WD has announced the availability of the My Passport Ultra line of portable hard drives. Available in 500 GB, 1TB and new 2TB capacities, My Passport Ultra portable hard drives have built-in WD SmartWare Pro backup software with Dropbox integration, hardware encryption and password protection to safeguard against unauthorized drive access. My Passport Ultra portable hard drives offer USB 3.0 SuperSpeed connectivity and are available from WD's online store and at select retailers and distributors. My Passport Ultra 500 GB has an MSRP of $99.99 USD, and the My Passport Ultra 1TB is $129.99. My Passport Ultra 2 TB will be available in the third quarter of 2013.

Want to see exactly what the new Carl Zeiss Touit Planar 32mm f1.8 lens looks like in the flesh?

Check out our hands-on gallery of photos of the Carl Zeiss Touit Planar 32mm f1.8 lens, a high-quality standard prime for Sony NEX and Fujifilm X-series cameras.

Want to see exactly what the new Carl Zeiss Touit Planar 12mm f2.8 lens looks like in the flesh?

Check out our hands-on gallery of photos of the Carl Zeiss Touit Planar 12mm f2.8 lens, a high-quality ultra-wide-angle prime for Sony NEX and Fujifilm X-series cameras.

Warsaw-based documentary photographer Jan Brykczyński has tonight, Wednesday 15 May, been announced as the winner of the Syngenta Photography Award Professional Commission at a ceremony at Somerset House, London. In addition to the $15,000 prize money, Brykczyński will receive a grant of up to $25,000 to complete a commission, a central part of the professional competition. “Farming Tribes” will explore the relationship between human beings and nature in four of the world’s major urban spaces – New York, Yerevan, Warsaw and Nairobi. Mimi Mollica (Italy), announced as the second place winner for the Professional Commission, was awarded US$ 10,000, and Pablo Lopez Luz (Mexico) received US$ 5,000 in third place. Holly Lynton (USA) was announced as winner of the Open Competition for “Sienna, Turkey Madonna”, in which a farm worker embraces four turkeys that are to be slaughtered for Thanksgiving on an independent farm in the small town of Shutesbury, Massachusetts.

ExpoImaging has announced the US availability of the Rogue FlashBender XL Pro Lighting Kit. The kit includes a FlashBender XL Pro white reflector, an XL Pro Strip box diffuser, an XL Soft Box diffuser and a reversible XL Pro silver/black reflector. The Rogue XL Pro Lighting Kit is available to buy now, at a guide retail price of $99.95.

proDAD has announced that its ProDrenalin software is now available to purchase. This all-in-one software application allows GoPro action/sports camera users to improve their videos by removing fisheye and perspective distortion, stabilising, correcting rolling-shutter distortion, de-noising, colour correction, and adjusting the brightness and contrast of the video. Supporting 2.7K and 4K resolutions, the program is also capable of rotating the video if the camera was accidentally mounted upside-down or at the wrong angle. ProDrenalin for Windows sells for £29.85..

The Tiffen Photo fx Ultra 5.0 iPad app has been named "Best Mobile Photo App of 2013" by the Technical Image Press Association (TIPA). "We are extremely proud to be honored by TIPA for Photo fx Ultra," comments Steve Tiffen, President and CEO, The Tiffen Company. "Unlike other awards that require a submission process, eligibility is based purely on a product's value in the marketplace, making the TIPA Awards one of the most coveted in the industry." The award-winning app is available for $4.99 through the iTunes App Store.

Corbis Images have launched Corbis CRAVE, a premium photo viewing iPad app and accompanying website. Basically, Corbis CRAVE is a digital boutique featuring expertly curated imagery from industry-leading commercial and editorial photographers. “Corbis CRAVE provides creative directors and art buyers a search and ideation experience tailored to their unique and specific needs whether they’re accessing the collection on their iPad or through the website,” said Edie Tobias, senior vice president of commercial products at Corbis. The CRAVE app is available as a free download from the iTunes App Store.

Four Nikon products have won accolades in this year's TIPA awards. The Technical Image Press Association has given the prize for ‘Best Advanced DSLR’ to the Nikon D7100 (pictured), ‘Best Easy Compact Camera’ to the Nikon Coolpix S01, ‘Best Superzoom Camera’ to the Nikon Coolpix P520 and the ‘Best CSC Entry Level Lens’ to the Nikon 1 Nikkor 11-27.5mm f/3.5-5.6 ED-IF. Marina Gurevich, Product Manager at Nikon Europe says: “We are very proud that the Nikon D7100 has followed the success of its predecessor, which took the same prize in 2011."

DxO Labs have released version 8.1.6 of DxO Optics Pro. This update adds support for the Leica M (in the Elite edition only), the Canon EOS 700D / Rebel T5i (pictured), the Nikon Coolpix A, the Nikon Coolpix P330, the Pentax MX-1, and the Sony NEX-3N. This upgrade is free for all owners of DxO Optics Pro 8, as well as for photographers who purchased a DxO Optics Pro 7 license on or after 1 September 2012.

Yesterday, less than a month after halting shipments of its OpticFilm 120 multi-format film scanner, Plustek USA issued a statement saying it has resumed shipping of the device. "Recently we discovered a component used in the manufacture of the OpticFilm 120 does not meet our quality standards," the company said in a statement issued back in April. Now Plustek are saying that they "will control scanner production to maintain a high level of product quality and customer satisfaction. Each scanner is assembled and tested by skilled technician[s] to ensure the image quality exceeds that of any non-drum film scanner in production or use today." 

Polaroid is expanding its line of mountable hi-definition action video cameras with an affordable Full HD model called the Polaroid XS80. Capable of recording 1080p movies at 30fps, the Polaroid XS80 is waterproof to a depth of 30 feet and boasts a lens with an ultrawide 120-degree angle of view. Available now, the Polaroid XS80 carries an SRP of $129.99.

HTC has launched ‘Inside Street Football,’ a new exhibition designed to capture the passion and spirit of street football. Captured by an esteemed roster of Getty Images photographers, all of the photos on display were taken with the new HTC One camera phone. The exhibition will be hosted at Top Office Machines, 133-135 Bethnal Green Road, London - a gallery located in a former computer repair shop - from Friday, 24th of May to Tuesday, 28th of May. The images can also be viewed at an online gallery at the website below (also from 24th May).

Digital Negative, an iOS app which captures uncompressed images that retain all of the information recorded by the camera sensor and saves them in DNG format, is now available in a dedicated iPad version. In addition to DNG, the Digital Negative HD app can also record high-quality JPG images or uncompressed TIFF files. Other interesting features include a real-time histogram, exposure compensation and shutter speed adjustments as well as flash, focus, and zoom controls. Digital Negative HD is available on iTunes for $2.99.

Panasonic has posted a firmware update for its Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm f/2,8 ASPH. lens. Version 1.2 improves the performance of the optical image stabiliser during video capture. For more information, visit the website below.

Website: Panasonic Japan

Rollei has launched a new monopod and a multi-functional tripod. The Rollei Fotopro DIGI MP1 monopod weighs just 220 grams and offers a maximum load capacity of 1.5kg. The height of the monopod is easy to adjust between 47cm and 139.5cm. Available in green, grey, blue, orange, red and black; the DIGI MP1 carries an RRP of €39.95. The Rollei Fotopro DIGI 9300 is a fully-fledged tripod weighing in at 1,290 grams, and has a working height adjustable between 48cm and 150cm. The tripod holds system cameras and camcorders up to a weight of 3 kg. The Rollei Fotopro DIGI 9300 tripod is available in grey, black, red, green, orange and blue at a price of €59.95.

Manfrotto has rolled out its new Befree tripod, which was designed for photographers who love to travel. Thanks to the tripod's unique folding mechanism, the legs fold perfectly around the head and quick-release plate attachment into a closed position, where it is only 40cm in length. The tripod’s lightweight aluminium construction makes it especially easy to carry, weighing 1.4kg, less than the average laptop. The Manfrotto Befree also comes with a dedicated shoulder bag, protecting it from any accidental damage, while also making it more portable for traveling and convenient to store in luggage. Offering a maximum load capacity of 4kg and a maximum height of 144cm, the Befree tripod comes with an aluminium ball head and 200PL-14 quick-release plate, and sells for £174.95.