With 400 million users, Facebook is seeing 2.5 billion photos uploaded every month. Scrapblog, a startup that allows you to make beautiful Flash-based online scrapbooks, is hoping to help Facebook users make pretty collages of their photos via a new Facebook app,Share the Love.

When you first start using Share the Love, the app will employ Scrapblog’s recently launched QuickMix technology to instantly generate a photo collage with up to ten Facebook photos. The photos will be automatically arranged with a set theme, which you can change easily (Valentines themes appear to be set at the moment). Similar to Scrapblog’s online site, the app offers users coordinated stickers, backgrounds and captions. And users can easily change photos from the photos they are tagged in and from their personal albums. You can also bypass Scrapblog’s technology and start from scratch by picking a theme and choosing the photos to feature. Once you are finished designing your collage, you can publish the scrapbook to your Facebook page and photo albums.

Scrapblog is monetizing the app by offering premium content, which you can purchase through Scrapblog credits. On their first visit, new users are granted 100 credits to spend in Scrapblog’s Share the Love Marketplace, which features stickers, backgrounds and text. You can buy credits through a credit card or PayPal. And users can earn extra credits for free if they use mobile payment platform BOKU’s system. Additionally, users can earn credits by simple using the application and creating collages. The startup is also trying its hand at creating a gaming atmosphere with the app by employing a points system. By using the application and sharing collages, you can unlock various levels of the app. Each level promised exclusive content, such as premium stickers and backgrounds, with which users can customize their photo collages.

It’s wise for Scrapblog to begin to leverage the power of Facebook photos; especially considering that the startup provides a compelling technology to users. Of course, Facebook just rolled out their own slideshow feature and there are other Facebook apps, such as Photo Books, that allow users to create scrapbooks and collages from their photos.

Scrapblog, which recently brought on Jill Braff as CEO, just raised $2.5 million in series B funding from Disney’s Steamboat Ventures, bringing the startup’s total funding to $10 million. The company was first introduced back in 2006, briefly went offline, and relaunched in March 2007. The site has grown to over 2 million registered users who have created over 4.4 million Scrapblog pages.

It’s official: Google has just announced Google Buzz, its newest push into the social media foray. This confirms earlier reports of Gmail integrating a social status feature.

On stage revealing the new product was Bradley Horowitz, Google’s vice president for product management. While introducing the product, Mr. Horowitz focused on the human penchant for sharing experiences and the social media phenomenon of wanting to share it in real time. These two key themes were core philosophies behind Google Buzz.

“It’s becoming harder and harder to find signal in the noise,” Bradley stated before introducing the product manager for Google Buzz, Todd Jackson.

Here are the details:

Google Buzz: The Details

Mr. Jackson introduced “a new way to communicate within Gmail.” It’s “an entire new world within Gmail.” Then he introduced the five key features that define Google Buzz

• Key feature #1: Auto-following
• Key feature #2: Rich, fast sharing experience
• Key feature #3: Public and private sharing
• Key feature #4: Inbox integration
• Key feature #5: Just the good stuff

• Google then began the demo. Once you log into Gmail, you’ll be greeted wiht a splash page introducing Google Buzz.
• There is a tab right under the inbox, labeled “Buzz”
• It provides links to websites, content from around the web. Picasa, Twitter, Flickr and other sites are aggregated.
• It shows thumbnails when linked to photos from sites like Picasa and Flickr. Clicking on an image will blow up the images to almost the entire browser, making them easier to see.
• It uses the same keyboard shortcuts as Gmail. This makes sense. Hitting “R” allows you to comment/reply to a buzz post, for example.
• There are public and private settings for different posts. You can post updates to specific contact groups. This is a lot like Facebook friend lists.
• Google wants to make sure you don’t miss comments, so it has a system to send you an e-mail letting you know about updates. However, the e-mail will actually show you the Buzz you’ve created and all of the comments and images associated with it.
• Comments update in real time.

• @replies are supported, just like Twitter. If you @reply someone, it will send a buzz toward an individual’s inbox.
• Google Buzz has a “recommended” feature that will show buzzes from people you don’t follow if your friends are sharing or commenting on that person’s buzz. You can remove it or change this in settings.
• Google is now speaking about using algorithms to help filter conversations, as well as mobile devices related to Buzz.

The Mobile Aspect

• Google buzz will be accessible via mobile in three ways: from Google Mobile’s website, from Buzz.Google.com (iPhone and Android), and from Google Mobile Maps.
• Buzz knows wher you are. It will figure out what building you are and ask you if it’s right.
• Buzz has voice recognition and posts it right onto your buzz in real-time. It also geotags your buzz posts.
• Place pages integrate Buzz.
• In the mobile interface, you can click “nearby” and see what people are saying nearby. NIFTY, if I say so myself.
• You can layer Google Maps with Buzz. You can also associate pictures with buzz within Google Maps.
• Conversation bubbles will appear on your Google Maps. They are geotagged buzz posts, which lets you see what people are saying nearby.
• They just showed off a video for Buzz.