NTi has announced the immediate availability of NTi Backup Now 5.5, the newest version of its backup and recovery software for Windows, including Windows 7, office and home networks, desktop and notebook PCs. NTi Backup Now v5.5 offers a host of new support and convenience features as well as backup performance enhancements. The program comes in two editions, Standard and Advanced, with the Advanced edition being able tow backup all available PCs in a network. All editions of Backup Now v5.5 also offer individual file/folder backup to virtually any system-attached drives, including USB flash, mobile storage devices, internal and external hard drives, NAS devices, and more. The Standard and Advanced Editions of NTi Backup Now v5.5 are available from authorized NTi resellers worldwide as well as major online retailers with suggested retail prices of $29.99 (Standard) to $79.99 (Advanced). Version 5.5 is a free upgrade for existing version 5.x users.

Ohanaware announced the immediate availability of their new HDR Photography software “HDRtist” for the Macintosh platform.  HDRtist is easy to use HDR software that creates HDR photos and tone maps them in a single step. An intuitive design makes it simple to choose from our 4 different tone mapping techniques.  To celebrate the launch of HDRtist, Ohanaware is offering 20% off its Mac OS X photo editing software “Funtastic Photos”. HDRtist is available today as freeware, requiring only a Power Macintosh G5 or Intel based Macintosh computer, running Mac OS X v 10.4 or later. The Funtastic Photos promotion is available from today, throughout the month of October 2009. 20% off reduces the price of a single user licence from $34.99 down to $27.99.

Acronis released today their first backup and recovery software optimised for netbooks’ screen size and unique hardware configuration. Acronis True Image Home 2010 Netbook Edition delivers the patented disk-imaging technology and bare metal restore technologies of the Acronis True Image family combined with an option for online backup. From its intuitive graphical interface, users can back up their entire disk locally and to any attached device. One-Click Protection and powerful scheduler allows users to simply create and automate regular backups. Acronis® True Image Home Netbook Edition supports Microsoft Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP Home and XP Professional operating systems and requires a minimum screen resolution of 1024x600. The new software supports netbooks that use Intel’s Atom 230, 330, N270, N280, Z500, Z510, Z520, Z530, and Z540 chips or the VIA C7-M chip. Acronis True Image Home 2010 Netbook Edition, priced at £23.95, can be downloaded at the website below.

Website: Acronis True Image Home 2010 Netbook Edition

Topaz Labs have announced the release of Topaz ReMask, a fast and highly efficient Photoshop plug-in for masking and cutting out digital images. Masking and cutting out image elements are very common tasks among photographers and graphic designers, but the process is generally repetitive and slow, especially when it comes to intricate details like hair and fur. Topaz ReMask’s advanced technology operates by using a tri-map, or user-generated mask-map, made up of three tones: white, black and gray. Users are able to quickly define the elements in their image that they want to keep using white; elements they want to get rid of using black; and elements that they want ReMask to figure out using gray. Topaz ReMask is available for a 30-day free trial, with the full version being priced at $69.99.

Website: Topaz ReMask

ACD Systems International Inc. today unveiled ACDSee Pro 3, a new version of their popular photo management software that introduces new image processing and publishing capabilities. The beta version of ACDSee Pro 3 has been available to interested photographers for awhile, but today marks the release of the full version. ACDSee Pro 3 provides photographers with the capability to manage digital assets to their own specifications using both folders and metadata. New additions allow users to distribute their creative work effortlessly through SMTP-enabled e-mail applications such as Gmail and Yahoo! Mail Plus. In view mode, images can be seen in full size at “unparalleled” speeds. Finally, ACDSee Pro 3’s new process mode integrates nondestructive image editing and precise pixel-level editing into one seamless application. ACDSee Pro 3 is available for a free 30-day trial and for purchase at $169.99 by visiting www.acdsee.com. Registered owners of ACDSee Pro, Pro 2 and Pro 2.5 are eligible to upgrade for less than $90. Purchasing a licence of ACDSee Pro 3 also gives you access to a 2GB account on the ACDSee Online Web site.

VSO Software has just released VSO Seam Carving, a freeware program offering the seam carving resizing method to shrink or enlarge an image while the important features stay unaffected. This smart “content aware” resizing technology optimizes the resizing of full pictures to a new resolution, by keeping the full content without distorting, stretching or removing part of the image. The program also allows users to remove an object or a person from a photo very easily and without any knowledge of Photoshop, the company claims. VSO Seam Carving will be also implemented in the forthcoming VSO Image Resizer 3.0. Click through / read on to learn where you can download the program.

Magix has announced the release of MAGIX Xtreme Photo & Graphic Designer 5. New features include intelligent scaling, templates for practical online presentations, fun photo caricatures, fast optimisation, non-destructive red-eye correction, support for new raw formats, improved montage and collages, and wizards for cutting out objects, quickly cropping multiple photos, and uncomplicated creation of fullscreen pictures. MAGIX Xtreme Photo & Graphic Designer 5 is available now for SRP £49.99 from all major UK retailers and online partners including Amazon and PC World.

Engelmann Media GmbH has released a new program called Photomizer, which offers fully automated intelligent image optimisation. Sub-optimal exposures are adjusted, colours corrected and shadows are lightened up. The program recognises the important parts of a subject and uses its intelligence to lighten up and optimise faces for example. Allegedly, only those parts and attributes of a photo are changed that actually require editing, whereas the others are left alone. System requirements are Windows XP/Vista/7 and minimum of 1 GB RAM. Multi-core CPUs are supported. The software is available at an introductory price of €29.99.

Website: Photomizer

Following a year of ‘critical success’ on the iPhone, Nevercenter released its popular vintage photo app CameraBag for the Mac. “The response to CameraBag on the iPhone has been phenomenal, including top reviews and features by Apple, Macworld, PC Magazine, Gizmodo, and The New York Times,” said Nevercenter President Tom Plewe. CameraBag for Mac features high-quality adaptive photo filters, which bring the “magic” of analog film processing to digital photos by recreating signature looks from popular classic cameras and film techniques. CameraBag for Mac is available through the Nevercenter website for $19.

Website: Nevercenter

Along with the release of Adobe Photoshop Elements 8, Adobe also unveiled version 8 of its cosumer-oriented video editing software, Premiere Elements. The new version offers automated “smart” options that take the work out of video editing, easy-to-apply professional-quality effects, and a new Organiser to manage all media in one convenient location. Some of the intelligent features include SmartFix, which ensures that every clip looks its best by automatically fixing shaky footage and colour and lighting problems, Smart Trim, which identifies and helps users get rid of the least interesting, lowest-quality footage; and SmartMix, which seamlessly balances audio elements to give videos professional-quality sound throughout. Adobe Premiere Elements 8 is available for £65.93, excluding VAT.

Pearl Mountain Software has released Standard and Pro editions of Picture Collage Maker v. 2.0, a simple-to-use Windows program that turns ordinary photos into collages, scrapbooks, invitations, calendars or greeting cards. Version 2.0 introduces the new Pro version, with the ability to make multi-page collages. The Pro version also includes dozens of additional greeting card, calendar, and all-purpose templates, more than 50 new fonts, and nearly 500 additional collage resources such as frames, masks, and clipart. Other new features in version 2.0 include adding a layer thumb-view bar to make it easier to adjust layers, the ability to add a calender to any photo collage, and a new grid collage wizard for quickly making, say, a 4x4 (or any number) image collage. Picture Collage Maker v. 2.0 runs under Windows 98/Me/NT4/2000/XP/2003-Server/Vista, costs $29.90 for a personal license, and may be purchased online at the website below.

Website:  Picture Collage Software

The multimedia specialist MAGIX presents its new ‘Video easy’ software as “probably the world’s easiest video editing program.” During development it was important to help users overcome their fears and clear obstacles out of the way. Without any detours or distractions, the software achieves your required goal. However Video easy still inludes elegant user navigation and the latest technologies: MAGIX Video easy accepts AVCHD camcorder videos without a glitch, the company claims. This program comes not only with eye-catching menu templates for DVDs, but also with the function for publishing directly on YouTube. MAGIX is currently offering a deal on its Video easy and PC Check & Tuning 2010 programs, which can now be purchased in a bundle for £39.99 + shipping.

Website: Video easy

Building on the popularity of their beginner trainings, Nik Software has decided to offer advanced users a number of pro webinar specials. These are presented by internationally known photographers and digital artist that give you their personal tips ‘n’ tricks live and direct. On November 3rd, for example, the successful photographer and popular speaker Robin Preston will show you advanced techniques for increasing the quality of your pictures, e.g. by changing the whole look into the 40s Pin-Up style or the current look of commercial photography, and much more. If interested, you can sign up at the website below.

Website: Nik Software

KelbyTraining LIVE has announced the addition of a brand new seminar tour for the Adobe Creative Suite – Adobe Creative Suite 4 Unleashed! – to its line up of live, one-day, regional photography and Adobe Photoshop seminar tours. Featuring National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) and Adobe Certified Instructors Dave Cross and Rafael “RC” Concepcion, the first Adobe Creative Suite 4 Unleashed! seminar debuts in Miami on Oct. 7 at the Miami Beach Convention Center. Attendees will learn how to streamline their workflow with the powerful integration features of Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Flash, and Acrobat. The entire full day of training is $49, or $39 for NAPP members, and includes a free Adobe CS4 Suite Integration DVD by Dave Cross. Registrations are taken online at KelbyTraining LIVE, or calling 800-201-7323, Monday-Friday, 8:30am to 7:00pm.

Cognitec Systems Corporation, a company which develops, markets and deploys well-established and market-leading face recognition software to global customers and government agencies, today announced it will deploy its face recognition technology in Adobe’s consumer digital imaging and digital video editing software. The collaborative effort will focus on the Adobe Photoshop Elements and Adobe Premiere Elements products. Cognitec and Adobe believe that the pairing of their combined technologies in a consumer product environment should greatly enhance the functionality of Adobe Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements software and address the growing consumer demand for improved face-matching or finding capabilities within the market.

Google has released version 3.5 of Picasa, its free image editing application for Windows and Mac. The new version has name tags and uses the same technology that powers name tags on Picasa Web Albums. Picasa 3.5 also features face detection, a technology it uses “to create groups of similar faces”. Finally, Picasa 3.5 also has integrated Google Maps to make geotagging even easier. Now you can add location info to photos—one photo at a time or several photos at once.

Website: The Official Google Photos Blog

Adobe have just released Photoshop Elements 8 for Mac and Windows. Photoshop Elements 8 for Mac complements iPhoto and now includes all of the intelligent photo-editing options as the Windows version. Windows users of Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 can easily manage media and find photo and video clips even faster than before with the enhanced Organizer. The new Auto-Analyzer automatically analyses and tags media so users can quickly find the most interesting and highest quality content and People Recognition identifies people in photos, becoming more intelligent over time, as it learns to associate names and faces. With Adobe Photomerge Exposure, users can simply merge multiple shots of the same scene, with and without a flash, together to create a perfectly lit photo that shows every detail. And for even more creative possibilities, Windows users in the US have the option to purchase Plus. Additional benefits include 20GB of storage for automatic online backup and sharing, as well as regular deliveries of tutorials, tips and tricks, seasonal artwork and interactive online templates sent directly to the desktop software. Photos and videos can also be accessed anywhere with an Internet connection at Photoshop.com. Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 costs $99.99 with the Windows version being available now and the Mac version coming in October 2009. Plus is available to Windows customers in the US only, for $49.99/year.

Shortcut Software has announced the availability of Silkypix Developer Studio 4.0. While Silkypix is produced by a Japanese company called Ichikawa Soft Laboratory, the international distribution of the program has been managed for the past two years by Shortcut Software, which is headquartered in the US. Features new to version 4.0 include watermarking, editing of IPTC properties, history management, multi-CPU support, printer profiles and options, and more. Batch processing, shortcut keys and the cropping control panel have been improved. Silkypix Developer Studio 4.0 is available now for $149.

GigaTribe announced today the availability of GigaTribe Version 3 free file sharing software - a solution for online social communities to securely share unlimited amounts of photos, videos, music, and other files with their “tribe” of friends, in a private, fully-encrypted peer-to-peer environment. Version 3 offers the following features for online communities: GigaTribe’s interface can be branded with the online community’s logo and colours, communities can push their messages through a news page that is displayed each time GigaTribe is launched, GigaTribe users can get a list of all the community members who are also using the customised version of GigaTribe, an ‘Add Contact’ button will provide search features restricted to community members only, while large communities will receive special discounts on licenses of GigaTribe’s “Ultimate” version, with more advanced features. GigaTribe version 3 “basic” is available for free, while GigaTribe version 3 “Ultimate” is priced at $4.99/month or $29.95 a year.

Website: Gigatribe

Acronis has launched Acronis True Image Home 2010, the latest version of its consumer backup and recovery software. Taking a full backup image with Acronis True Image Home 2010 prior to moving to Windows 7 provides the ability to quickly and easily recover the entire PC, including the operating system, applications, updates and files, if a roll back is necessary.The new Acronis Nonstop Backup feature offers users total system and data protection through automatic, incremental backups, allowing complete roll back to any point in time. According to Acronis, users can have complete confidence that their entire computer – photos, music, email, and family data as well as operating system, applications, and settings – are protected around the clock. Acronis True Image Home 2010 is available for download at www.acronis.co.uk and is also available through major retailers. Recommended retail price is £39.95.