ImageRights is now offering a free version of its online image recognition and recovery service to photographers and illustrators. With this new offering, the company’s advanced visual search and crawler technology will continuously scan websites and blogs to protect its clients. Customers who take advantage of ImageRights’ free service may also participate in the company’s new, optional Recovery Programme, which will launch next month to help photographers and illustrators obtain compensation for the unauthorized use of their images. Customers who select a paid package and opt into the Recovery Program will share 35 percent of their recovered fees with ImageRights; those who select the free service will share 50 percent of their compensation.

Website: ImageRights

Transcend today announced the StoreJet 25D2-W, a portable hard drive designed to complement Mac computers. The StoreJet 25D2-W offers a capacity of 500 gigabytes for synchronisation and backup using software such as Mac OS X Time Machine or Transcend’s StoreJet Elite software for Windows. Under its seemingly delicate case is an internal hard drive suspension system that helps prevent damage caused by accidental slips or falls during travel. For further piece of mind, the drive features anti-slip rubber feet. Backed by a 3-year warranty, the Transcend StoreJet 25D2-W is available now.

iDubai is a new coffee table book by Joel Sternfeld, which contains dozens of images made exclusively with the iPhone camera. The vast majority of the photos in this book were taken inside Dubai’s malls, with only a few showing the outside world. As Jonathan Crary, who wrote an essay to accompany the pictures, puts it, “what is important and affecting about his images is their disclosure of how human beings inhabit and experience” shopping malls and similar spaces. Published by Steidl, the 160-page hardcover is priced at £24.00 | €28.00 | $38.00.

Sony has posted a firmware update that enables the Sony NEX-5 and NEX-3 mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras to use their Sweep Panorama technology to capture 3D panoramic images. Other enhancements include improved 2D Sweep Panoramas, reduced power drain when the camera is switched off and quicker start-up in low-light conditions. Registered Sony NEX-3/NEX-5 owners will be advised of the update via email.

Website: Sony Europe Support

Photography for the Web by photographer Paul Duncanson is a new book that promises to guide readers through “the processes taught in top-quality digital photography schools at a fraction of the cost”. With a large portion of the book dedicated to composition and lighting, the author “wanted to do something a little different,” says publisher Luke Cuthbertson. “So many people take photos with little knowledge of how to do it properly. This book will teach the fundamentals of using an everyday camera to take great images.” Photography for the Web also includes chapters on editing and sharing photographs in the Web 2.0 era. The 200-page book is available from O’Reilly priced at $34.95.

Digital Anarchy has announced a free update to their ToonIt! Photo cartooning plugin. ToonIt! 2.6 adds compatibility for Adobe Photoshop CS5 and 64-bit operation on Mac systems. The 2.6 update also adds many behind-the-scenes improvements, like background rendering, to make ToonIt faster and more responsive.ToonIt! Photo for Photoshop is regularly priced at $159, but will be on sale for $89 until 15 July 2010. The plugin works in Adobe Photoshop CS–CS5 and Photoshop Elements 6.0–9.0. A separate version for use in Apple’s Aperture is on sale for $79 USD, normally $129. ToonIt! Aperture is also updated to version 2.6 for the render improvements.

Website: Digital Anarchy

The Sigma SD15 digital SLR camera is now available in the United States. The Sigma SD15 has a Foveon sensor with 4.7x3 megapixels, and incorporates a TRUE II processor, a large buffer that holds 21 raw files, a 77-segment metering sensor as well as a 3-inch rear screen with a resolution of 460,000 dots. Equipped with a shutter that is rated for 100,000 actuations, the Sigma SD15 is available for the estimated street price of $989.

The new Hoodman HoodCrane is a versatile tool that serves to keep the HoodLoupe on a 3” screen. Using the camera’s hot shoe as an anchor point, the HoodCrane locks onto the HoodLoupe for perfect hands-free viewing, then when the viewfinder needs to be used for shooting stills or just a less critical view of the LCD screen is needed, the HoodCrane just swings away. The HoodCrane is available now from Newpro UK priced at 89.99 pounds.

Ricoh has just released an iPhone app with Flick File functionality that connects iPhone users with its visual online storage service “quanp,” which provides 10GB of free online storage, easy ways to share large files up to 500MB, and advanced search and tagging capabilities for quick and easy management of files and documents. The new iPhone app builds on these capabilities, allowing uploading and management of photos and videos taken on the user’s iPhone, but also allows local sharing with other iPhone users utilising its Flick File functionality.

Website: quanp iPhone App

Olympus UK has announced a cashback offer on the Olympus E-PL1 mirrorless interchangeable-lens system camera. Starting tomorrow, 1st July, Olympus UK is offering £75 cashback on purchases of E-PL1 bodies and kits from authorised stockists. The offer will run in the UK and Ireland and is valid on purchases made up to 31st August 2010.

The Photography of Curt Gunther, The Beatles First North American Tour, 1964 is a new exhibition at the Morrison Hotel Gallery in New York. The candid photos capture the young Fab Four in intimate and lighthearted moments, just as Beatlemania was reaching its most fevered pitch. The limited-edition prints of the Beatles photos in this exhibit were printed exclusively on Canson Infinity papers. The exhibition will run through the middle of July.

Website: Morrison Hotel Gallery

The new Kata Pro Light Beetle-282 photo backpack is now available in the United Kingdom. Able to accommodate up to 3 DSLR bodies with 4-6 lenses and other accessories as well as a 17” laptop, the Kata Pro-Light Beetle 282 has been designed to comply with the strictest regulations regarding carry-on baggage (though Kata still recommends checking with your airline, due to “constantly changing” regulations). The Beetle-282 is also compatible with Kata’s Insertrolly, so can easily be transformed into a rolling bag. The suggested retail price for the photo backpack is £269.95 including value added tax.

Nikon has just released a firmware update for the Nikon Coolpix L110 superzoom. Version 1.4 improves the performance of the automatic white balance setting in “incandescent coloured fluorescent” light.

Website: Nikon Coolpix L110 Firmware 1.4 - Mac
Website: Nikon Coolpix L110 Firmware 1.4 - Windows

Hot on the heels of last week’s update for the TZ10, Panasonic has issued firmware upgrades for the Lumix FT2, TZ8, TZ9 and ZX3 (also called the TS2, ZS5, ZS6 and ZR3 respectively) digital compact cameras. As with the TZ10, version 1.1 - for all products - optimises the light output of INON external underwater strobes, including the following models: S-2000 / D-2000 / Z-240.

Website: Panasonic Firmware Updates

The new Sanyo VPC-E1403 is an affordable 14-megapixel digital compact camera with a metal housing and HD video recording capabilities. Movies are recorded at a frame rate of 30fps and a resolution of 1280x720 pixels, whereas for stills, there are a host of scene modes plus smile and blink detection on offer. Boasting a large, 3-inch TFT LCD screen, the Sanyo E1403 is available priced at €129 and comes with a three-year warranty.

Adorama has announced the winners of the first annual APPOS Photo App Awards for the iPhone. The top 10 winning apps were selected from among the most frequently used apps in more than 17,000 images submitted into Adorama’s first annual iPhone Photography Contest. These include the following applications: Photoshop.com Mobile, CameraBag, Best Camera, Photogene, TiltShift Generator – Fake Miniature, ShakeItPhoto, Hipstamatic, PhotoForge, Lo-Mob and Photo fx (see screenshot above).

Website: Adorama APPOS Photo App Awards and Photo Contest for the iPhone

Swann Security has just announced the new ThumbCam Mini Digital Video Camera. It is a pinhole video camera designed to create clear, 720x480-pixel colour AVI files. Videos can be recorded manually at the push of a button, or switch to the sound activated recording mode for hands free operation. The ThumbCam has a built in, rechargeable lithium ion battery which can be recharged via USB. The new ThumbCam is now available at SRP £49.99 from PC World including a 2GB microSD memory card, silicon cover, USB cable, wall, magnetic and belt brackets, software CD and operating instructions.

Starting tomorrow, Leica will donate €0.50 to the Association for International Cancer Research (AICR) for every new follower of Leica’s Twitter account. The charity project for the benefit of international cancer research is part of an initiative that was launched by Leica enthusiast photographers who met on the independent International Leica User Forum. At the cornerstone of the project is the Leica User Forum Charity Book 2010, which is available through online publishing company, Blurb. A significant donation from the participating photographers, as well as € 6 from the € 95 price of the book, will benefit the AICR. Leica itself has decided to join in after seeing that more than €9,000 has been raised this way. In addition to the 50 euro cents for every new follower on Twitter, Leica will donate an additional €1,000 to the AICR upon reaching 10,000 followers by 9 July 2010.