Animoto, a company that makes an app facilitating users' creation of online slide shows, announced Monday a new iteration of their app for iOS. The Animoto app creates animated slide shows of users' pictures and videos for easy online posting.

New features of the app for this most recent update include previewing videos before publication, sharingvideos via text message, new style templates, and the ability to add text to videos. Also, users are able to view videos within the Animoto app, as well as on Animoto.com.

Animoto's patented video editing/production tech is called Cinemtatic Artifical Intelligence, and purports to use "think like an actual director and editor, using the same sophisticated post-production skills and techniques that are used in television and film," according to their website.

Honestly speaking, going by the demo, the television shows on which Animoto has modeled these production values are of the Hallmark Move of the Week variety.

Maybe you're into soft lighting and "inspirational music," but I personally don't think it adds much. Then again, this is a free service, and it's possible that the paid version of the software is slightly more sophisticated...

The older version of Animoto gets a pretty positive review from Appolicious, Yahoo's app review site, though it complains a bit about the lack of selection in their music catalog. I remain slightly more unconvinced as to users' need for this software, or why photo/video arrays in any of the many social networking sites wouldn't work just as well.

Animoto operates on a freemium plan, where the service is free for 30-second videos of up to 12 pictures per video. Users can upgrade to Animoto Plus, for $4.99 per month or $29.99 per year, to create longer videos with the editing software.

Founded in 2006, with offices in both New York and San Francisco, Animoto has recieved $30 million in funding so far, from such high-profile investors as Amazon and SoftTech VC, among others.