The HP Photosmart A526 compact printer can make a 4x6 inch photo in as fast as 39 seconds. The HP A526 features a 2.4 inch color LCD display, angled for comfortable viewing, plus a a foldup paper tray and convenient built-in handle. Available in September 2007 in North America, the HP Photosmart A526 will cost $99.

HP is spending $300 Million on a global marketing campaign to help promote the company’s Print 2.0 strategy. HP have also introduced HP Scitex X2 printhead technology, the company’s first piezoelectric printhead. HP has formed new alliances with Flickr, Windows® Live Spaces and Yahoo! to enable easier web printing. Finally, HP has unveiled a series of new consumer printers – including the industry’s first touchscreen on a compact photo printer – and a variety of unique photo books.

The XShot is a hand-held, monopod-like product that allows you to take a self-portrait photo when no one else is around. “People no longer have to rely on extending their arm or passing strangers to take their pictures,” Michael Daoud, co-founder of XShot, LLC, said. The XShot extends over three feet and is made of high-quality stainless steel.

The Casio EX-V8 and Casio EX-Z1080 digital cameras both feature a special YouTube scene mode. The EX-V8 offers a a 7x optical zoom and 8.1 megapixels, whilst the EX-Z1080 has a high ISO 6400 sensitivity and 10.1 megapixels.  Both new models incorporate the EXILIM Engine 2.0 high-performance image processing, which allows high quality movies to be recorded at the high compression rate of the next-generation H.264 standard. Price and availability of the Casio EX-V8 and Casio EX-Z1080 to be announced.

The Ricoh R7 is an 8.1 megapixel compact digital camera with a 7.1x wide zoom lens (28-200mm). The new R7 model replaces the previous R6 (which was only launched on March 23, 2007), adding an extra megapixel and the Smooth Imaging Engine III processing engine. This engine promises reduced noise levels at higher ISOs, at least according to Ricoh. The Ricoh R7 will be available in three colours - Silver, Black and Orange - in September 2007 at £199.99 inc vat.

gettyimages.com has been fully redesigned and re-engineered, including Catalyst, a first-of-its-kind search tool that uses interactive tag clouds. Also, for the first time, customers can access Creative, Editorial and Footage content through a single site. “It’s great to see Getty Images has kept bland and boring away from the new site,” said Mike Lyons, Senior Art Director at global creative agency Element 79. “The search experience has been brilliantly optimized to save time and spark bold, unexpected ideas.” The new gettyimages.com is available in nine languages.

The Wolverine ESP portable multimedia player with a storage capacity of 250GB is now shipping. The Wolverine ESP 250Gb features a 3.6-inch TFT LCD display and the ability to store and view 125,000 digital photos. Support for RAW files from many cameras is also offered. The Wolverine ESP 250Gb can be purchased online and at leading retailers for an estimated street price of less than $650.

The SanDisk 8Gb Cruzer Micro USB drive doubles the largest capacity of previously available Cruzer Micros. 1,600 ultra-high-resolution digital pictures can be stored on the SanDisk 8Gb Cruzer Micro. “Now, you don’t have to decide what files to put on a Cruzer Micro. You can load the drive with virtually everything you might need when you’re away from your primary computer.” said Ittai Golde, senior director of product marketing for the USB Division of SanDisk. The new SanDisk 8Gb Cruzer Micro will be available worldwide in mid-September, with a suggested retail price in the United States of $129.99.

Square Group and Apple are hosting two free seminars in London, UK to help you get the best out of your images. The free of charge events take place at Square Group’s Showroom in New Oxford Street on Friday 31st August and Saturday 1st September. The latest Intel powered Apple computers, Aperture 1.5, and Wacom’s pro range of graphics tablets will be demonstrated.

The new JOBO Photo Display PDJ701 and PDJ700 digital picture frames both feature a 7” high-resolution LCD display. The JOBO digital picture frames feature an Acrylic frame design and modern metal trim, and can store from 1,000 to up to 10,000 images. Both the PDJ701 and PDJ700 models feature an 800x480 pixel resolution with a contrast ratio of 400:1 and a brightness of 230 cd/m². The JOBO Photo Displays are available for $179.00 (PDJ701) and $159.00 (PDJ700) respectively.

CNET have reviewed the 8.1 megapixel Casio EX-S880 camera, which features enhanced movie functionality and a YouTube Best Shot scene mode.

“Usually, newer versions of cameras offer noticeable upgrades, such as more-advanced processors, higher-resolution sensors, and more features. Sometimes, though, this “next big thing” turns out to actually be worse than what came before it. Casio’s Exilim EX-S880 joins this group, falling short of the standard set by the EX-S770.”

Website: CNET - Casio EX-S880 Review

Steves Digicams have just reviewed the 7.2 megapixel Casio EX-Z77 camera, which features a special YouTube mode that saves movies at the optimum size, quality and other settings.

“A new addition to this model, as with most new digicams these days, is face detection. It will recognize one or many faces in a group shot, however, Casio has taken this technology one step further, by adding face recognition priority. The camera can store and prioritize faces of family members, allowing the camera to concentrate on specific faces if mixed into a group. A great feature if you are often in a group setting.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Casio EX-Z77 Review

X-Rite has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Pantone, Inc. for $180 million. Expected to close in the fall of 2007, the deal will see Pantone will become a new business unit within X-Rite. “We have proven expertise in integrating sizable, strategic acquisitions into our business,” Vacchiano continued. “We are confident that we can successfully blend the Pantone integration with our existing responsibilities as we evolve into a faster growing, more diverse business.” Last year X-Rite acquired GretagMacbeth in a $280 million deal.

UK magazine Amateur Photographer are reporting that Pentax may be about to ditch their 645 medium format digital camera. A very tentative release date of sometime in 2007 was suggested when the Pentax 645 Digital camera was last seen as a prototype at PMA 2007 back in March. Now Pentax has commented that “‘The medium format digital SLR is no longer a priority for Pentax.’”, according to Amateur Photographer’s article, casting doubt on whether or not it will actually ever see the light of day.

Website: Amateur Photographer

The new ATP 300X ProMax II compact flash memory cards features a 45MB/sec transfer speed rating. ATP’s new range supports UDMA (Ultra Direct Memory Access) mode, optimizing write transfer speeds for high resolution continuous shooting. The ATP 300X ProMax II CompactFlash cards are fully backwards compatible and available in 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB capacities. ATP are also introducing the ProMax USB2.0 UDMA card reader.

Ricoh have released a firmware update, v1.43, for the Ricoh R6 camera. It includes the following change:

Modified that a zoom position value displayed in the LCD when you turn a camera after you have registered Macro and Step zoom in a My Setting.

Website: Ricoh R6 v1.43 Firmware Update

The Plustek OpticFilm 7300 is a high-resolution film scanner capable of scanning 35mm slides and negatives. The Plustek 7300 model offers a high optical 7200dpi resolution and features Plustek’s new multi-exposure function for negative film. The Plustek OpticFilm 7300 is priced at £145 excluding VAT, available from Jessops in the UK.

Sports photographer Rick Maiman is providing a behind-the-scenes look at photographing the 2007 US Open Tennis Championships on the ‘Look Who’s Using Kingston’ website. “As a photographer, you need to keep in mind that you can’t produce Pulitzer Prize-winning pictures everyday,” said Maiman. “You have to value your work and care about it more passionately than anyone else.” Images captured by Maiman at this year’s US Open Championship, held August 27-September 9, will be uploaded to Kingston’s microsite.

The Tamron AF18-250mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II LD Aspherical IF Macro lens has won the European Consumer Lens of the Year EISA Award. “This is a do-it-all lens many DSLR users will never need to take off their cameras. The extreme (almost 14X) zoom ratio delivers the ultimate freedom for composition and framing.” commented the EISA Jury. Tamron’s 18-250mm lens offers a zoom ratio of 13.9X covering a 28mm wide-angle to 388mm ultra telephoto focal length.

On the latest Inside Digital Photo online radio show, Adobe present their vision for the future of digital imaging. Kevin Connor, Senior Director of Product Management for Adobe’s Professional Digital Imaging Group, explains Adobe’s vision and synergy behind both PhotoShop and Lightroom with some workflow tips from the perspective of how the applications were developed to work closely together. He shares some tips, including using the “targeted adjustment” tool in Lightroom. Kevin also discusses how keeping in touch with their customers and beta testers helps them develop the features they include in the latest versions. Hear how other markets, including medical imaging, influence future application features.

Website: Inside Digital Photo - Kevin Connor Interview