WD’s My Passport Essential portable USB hard drive is now available in 10 fresh new colours. My Passport Essential Drives are simple to use, light and easy to carry, and require no power adapter. “Our striking new color selection gives our customers an opportunity to express their unique style, while securely storing and carrying the massive amounts of rich content generated by higher resolution cameras, HD videos and music,” said Jim Welsh, vice president and general manager of WD’s branded products and consumer electronics groups.  The price of the WD Passport Essential USB Drive with 320 GB is $179.99 USD, 250 GB capacity is $149.99 USD, and 160 GB is $119.99 USD.

The Sun Online is offering 100 digital photo prints for just £2. The Sun has partnered with CeWe Color, Europe’s biggest photo company, and their full range of services is also available at The Sun Online website. Select the pictures you want to see in print from your computer and your pictures will be posted back to you in three working days. The offer end date is 22nd April 2008.

Ricoh have released a new firmware update, version 2.01, for the GR Digital II compact digital camera. Version 2.01 improves the exposure at multi-shot with using recommended flash from Sigma (EF-530 DG SUPER / EF-530 DG ST).

Website: Ricoh GR Digital II Firmware Update 2.01

Viewsonic have introduced 10 customizable digital photo frames that offer a stylish and affordable gift for mothers, starting at $139. The 7-, 8- and 10-inch photo frames feature stylish, interchangeable bezels allowing consumers to customize the frame to their home decor. “The digital age has become ubiquitous, but people still want a way to display their content in the ‘old fashioned’ way,” said Steve Woo, vice president and general manager of VTV Consumer Electronics Products Division, ViewSonic Americas. “ViewSonic brings its award winning heritage in high-quality display technology to this category, making these frames an obvious, affordable choice for gift giving this spring.” The ViewSonic frames are currently available with estimated street prices of $139 for the 7-inch, $149 for the 8-inch and 10-inch models starting at $179.

Flickr pro members can now upload personal video clips and share them with friends, family and the world. The new video uploading feature will support up to 90 seconds of personal video footage, and members can organize and share videos just like they do photos. “Video on Flickr is an extension of what Flickr is already doing with more than 2 billion photos worldwide – providing a place where people capture and share life’s daily moments,” said Kakul Srivastava, general manager of Flickr at Yahoo!. “Digital media has led to a new behavior emerging in the market and people are much more likely to shoot short video clips, essentially “long photos,” with their digital still cameras and mobile phones.”

Adobe TV is a free online video resource for expert instruction and inspiration about Adobe products. Adobe TV features four channels, each targeting a specific audience: Photographers, Designers, Video Professionals, and Developers. “Adobe TV is the online video source for anyone with wants to see how Adobe tools are being used to create stunning work,” said Bob Donlon, executive producer for Adobe TV. “It brings together experts from Adobe and the creative community to inspire and teach how to get the most from the software that is empowering the delivery of high-impact print, online, video and mobile communications.” Adobe TV is immediately available online at http://tv.adobe.com .

onOne Software’s Plug-in Suite 4 for Adobe Photoshop combines full versions of six essential software tools. Available in early May Plug-in Suite 4 includes Genuine Fractals 5 Print Pro, PhotoTools 1.0 Professional Edition, PhotoFrame 3.1 Professional Edition, Mask Pro 4.1, PhotoTune 2.2 and FocalPoint 1.0. “We are pleased to be able to offer this affordable full suite of onOne Software products to the photographic and graphic arts communities,” said Craig Keudell, president of onOne Software. “Plug-in Suite 4 contains all the tools needed to quickly and easily improve workflow and overall image quality at a tremendous savings.” The new Plug-In Suite 4 will be available in early May to new users for $499.95 – a savings of $799.75 if purchased separately.

HP Upline a new subscription service to back up, access, share and store digital content over any Internet connection. A limited plan of HP Upline is available to anyone in the United States at no cost for one year. “With increasingly more personal and business content being housed on PCs, the easy-to-use and affordable HP Upline service protects and shares everything from memories in digital photos to critical business documents,” said Ulf Claesson, vice president and general manager, Personal Systems Group, HP.

Celebrity photographer Rankin has tested the Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III in an exclusive UEFA EURO 2008 shoot for Canon. “What you’re hoping for with any new Canon camera is that it will be even better than the one before – and the EOS-1Ds Mark III has achieved that: the resolution is higher; the operation is much simpler.” Rankin commented. To watch Rankin in action with the EOS-1Ds Mark III visit http://www.canon-europe.com/rankin/

The third edition of the free PhotographyBB Online Magazine has just been published. This edition of PhotographyBB features more Photoshop Tutorials, thought provoking articles, and an interview with an experienced HDR (High Dynamic Range) photographer. PhotographyBB Online Magazine is available for free download in either PDF or ZIP formats.

Nikon have just released a firmware update for the Nikon D40 entry level DSLR camera. The following issue has been resolved in version 1.11.

Shooting times were not always accurately recorded within the image data for images captured in bursts of continuous shooting.

Website: Nikon D40 Firmware Update 1.11 (Windows)

Website: Nikon D40 Firmware Update 1.11 (Mac)

The HP 2133 Mini-Note PC is a new full-function, mini-notebook PC priced starting under $500. Taking on the popular Asus Eee, the Mini Note features a large 8.9-inch diagonal WXGA display, full QWERTY keyboard, anodized aluminum shell, Wi-Fi, and weighs around 2.5 pounds. The HP 2133 Mini-Note PC starts at $499 and will be available later this month.

Tamron Photo Workshops are hands-on, in the classroom and in-the-field photo workshops led by professional photographers. Don Gale, Terry Livingstone, Dave Maynard, Jim Shadle, Roy Toft, and Les Voorhis are some of the photographers involved for 2008. Each weekend event, which is limited to 30 participants, includes a Friday evening photo seminar and a full day Saturday workshop in the field, and admission fees and transportation where applicable. The $179 per person cost includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and/or snacks, and other surprise giveaways.

Ray Flash: The Ring Flash Adapter is a portable and lightweight adapter for a hot-shoe flash unit which creates ring light lighting effects. The Ray Flash a virtually shadowless look on the front of the subject, while leaving a soft, even shadow around the edges. “Lightweight and portable, the Ray Flash is the only product of its kind. It’s a great accessory tool for your strobe because it enables the photographer to easily achieve a high fashion, studio portrait look while on location.” said Erik Sowder, president of ExpoImaging, Inc. Current models of the Ray Flash are designed to fit the Canon 580EX (MKI & MKII) and Nikon SB800 flash units and retails for $299.

The new Samsung TruDirect SE-S204S DVD Burner allows consumers to create DVDs and burn digital content through a PC without the need for a hard drive. The SE-S204S provides easy and fast real-time recording from nearly any digital device, including camcorders, digital cameras and Web cams. Compared to using a hard disk drive, the Samsung SE-S204S dramatically cuts down on the time it takes to create DVDs. The TruDirect SE-S204S is shipping now in the UK for £69.00.

Nikon is sponsoring the 9th FINA World Swimming Championships, with Nikon D3 DSLR cameras recording the event. During the five-day competition, over 750 of the world’s best swimmers will be competing, with Kaiwai Tang and David Ashdown in attendance pool-side as Nikon’s official photographers. “Nikon UK is very pleased to be associated with such a prestigious event. Its global credentials and exciting action will attract a lot of interest from some of the world’s best photographers – so it’s only right that we’ll be there, championing the world’s best camera equipment.” commented Simon Coleman, General Manager Imaging Division, Nikon UK.

Colour Confidence is hosting a series of one-day digital photography seminars across the UK in association with renowned photographer John Clements. ‘Digital Photography in a Day’ will offer photographers the chance to see various techniques in action. “The Digital Photography in a Day concept was developed in response to customer feedback, and we are convinced these events offer something unique for photographers of all levels”, comments Javan Bramhall, Marketing Manager of Colour Confidence. “The flexible structure of the seminars allows both established professionals and newcomers to the industry to benefit.” A series of seminars at locations across the country will take place throughout May and June, with tickets available from £40 ex. VAT for a half-day or £65 ex. VAT for a full day.

Canon have released a new firmware update, version 1.0.8, for the Canon EOS 40D digital SLR camera. This firmware update incorporates the following improvements and fixes.

  1. Fixes a phenomenon in which Image Stabilization operation emits a sound when certain buttons are pressed, with the EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS lens attached to the camera.
  When pressing the shutter button halfway down or pressing the AF-ON button, the IS operation sound is normal. (This phenomenon will not affect the durability of IS unit parts)

  2. Fixes a phenomenon in which the Image Stabilization operation emits a sound from the lens when IS lenses are attached to the camera.

  3. Fixes a phenomenon in which a part of the image looks unnatural when reviewed on the LCD.
  Depending on the color of the background, the edges of some objects in the image may appear to have a jagged edge and look unnatural. (Even if the image played back on the camera’s LCD is affected by this phenomenon, the actual image data is not affected.)

  4. Corrects errors in the Spanish and Norwegian menu screens.
  Spanish: In the metering timer setting of the Live View Function setting, the units for 10 and 30 minutes are in singular form “minuto”; they have been corrected to “minutos”.
  Norwegian: Picture Style was described as “Bildetype”; it has been corrected to “Bildestil”.

Website: Canon EOS 40D Firmware Update 1.0.8

Sigma will be releasing a new firmware update for the DP1 compact camera on 11th April, plus a new version of SigmaPhoto Pro. The new firmware version, 1.01, will offer the following improvements:

- The grid display mode for picture taking is added to the LCD monitor.(It cannot be used in MF mode and movie mode).
- Improved stability of the camera’s operation.
- Coloring at the corners of the image generated under a specific condition of the DP1’s RAW image has been improved.

Website: Sigma DP1 Firmware Update 1.01

Panasonic have a wide and varied range of digital compact cameras, so it would be easy to overlook the rather unassuming Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ10. That would be a real shame, however, as thie LZ10 has a surprising number of attractive features that make it well-suited to beginners and more experienced photographers alike. 10 megapixels, a 5x, 30-150mm Leica zoom lens, optical image stabilizer and 2.5 inch LCD screen top the specifications list. The new Intelligent Auto mode caters for complete beginners, whilst Aperture-priority, Shutter-priority and full Manual modes will instanly pique the interest of any serious photographer. Best of all, this rare combination of features is available for less than £175 / $225, making the Panasonic LZ10 something of a bargain as well. Mark Goldstein discovered if the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ10 could be one of the sleeper hits of 2008…

Website: Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ10 Review