O’Reilly has released a new title, Photoshop Elements 8 for Mac: The Missing Manual, by Barbara Brundage. From this book, you’ll learn not only what each tool does, but also when it makes the most sense to use it and why. You get easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions for everything from importing photos to organising, editing, sharing, and storing your images.  You’ll also find a tour of Bridge, the ultra-deluxe file browser that comes with Photoshop CS4—and Elements 8. Photoshop Elements 8 for Mac: The Missing Manual is available for $44.99 / £32.99.

Nikon UK has announced a new Christmas cashback promotion that entitles customers to claim £50 cash back on its D5000 and £30 on its D3000 Digital SLR cameras. The promotion runs from today until 10 January 2010. All claims must arrive by 15th February in order to qualify. For more information about the promotion, instructions on how to submit a claim and terms and conditions please visit www.nikon.co.uk/cashback.

Review: Read our in-depth review of the Nikon D3000
Review: Read our in-depth review of the Nikon D5000

Doubletake: A Portrait Project is a one-of-a-kind collaboration between a photographer and artist in which a drawing and photograph is created simultaneously in one session. Presented by the Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie Mansion in Cadwalader Park, Doubletake is an exhibition of works by Peter C. Cook (photography) and Howard Siskowitz (portrait drawings). The exhibition debuts on 14 November 2009, and runs until 3 January 2010.

Website: The Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie Mansion

Buffalo Technology has just announced the availability of the MiniStation Lite - a lightweight, portable USB hard drive - in Sakura Pink and Lapis Blue. The MiniStation Lite is compatible with both PC and Mac, connecting directly using USB and requires no additional power supply. With built-in Memeo AutoSync and SecureLockMobile software, you can ensure your files are always up to date and protected from unauthorised access. The MiniStation Lite in Sakura Pink and Lapis Blue are both available in capacities of 320GB or 500GB. The MiniStation Lite is also available in black, red or white with capacities of 250GB, 320GB or 500GB. Pricing starts at £69.99.

Website: Buffalo Technology

Mimomonitors.com has added the iMo Foto Frame Printer to its product line. Billed as the world’s first patented device to combine display and printing capabilities, the iMo Foto Frame Printer boasts a 8”, 800x600 pixel liquid crystal display that outputs 4”x6” glossy prints from the top of the unit, at 300x300dpi. As a standalone device, the frame-printer combo requires no computer connectivity, supports jpegs up to 16 mega pixels, and features three-button navigation control with an intuitive onscreen manual. Priced at $229.99, the iMo Foto Frame Printer is available at www.mimomonitors.com.

Photodex Corporation has released the ProShow StylePack Volume 3,  which features 25 new effects designed to enhance a wide variety of slide shows.  New Styles in the Volume 3 StylePack include: Cast Away, Old Rotary Viewer, Mirror Mask and Photo Mobile. Each style comes in both 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratios and can be customised to a user’s liking. ProShow StylePack Volume 3 is available now for $19.95 from www.photodex.com

Olympus has issued a firmware update for its FE-3010 digital compact camera. Version 1.1 resolves the issue that some cameras stopped operating while recording movies. To update your FE-3010’s firmware, connect the camera to a computer with either Olympus Master or Olympus studio installed, and follow the instructions found on the website below.

Website: Firmware Update Instructions

Acronis today launched Acronis True Image Home 2010 Plus Pack, the latest addition to the Acronis family of backup and recovery products. It is available as an add-on solution to Acronis True Image Home 2010. It includes three components traditionally reserved for Acronis’ corporate line, making them available for advanced home users. The solution includes Acronis Universal Restore, which ensures that if a machine is lost or stolen or if a user wants to use a new, or replacement machine, their data and applications can easily be exactly replicated to a physical or virtual machine. In addition, the new product provides support for dynamic disks and WinPE. Acronis True Image Home 2010 Plus Pack is available now to download at the website below. Remember that it requires Acronis True Image Home 2010 standard edition to be installed. It is available at £23.95.

Website: Acronis True Image Home 2010 Plus Pack

Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2010, the Wedding & Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) announces today that registration is now open for WPPI 2010, billed as the largest annual expo and conference in the world for professional photographers. All WPPI 2010 classes, events and trade show will take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV, from March 4-11, 2010. Registrations are accepted via the website below.

Website: WPPI 2010

The Idea Generation Gallery will host a retrospective of photojournalist Nat Finkelstein from 20 January - 14 February 2010. This retrospective brings together Finkelstein’s diverse portfolio of work achieved across five decades: from the Factory scenes, to the civil rights and anti-war protests of mid-60s America, to his continuing exploration of the subcultures of 80s and 90s New York; Nat’s photographs not only depict their subjects and scenes, but also provide a visual record of the life and times of the photographer himself, the organisers say. The exhibition will be open 12-6pm Monday to Friday, and 12-5pm Saturday and Sunday. Entry is free. The Idea Generation Gallery is located at 11 Chance Street, London.

FPS Fest is a film screening event that explores the transition from still photography to motion. Presented by Dripbook, Resource Magazine, and ROOT Capture, FPS Fest will take place pn 17 November in Root Brooklyn, 131 North 14th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211. As the organisers put it, the event “provides information and stimulation about technology, techniques, and strategies to take on the future of a changing industry”. The entry fee is $5.

Website: FPS Fest

Fujifilm has announced new colour options for the Fujifilm F70EXR digital compact camera. According to 1001 Noisy Cameras, the F70EXR will be available in pink and brown in Japan from mid-November, priced at around 40,000 yen. There is no information on international availability or pricing of these versions.

Via 1001 Noisy Cameras

Review: Read our in-depth review of the Fujifilm F70EXR camera

In conjunction with his upcoming exhibition at Gagosian Gallery, photographer Roger Ballen will present a free public lecture at the School of Visual Arts on Monday, November 9 at 7pm. Ballen’s black and white series Boarding House, up at Gagosian November 5 - December 23, explores a three-story warehouse hidden among the gold mines in Johannesburg, South Africa and inhabited by disenfranchised, impoverished families and fugitives. Ballen will speak with editor and publisher Darius Himes, who has contributed to Aperture, Blind Spot, Bookforum, BOMB, PDN and American Photo. Click through / read on for the details of this event.

Buffalo Technology has announced the first-to-market SuperSpeed USB 3.0 External Hard Disk Drive and supporting two-port USB 3.0 PCI Express Interface Card. The DriveStation HD-HXU3 offers transfer speeds of up to 130MB/s – three times faster than an ordinary USB 2.0 connection. To support the new SuperSpeed DriveStation, Buffalo has released a new two-port USB 3.0 PCI Express Interface Card. The USB 3.0 PCI Express Interface Card allows users to upgrade their PC, notebook or Mac to take advantage of the next generation of external hard drives. The DriveStation HD-HXU3 is backwards-compatible and will work with all USB 2.0 enabled computers, notebooks and Macs, as well as forthcoming USB 3.0 models.  It is also compatible with Windows 7, Vista, XP and Mac OS X 10.4 or later. Available from November 2009, the Buffalo DriveStation HD-HXU3 comes in capacities of 1TB, 1.5TB and 2TB priced at £109.99, £149.99 and £229.99 respectively.

Website: Buffalo Technology

LaCie today announced the LaCie Network Space 2, design by Neil Poulton – a Network Attached Storage (NAS) and media server. LaCie Network Space 2 makes it easy to stream photos, music and videos to computers on the local network or to any UPnP/DLNA compliant devices like PlayStation3 or Xbox 360. It also includes iTunes server software and Download Machine that allows multiple torrent downloads, even when your computer is turned off. The LaCie Network Space 2 is available in 1 TB capacity, through the LaCie Online Store, LaCie Corner, LaCie Reseller+, and through authorised resellers and retailers, at the suggested retail price of £139 (Incl VAT)

WnSoft has released PicturesToExe Deluxe 6.0, a photo slideshow software for Windows. Version 6.0 of the Deluxe edition brings new enhancements to the program, including 3D effects and the capability to create executables for Mac. Other highlights include multi-monitor support, Windows 7 compatibility, and the ability to add your own soundtrack, sound effects and text comments to each slide.The Deluxe edition is available for $75.

DxO Labs today announced the imminent release of DxO Optics Pro version 6, which is claimed to provide “the best-ever images from extreme ISO shots”. The company is making the bold claim that photographers can push their cameras to the ISO limits and even beyond — as much as one to two stops above their usual ISO settings — and still get great photos without any noticeable loss in image quality. As a side benefit, DxO Labs’ new de-noising technology significantly extends the effective dynamic range in the shadows. Additionally, the new version of DxO Optics Pro further extends optical fault correction, and now provides controls to manually adjust distortion, vignetting, chromatic aberrations, and sharpness for any lens. DxO Optics Pro 6 for Windows Standard and Elite editions are scheduled for release in early November 2009 from both DxO Labs’ e-store and selected resellers, and will be available at an exceptional 33 % discount until December 31, 2009:

Fodor’s Travel has partnered with Princess Cruises to announce the co-sponsorship of travel photography contest, “Show Us Your Italy.” Until 30 November, North American visitors to Fodors.com can upload and share their favourite photos and experiences of Italy with other travellers. The winning photographer will receive a suite of Fodor’s full-colour guidebooks as well as the chance to have their photo published in the upcoming Fodor’s Italy 2011. Ten runner-up winners will have their photographs featured in a slideshow on Fodors.com. As always, we suggest that you read the rules before entering your work.