers the full features that the Flickr web interface does and allows you to drag and drop onto the app rather than searching through your file structure. You can also add more than one pic at a time, though you can only edit details individually – a limitation of space more than anything else. Clever. As I said.

From there you can title your pic, give it a description, tag it, add it to a set and / or group and set its privacy level. All that before you hit upload.

Flickroom Uploader

The upload time is fast and you can view your new pics in your photostream by clicking the Reload link on the Photostream page.

The Flickroom Chatroom

This COULD prove to be one of the most useful tools offered by Flickroom. It’s certainly an interesting experience chatting with fellow users, learning how they use the app and what sort of things they find interesting on Flickr. It could be a brand new way of finding new users to follow that share the same interests as you. Right now I found it a little quiet and dominated by just a few users.

With the addition of rooms and more users – yes, it could be brilliant.

Browsing

The browsing experience in Flickroom is very good. Already connected to your groups through your account, the search function is strong and the app allows you to comment, favourite, add a note, save to your hard drive and even Tweet about the pic you are viewing.

You can control how much detail about the image is displayed ranging from a simply slideshow appearance to a sidebar with all the description, comments, tags, and EXIF data. From here you can also add the person who posted the pic as a contact.

If you’re looking for an aesthetically pleasing way of viewing Flickr on your desktop this is it – and it does compliment Tweetdeck in appearance, so if you are a style guru it’s ideal. Basically, you should never need to visit Flickr again. Except…if you want video. But you can bet the Flickroom team are working on that too.

Link: Flickroom

Have you been looking for a Flickr desktop app? Have you tried Flickroom? Do you know of any similar apps? Let me know in the comments.

You may have seen a post from last week regarding @alachia‘s Old Azeroth Flickr project. Well, I’ve been at it again, running around collecting screenshots and posting them up so we can preserve the sights of Azeroth before Deathwing destroys them all. Here’s a selection:

Check out the rest of the shots in the group and add your own: Old Azeroth Project

As you should know by now…I mean really, you should…Azeroth is soon to be changed forever with the ‘rebirth’ of Deathwing causing the Cataclysm.

It would be remiss of us ‘old schoolers’  if we let the current continents fade into memory. It is now everyone’s job to preserve Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms as they are now.

“How?” I hear you cry. Good question.

Thankfully, @alachia has had the foresight to create a Flickr group in which to keep screenshots of Azeroth as it stands today. So mount up, go travelling and snap some shots.

Upload them to Flickr and add them to the Old Azeroth group here.

Here’s just a couple of the ones I did so far: