SanDisk have released their high-speed Ultra Fit USB 3.0 Flash Drive that delivers exceptional performance in a tiny form factor. "As a leader in the flash storage space, our goal has always been to deliver the best, most reliable products," said Philippe Willams, director of product marketing, SanDisk. "While there are other USB 3.0 products on the market, SanDisk's Ultra Fit USB 3.0 Flash Drive offers consumers superior performance and impressive capacity in an extremely compact design." Available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities for $39.99, $69.99 and $109.99 respectively; the SanDisk Ultra Fit USB 3.0 Flash Drive provides up to 130MB/s read speeds, features SanDisk SecureAccess software to keep private files safe with password protection and 128-bit encryption, and includes a year’s subscription to RescuePRO software to recover lost or corrupted files.

Photo sharing company Forever has announced new pricing for its cloud storage service. The company is now offering 10 gigabytes of permanent sharable storage for a monthly fee of $4, with the 100GB option costing $11 per month. Beyond just sharable storage, these monthly subscriptions include toll-free telephone support, access to all Forever apps across multiple hardware and software platforms, ownership of a custom subdomain (usually based on the member’s name) and inclusion in the Forever Guarantee. Forever's monthly “subscription to own” packages are paid over 120 months. A 40% discount is offered to those who prefer to make an up-front, one-time payment.

The Konstruktor, a do-it-yourself 35mm film camera from Lomography, is now available with a PC sync terminal. "For flash photography, all you need to do is add the Konstruktor Flash Accessory Kit which includes a Hot-Shoe Adaptor for use with any hot shoe flash, PC to Fritz the Blitz Flash Adaptor Cable and a DIY Flash bracket plus a flash to your new hand crafted camera," the company says. The Lomography Konstruktor F camera is available for £33.00, with the Konstruktor F flash accesory kit costing £16.90.

From 4 September - 26 October 2014, the The Photographers' Gallery will be hosting Homegrown, the debut UK exhibition by celebrated American artist Julie Blackmon. Following her previously acclaimed series Domestic Vacations (2008), Homegrown(2009 - 2014) continues to explore Blackmon’s interest with both the harmony and disarray of everyday life. Informed by her personal experiences, Blackmon’s photographs are dominated by vibrant colours, graphic features and patterns. "The stress, chaos and need to simultaneously escape and connect are issues that I investigate in this body of work," Blackmon said. "Caught in a swirl of soccer practices, play dates and work we must still create the space to find ourselves. These issues as well as generational shifts in parenting styles are what I try and explore in these photographs." The gallery is located at 16-18 Ramilliers Street, London.

The mecablitz 64 AF-1 digital is the new, top-of-the-range flash unit from Metz, featuring a zoomable tilt-swivel head and a secondary flash tube for on-axis fill. The guide number is 64 in metres at ISO 100 at the 200mm flash head position (translating into a GN of 43 @ 50mm). Key highlights include a new large, auto-rotating, full-colour touchscreen; HSS, servo, automatic and TTL flash modes; 1st and 2nd-curtain synchronisation; a modelling light and a newly-developed motorised zoom mechanism that makes the mecablitz 64 AF-1 digital capable of properly illuminating focal lengths ranging from 24 to 200mm. The flash also incorporates a new RAPID function, enabling photographers to shorten recycle times in fast paced situations. The Canon and Nikon versions are already available for £375, with versions for Olympus/Panasonic/Leica, Pentax and Sony expected to hit the shelves after Photokina 2014.

The swivelCard is a new type of "smart" business card, which was developed with professional photographers in mind. Made of regular paper, this revolutionary card doubles as a USB drive when folded in a certain way, and provides a link to your online portfolio when inserted into a USB port on your computer. What's more, a nifty analytics system allows you to access helpful information about your cards and how they are being used through a back-end software interface. Plus, remote access to your swivelCard gives you many opportunities to continue interacting with the card's recipient. "With the back-end interface you'll be able to log in to your account and remotely make changes to the destination," the inventors say. "This can be done individually for each specific card." For more information, visit the project's Kickstarter page.

Professional Photographers of America (PPA) has announced the results of its international photographic competition. A panel of 45 eminent jurors from across the United States selected the top photographs from nearly 5,000 total entries from August 4-7 at Gwinnett Technical College in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Over 1,800 images were selected for the General Collection and 918 (roughly 18 percent) were selected for the esteemed Loan Collection — the best of the best. The Loan Collection images will all be published in the “Loan Collection” book and over 200 selected General Collection images will be published in the “Showcase” book by Marathon Press. To view full results of the contest, head to the website below.

PicStop has launched a new photographycompetition. The theme of the contest is “Cities” and each entrant may submit up to three photos, complete with titles and descriptions. Images must be in JPEG format and must not exceed 300 kilobytes in size. The deadline for entries is 3 October 2014. The first prize is a Thomas Cook City Break Travel Voucher worth £399. As always we suggest that you read the terms and conditions before entering your work.

Website: PicStop

The Leica Summicron-S 2/100 mm ASPH. is a fast short telephoto lens for the Leica S system. Designed for portrait, glamour and available-light photography, the Leica Summicron-S 2/100 mm ASPH. features 7 elements in 5 groups and a maximum aperture of f/2. The dust- and splashproof lens has a close-focus point of 70cm and weighs in at 910g. Available from mid-September, the Leica Summicron-S 2/100 mm ASPH. has an RRP of €6,500.

Via Photoscala

From Wednesday, 2 September until Sunday, 26 October 2014, the new flagship Foyles bookshop on Charing Cross Road will host a free exhibition of images by Guardian photographer David Levene. The Guardian’s pioneering Eyewitness series was revolutionary when it was introduced in full colour across the centre spread of the newspaper in 2005. Now the only daily print photo feature of this size in the British press, the hugely popular Eyewitness series continues showcase some of the world’s best news photography. Levene has had over 120 photographs featured in the daily slot, and has now chosen ten of his favourites for this exhibition. Each photograph has been blown up to over 1.5m across, allowing viewers to experience these images on a scale at which they have never been seen before. This will be the second exhibition in The Gallery at Foyles, located on the fifth floor of the new Foyles bookshop at 107 Charing Cross Road, and curated by Futurecity to celebrate ‘the word’ in all its forms.

The Adventure Travel Show, which features a number of travel photography seminars, takes place at London’s Olympia on 17- 18 January 2015. In addition to the photography seminars, an Adventure Travel Film Festival will be taking place on 17th January, showing a selection of excellent independent adventure travel films brought to you by Austin Vince and the Adventure Travel Film Festival. General show tickets cost £8 in advance or £10 on the door, under 16s are free. Weekend tickets are also available for £12 in advance or £15 on the door. For full details, talk timetables and to book tickets, visit the website below.

Sigma has released an update to its Sigma Photo Pro software package. Version 6.0.5 incorporates the following improvement and fixes:

• It has improved the image quality of long exposure photography, taken by the SIGMA dp2 Quattro.
• It has corrected the phenomenon that JPEG images developed from X3F files are neither properly displayed in the photo editing software nor successfully uploaded to SNS/websites.
• It has corrected the phenomenon that it resets the displayed position of thumbnails when the main window is updated after saving and deleting images.
• It has corrected the phenomenon that the print size in the print window occasionally goes back to the default settings.
• It has corrected the phenomenon that X3F files are not properly processed when the images are taken with the SD1 or Merrill series cameras and the color space is set at Adobe RGB.

Website: Sigma Global Vision

PhotoShelter has released a new, free guide titled "10 Branding Secrets for Photographers." Available as a PDF e-book, this publication will help photographers define and build a strong brand that will set them apart from the competition and attract the clients they want. Additionally, it offers ideas on communicating their photographic style and personality, determining what aspects of their business are unique and more. You can claim the e-book at the website below.

Website: PhotoShelter

Impossible has launched three new instant films. "Continuing its approach of ‘innovating’ the classic square white frame associated with Polaroid instant photography, Impossible has created these films especially for Summer adding their own darker twist; deadly snakes can be seen twisted around stems and moving through the tropical fauna," the company says. The Poison Paradise Special Edition Color for Polaroid 600 cameras includes Hibiscus – the darkest frame, using a black background to set off the oranges and reds of the flowers, Fuchsia – the warmest frame, using the purples and creams of the blooms to uplift the orange background, and finally Frangipani, the brightest frame, using a sky blue base to bring the South American flowers to life. These are the first Impossible instant films to have am ‘expiry date’ use by date printed on them, enabling users to know exactly how long they have with the film. Impossible Poison Paradise can be used in any Polaroid 600 type camera and the Impossible Instant Lab.

Apple has posted a Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update, which adds system-level support for raw image files generated by the Nikon Coolpix P340, Nikon 1 V3, Olympus OM-D E-M10, Olympu STYLUS 1, Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GH4, Sony A7S (pictured), Sony Alpha ILCE-5000, Sony Alpha ILCE-6000, Sony Alpha SLT-A77 II and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 III cameras. You can download the update from the website below.

Website: Apple

Photo Productions, a UK company that produces premium photobooks for the public and professional photographers, have just re-launched their website. Rebuilt from the ground up it's now much faster and easier to use, the company claims. There are more options, international delivery is built in, sample albums can be bought through the site, and there are now eight sizes of albums to choose from. The main albums start at £144 including professional design, printing and UK delivery. To celebrate the website re-launch, Photo Productions are offering free Premium Pocket Books with every 12x15" and 12x18" album.

Sigma has issued a firmware update for its dp2 Quattro large-sensor digital compact camera. According to the company, Version 1.01 incorporates the following fixes:

• It has corrected the phenomenon that details of subjects that have both similar color tones and contrast difference will be lost when images are recorded in JPEG format.
• It has reduced the longitudinal noise that appears occasionally when changing each adjustment value in the image correction process substantially during the development of RAW files in SIGMA Photo Pro Ver.6.

*Note: If your firmware has been updated to Ver.1.01 or later, it is not possible to develop RAW files in SIGMA Photo Pro released before Ver.6.0.5.. Please be sure to update it to SIGMA Photo Pro 6.0.5.

Website: Sigma Global Vision

7 SNAPS is a new, interactive iPhone app that combines social media, imagination and photography. The unique app challenges photographers, both amateur and professional, to use their imagination and interpret a presented word through the art of photography. Increasing their vocabulary and stretching their imagination, users are given a word a day, seven words a week. Photos can be uploaded and viewed by others, encouraging interaction between friends, old and new. All participants are allowed to vote on the best photo for each word, with just two weeks of voting time. The author of the app is currently seeking funds through Indiegogo to fully develop the idea and let individuals start SNAPPING. With a goal of $80,000 AUD and a campaign end date of 25 September 2014, the creator hopes to make the app available worldwide.

PhotoWhoa has released a free e-book featuring 10 interviews with 10 of the best portrait photographers in the world, "It’s a collection of images and conversation engaged with the art of portraiture, featuring photographers willing to examine what’s unknowable," says Freddy Martinez, Director of Business Development at PhotoWhoa. "From their honesty, you’ll learn that even the most accomplished photographers, those who have worked with the biggest names, still have doubts about their work and still struggle to improve. In their answers, you’ll discover steps to improving your own." Interested readers are encouraged to visit the website below and download the e-book, which is available for a limited time only.

Website: PhotoWhoa