Rollei’s new Designline digital photo frames double as E-book readers, and offer extended functionality including music and video playback. The Designline 3106 (€149.95) has a 10.4-inch screen and features Wi-Fi connectivity for e-mailing pictures and listening to Internet radio stations. A particularly convenient feature is the special battery docking station, which also doubles as the frame’s stand. The ultra-slim frame offers a resolution of 800x600 pixels.The Rollei Designline 3085 (also €149.95, pictured) offers the same resolution on a 8-inch screen, and comes equipped with stereo loudspeakers and touch-key controls. The portable Designline 3086 (again €149.95) has a similar display and closely resembles an E-book reader. This portable picture frame plays slide shows in different speeds and with ten different picture transition effects. Last but not least the Rollei Designline 3080 (€69.95) is a stylish black frame with an 8-inch display that has a battery which lasts for up to five hours.

The SD Association announced today it has defined a new, dual-row pin memory card design achieving bus interface speeds of up to 300 megabytes per second for SDXC and SDHC devices and memory cards. New high speed interface signals will be assigned on the second row of pins of select SDXC and SDHC memory cards offering the new speed. This option will be available in both full-size and micro form factors and does not change the physical size or shape of the cards. This design will be part of the forthcoming SD 4.0 specification, expected in early 2011.

The Royal Photographic Society (RPS) is celebrating the centenary of infrared imaging with a small international exhibition of infrared photographs and thermograms. Running from 1st through 28th October, ‘Infrared 100’ represents the work of photographers including renowned artists Abe Frajndlich, Elliott Landy and Simon Marsden, as well as Society members including Tim Rudman, Clive Haynes and Alan Lewis. The opening hours are 9.30am – 4.30pm, Monday to Friday; admission is free.

Canon will be present at IBC 2010 with a larger, redesigned stand and a range of professional imaging products. Canon has invested in a 220m² stand and additional space in the Production Village area. The stand highlights will include the newly launched XF100 camcorder, the EOS 7D and the XEED HD Theatre. The HD theatre will present showreel footage from Canon products, with projections in both 2D and 3D. Additionally, Canon will also display a 3D shooting rig using two newly-announced XF105 camcorders. IBC 2010 will take place in Amsterdam from 9th to 14th September.

Website: IBC

Carl Zeiss now offers photographers special accessories including UV filters and polarisers tailored to the high-quality Zeiss SLR lenses and a special camera strap with air cell padding for SLR cameras. Available in sizes ranging from 58mm to 82mm, the filters feature Zeiss’ T* multi-coating which minimises light reflections on the glass-air surfaces and improves transmission. Prices have not yet been revealed.

Today Corel Corporation released a new photo-editing software collection called Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 Ultimate. The new edition includes the recently updated PaintShop Photo Pro X3 along with a selection of complementary software. These include: Incomedia WebSite X5 Special Edition, web creation software that makes it easy to design, create and publish your website in just 5 steps; Corel KPT Collection photo-effects filters; and Corel Painter Essentials 4 for sketching, drawing and photo-painting. This special-value package has a suggested retail price of £79.

Getty Images has completed its sixth annual photojournalism grants programme by announcing the names of those who have been selected to receive the grants. The winners include working photojournalists Stefano De Luigi, Miquel Dewever-Plana, Edwin Koo, Darcy Padilla and Jerome Sessini, while the student awardees are Bryan Anselm, Julie Glassberg, Julia Marie Rendleman and Paris Visone. Each of the five photojournalists will receive $20,000, while each of the four student winners will be awarded $5000. Aidan Sullivan, vice president of photo assignments, Getty Images, commented, “I am delighted that our editorial photography grants programme continues to empower photojournalists and enable them to bring these important visual essays to the world’s attention. This year’s judging panel carefully considered the 260 applications and proposals we received from professional photojournalists, along with the 48 student proposals, from around the world and we are thrilled with the winners selected for 2010, whose projects deal with a range of compelling and complex issues.”

Tamron USA has announced an End of Summer Super Rebate programme valid on purchases made through 10 October 2010. The lenses included in this programme are the Tamron AF18-270mm Di-II VC, AF18-200mm Di-II, AF28-300mm Di, SP AF17-50mm F/2.8 VC, SP AF10-24mm and SP AF60mm f/2 1:1 Macro (pictured). The rebate is $100 on each lens except for the Tamron AF28-300mm Di. In addition to this special offer, Tamron offers rebates that are valid through 31 December 2010 on several other lenses. For the complete list, see Tamron’s press release after the break.

Website: Tamron Rebate Form

Corel Corporation today unveiled a home and student version of its award-winning flagship product, CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5. This software suite includes CorelDRAW X5, Corel Photo-Paint X5, Corel PowerTRACE, Corel Capture, Corel Connect and PhotoZoom Pro 2. Priced at £99, CorelDRAW Home & Student Suite X5 can be installed on up to 3 computers per household. Boxed versions are available at leading retailers throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The new Ezybox Speed-Lite from Lastolite is a 22cm x 22cm mini softbox which attaches directly onto a flashgun. Featuring removable inner and outer diffusion layers, the Ezybox Speed-Lite delivers what the manufacturer calls “unrivalled softness of light from such a small softbox”. The Ezybox Speed-Lite is available now priced at £50.

“Above Scotland: Cities” is a new book containing aerial photographs of Scotland’s six cities from the 1920s to the present. Published by The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), the book is authored by Rebecca M. Bailey, James Crawford and Allan Williams. “From the air, you can read a city and work out puzzles of its development that can be confusing at ground level,” Crawford said: “Rooftops become like geological layers, architectural timelines of social, economic and political history.” Including a 3D viewer for a set of never-before published three dimensional photographs, the book will come out on 1st October 2010 at a price of £25.

The new Benro Quick Lock tripods are now available in the UK. Kenro, the official UK distributor for Benro tripods, introduced this new range of accessories in May this year with the launch of the Travel Angel Series, this was followed by the FlexPod Series in July. Quick Locks are available in four different models, two made from eight-layer carbon fibre and two constructed in high grade aluminium. The carbon fibre tripods cost £249.99 or £299.99 with the aluminium versions having a recommended retail price of £99.99 or £119.99. Each model comes complete with an integrated spirit level to ensure a level base and also a compass that provides coordinates for recording locations.

Leading British photographer and film-maker Brian Griffin returns to Birmingham for Face to Face, his first major retrospective in his birth city. Known for the extraordinary composition and lighting of his portraits, Griffin’s distinctive style was developed during his early career as a staff photographer at Management Today. Joining the magazine in 1972, Griffin’s unique approach, with his witty and surreal touches, changed the face of corporate portraiture, leading to a series of significant commissions for leading companies around the world. Opening on 30 September and running till 21 November, Face to Face will take place in two adjacent locations in Birmingham’s Colmore Business District. A large-scale outdoor retrospective will showcase Griffin’s portraiture over the last 38 years, including many of his most prominent portraits of leading musicians, politicians and celebrities. Two accompanying indoor exhibitions will feature Griffin’s award-winning series’ Team and The Water People.

Nikon UK has launched a promotion offering students 10% cashback on Nikon equipment. The offer is valid through 31st October, and all full-time students, lecturers or technicians attending or teaching a higher education photographic or media course in the UK and the Republic of Ireland are eligible. All claims must be received by 30th November 2010. For terms and conditions and information about how to claim your cashback, visit the website below.

Website: Nikon Student Cashback

Toshiba has announced the imminent launch of 8GB, 16GB and 32GB SDHC UHS-I cards that it claims will be the world’s fastest SDHC cards to date. With a maximum read speed of 95MB per second, and a write speed of 80MB per second, the products introduce a new level of ultra-fast read and write speeds to NAND flash based memory cards, the company says. In addition to these products, Toshiba also unveiled new microSDHC UHS-I memory cards with read/write speeds of 40/20 megabytes per second, respectively. The expanded new card series will be featured both at IFA and at Photokina.

Hama has announced a new range of “Katoomba” photo backpacks / sling bags. There are four models in the line-up,.ranging in price from €89 to €129. All of them feature a single shoulder strap and can be quickly pulled forward in front of your body using a handle. This means everything is ready at hand in an instant without having to take off the bag. The smallest model, the Hama Katoomba 150, comes in two versions, the 150R and 150L, which are meant to be worn on the right and left shoulder, respectively. The two larger models, Hama Katoomba 170RL and 190RL, feature a “two-shoulder sliding system” that allows you to move the carrying strap to the left or right. The Hama Katoomba camera bags will be showcased at the Photokina trade show later this month.

Olympus has updated its Micro four Thirds (MFT) and E-system lens roadmaps. Compared to the earlier MFT roadmap, which we published on 6 November 2009, the only novelty is the inclusion of the newly announced M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/4-5.6 telezoom and 75-300mm f/4.8-6.7 lenses, the latter of which actually featured in the original lens roadmap as a “Super Telephoto Zoom”. The three primes (fisheye, wide-angle and macro) that were promised for spring 2011 are still there, still marked as “Planned for spring 2011”. As to the E-system lens roadmap, the only change we were able to spot is that the elusive 100mm telemacro is now gone for good, and the chart now features existing lenses only (which makes one wonder why it is still called a roadmap). You can view both charts after the break.