BiteMyApple has released Nova, a wireless off-camera flash for the Apple iPhone. Nova is a separate piece that pairs to your phone via Bluetooth. "Simply connect to the free Nova app, point, and shoot," the company says. Nova boasts 40 points of light diffused behind a white panel, yet weighs only an ounce. The flash is now available for $59.99 at the website below.

Alien Skin Software has just released Exposure 6, the latest version of its flagship photography effects software. “With Exposure 6, not only have we worked to enhance the rich feature set available to photographers, but also to streamline the software to help them focus on creating extraordinary images faster than ever,” said Alien Skin CEO, Finley Lee. “It’s about understanding a user’s workflow and helping photographers realize their artistic vision as quickly and easily as possible”. Exposure 6 can be used as a plug-in with popular host software or as a stand-alone program for even greater flexibility. The application is available for $149. Owners of any version of Exposure may upgrade for $69. Free upgrades will be automatically sent to everyone who purchased Exposure 5 directly from Alien Skin Software in March 2014 or later.

IP Guard, a service website for photographers, has added USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) copyrighting services to its proactive suite of protection services that include proprietary right-click tracking, 24/7/365 image monitoring, as well as DMCA Take down notices and other service s and tools specific to tracking, protecting and acting on authorised image alterations and usage. IP Guard uses proprietary technology to capture a digital “fingerprint” of those who try to download photos and images online without permission, and specialised staff monitor for illegal use of images around the clock. With the addition of USPTO copyright registration, photographers have greater intellectual property protection, giving them full legal recourse for recovery of their stolen and misused images and much greater chance of fair compensation, the company says.

AMS Software has announced a major upgrade to its SmartSHOW 3D slideshow app. Version 4.0 features a variety of new slide effects, a convenient start-up wizard, ready-to-use slideshow themes, dozens of new transitions and more. Slideshows made with SmartSHOW 3D can be burned to DVDs or exported to 30+ video formats. Compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8; SmartSHOW 3D comes in two versions: Standard ($39.90) and Deluxe ($59.50).

Panasonic UK has announced three Lumix G promotions. The company is offering consumers a free battery grip and Leica DG SUMMILUX 25mm / F1.4 fixed focal length lens when they purchase a Panasonic GH3 compact system camera (pictured). Those buying a G6 or GX7 can pick up a Lumix G Vario 45-150 mm telephoto lens for free. And for photographers looking to purchase a GM1, Panasonic is offering a £100/€120 cashback and stylish free leather case. The free products and cashback are all claimed via consumer redemption to Panasonic from 10th June - 31st August 2014.

The year 2014 marks the 25th anniversary of Canon's EOS-1 series. The company's first professional EOS single-lens reflect camera, the Canon EOS-1, was introduced in 1989 - two years after the launch of the EOS system itself. Created to meet the advanced demands of professional photographers, the EOS-1 boasted cutting-edge technologies, class-leading levels of performance, new levels of ergonomics, high durability and reliability, and marked the inaugural model of Canon’s EOS-1 series. Subsequent milestones included the launch of the EOS-1N in 1994, the release of the EOS-1N RS with its fixed pellicle mirror, 6ms shutter lag and 10fps burst mode in 1995, the introduction of the EOS-1V in 2000, the release of the digital EOS-1D in 2001, and the launch of the full-frame EOS-1Ds in 2002. Canon’s current flagship professional digital SLR camera, the EOS-1D X (pictured), was brought to market in June 2012, and marked the EOS-1 series’ 13th model.

Lytro has published full specifications for its Illum light-field camera. Back in April, when the Lytro Illum was announced, only the headline specs were released, including a 40-megaray light field sensor, 8x optical zoom lens (30mm-250mm equivalent) with a constant aperture of f/2, 1/4000 of a second high-speed shutter, articulating touchscreen and a flash hotshoe. Now Lytro has published a detailed spec sheet that includes data on sensor format, crop factor, native resolution, maximum reproduction ratio, shutter type, and much more, Click through / scroll down for the details.

BBC Wildlife Magazine has issued the final call for entries for its 2014 Camera-trap Photo of the Year competition. This year’s awards fall into two areas: Camera-trap Research Project of the Year and Camera-trap Photo of the Year. A maximum of 12 camera-trap images can be entered into one of the competition categories. Open exclusively to research projects using camera-trap technology, the winners of one of these three categories will be eligible for the overall award of Camera-Trap Research Project of the Year, with a prize of £3,000. The closing date for entries is 30 June 2014.

AKVIS has released version 3.5 of its MakeUp application for MacOS and Windows. This update adds a Share button, which allows you to quickly post images from the program to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr and Google+, fixes some bugs and promises improved raw file processing. Registered customers can upgrade to version 3.5 for free.

The Lomographic Society has launched a free LomoMag app for iPad. The app will regularly release free issues via a push notification. Each issue will feature a LomoGallery and an array of articles grouped under LomoFocus, LomoPlaces, LomoTechnique and more. The LomoMag app is now available on iTunes.

Schneider Kreuznach reports that the Schneider Group's consolidated sales reached 71.8 million euros in 2013, down approximately 7.9% compared to the previous year. "This was mainly due to the negative performance of the market for compact cameras," the company said in a statement. On the other hand, Jos. Schneider Optische Werke GmbH in Bad Kreuznach itself contributed 44.3 million euros to the Group’s sales and delivered positive results," says Dr. Josef Staub, CEO of the Schneider Group. “We are in the middle of a transitional and restructuring process. High demand for our full-frame lenses for videos with DSLR cameras shows that we are on the right track.” In future, the company intends to focus even more on high-quality photographic lenses. In particular, Schneider Kreuznach plans to expand its range of “Xenon FF-Prime” full-frame lenses for video shooting with DSLR cameras to seven lenses by autumn 2014.

The 14th Annual Review Santa Fe Photo Festival, a juried portfolio review conference for photographers, is taking place from 27-28 June 2014. Every year, 100 photographers travel from all over the world for this internationally-renowned event where photographers meet with top publishers, editors, curators, gallerists and others. Many now well-recognised photographers launched their careers at Review Santa Fe. Participants will arrive from 26 U.S. states and 13 countries, including Israel, Belgium, Ireland, Japan, Finland, Columbia, China, Germany, UK and Italy.Additionally, over 40 leading photo professionals will serve as reviewers at the event to seek out new talent. There are several events free and open to the public surrounding Review Santa Fe including a portfolio review, artist presentations and exhibitions. Click through / scroll down for the details.

AppCam have issued a statement regarding what they call a "surprising resemblance" of the Leica T's graphical user interface (GUI) and operating system to the AppCam OS-II. "The only major difference is that the values ​​are set by tapping on the display on the Leica T," the company says (AppCam uses dials and soft buttons instead). "The use of camera apps and their free configuration - like the apps on a smartphone - equates otherwise more or less exactly to our system." AppCam's Jürgen Habenstein claims they had presented their system approximately two and a half years ago to Leica's product manager, Stefan Daniel, at the former company headquarters in Solms but eventually, the German company refused any form of cooperation. Despite this, AppCam do not explicitly allege that Leica stole their idea. "We are really looking forward [to] the great success of the Leica T, because it contributes to mak[ing] the benefits of camera apps known worldwide," Habenstein says. "Camera apps are the future."

At this year's Cine Gear Expo, G-Technology is demonstrating new storage solutions, including the new G-RAID with removable drives, and the award-winning Studio Line and Evolution Series with the new G-DRIVE ev 220 external storage module. Taking place today and tomorrow at The Studios at Paramount, Los Angeles, is the premier film, video, and digital media expo for the entertainment industry. G-Technolgoy's demonstrations are held in Booth # S 315A on Stage 32.

The Royal Photographic Society (RPS) has announced a series of bursaries to support both young and established photographers and film makers in realising photography projects. These include the RPS Society Events Bursary, the Joan Wakelin Bursary, the Shoer Film Award, the Postgraduate Bursary and two Environmental Awareness bursaries. “The RPS bursaries are designed to help photographers to realise projects that would not happen otherwise, says Michael Pritchard, Director General of The  Royal Photographic Society. "Past recipients have gone on to establish a career in photography and have acknowledged the importance of the support of the RPS. We look forward to this year’s recipients producing some great and important work."

Brian Griffith has released Iridient Developer 2.4.1 for Mac OS X. This update includes hot and dead pixel filters, and adds support for the Sony: DSC-RX100 III. Additionally, the monochrome channel mixer conversion controls now have a "preserve luminosity" option to make interactive editing of channel mixer blends easier; and the Open dialogue box now has raw sizing options for using common fixed aspect ratios when loading raw images. JPEG export speed has also been improved along with various other bug fixes and improvements. This release is a paid upgrade for users who originally purchased a license prior to 1 November 2012.

National Geographic and Manfrotto have launched six new camera bags to refresh their Africa collection. The bags have been designed to look more fashionable retaining quality and practicality. The inner parts have been designed with great care and attention to detail further improving the protection of cameras. Each bag is ergonomically designed to facilitate comfort and utility, providing photographers a safe, easy way to extract the camera quickly without the risk of missing the moment. The new models include a midi sachet, tote bag, sling-bag and backpack/sling-bags, as well as medium and small backpacks. Prices start at £79.95.