Ricoh Innovations today launched Keenai, a smart photo management service that keeps digital memories safe and organised. Available immediately in eight languages on Android, iOS, macOS, Windows and Windows Phone, Keenai is billed as the only photo service that connects all your devices and cameras, and unifies all your photos and videos for viewing and sharing on any device. Offering automatic cloud backup of unlimited, original-resolution photos and videos, Keenai enables sharing of stories as gorgeous albums that combine photos, videos and even 360° images. Albums can be privately shared with friends and family via email or shared links, and accessed via any web browser. “Consumers are struggling to keep track of all the photos and videos they capture using the different devices they own,” said Toshinori Arita, senior vice president, Ricoh Innovations. “Keenai provides a smart solution to this problem, and is designed so that non-technical people can gain control of all their photos, share them with friends and family, and feel confident that their memories are safe.” Members start with a free trial of 30 days. Thereafter, membership costs $4.99/month or $49.99/year.

Infltr 2.5 is the first iOS camera app to enable iPhone and iPad users to apply millions of filters to their photos in Apple’s Messages app. Additionally, infltr can also apply photo-style filtering to iPhone videos and Live Photos. Users can change the filter throughout their recording, scroll through the finished video to find moments to filter, or for the first time ever, actually play the video and change the filter at the same time. Available in 22 languages and priced at £2.29, infltr today boasts over seven million filters. “Using the same old filters as everyone else won’t cut it with today’s creative consumers but unless you are a professional, there are very few tools that work easily, effectively and effortlessly to create beautiful moving images that you can proudly share with your fans and followers,” says infltr founder Philippe Levieux. “IThat’s where infltr comes in. We are pushing the boundaries of what is possible with an iPhone. We are filtering stills, video and Live Photos using cutting-edge software, working with the very latest Apple camera technology. With the new version of infltr, we are making our millions of filters available for iMessage, Live Photos and Video in real time, so that iPhone users can create beautiful filtered videos, easily and instantly.”

Macphun have unveiled that Luminar, their first all-in-one photo editor (read review), now supports Apple’s new MacBook Pro Touch Bar. When Luminar is launched on a new MacBook Pro, users will have a core set of controls on the Touch Bar which will allow them to compare images and add a new filter, as well as access key tools such as Crop, Noise Reduction, Erasing, Clone & Stamp and Transform. When using a specific tool, the Touch Bar for Luminar will feature controllers for this specific tool. In addition to the introduction of support for Touch Bar, this update to Luminar also brings improved performance, updated support for raw image files, speed improvement, and bug fixes.

Phase One today released Capture One Pro 10.  This update brings faster browsing, zooming, panning, and ease in switching between images even at 100 percent view. A new lens tool option corrects lost sharpness caused by diffraction, while an enhanced proof mode allows for onscreen profiling, which takes the guesswork out of the raw conversion process. Additionally, users can now access Capture One Pro directly through a Tangent panel system. This fully integrated panel is literally a new interface into image editing, allowing fast, multiple input commands simultaneously, while viewing the master monitor as the editor "feels" input into the application. A new camera focus tool module has been added to facilitate tethered shooting, which will be especially useful for product, still life, macro, and Cultural Heritage photography projects. Last but not least, Phase One have added support for a number of new cameras including the Olympus OM-D E-M1 ll, Sony RX100M5, Sony A6500 and Sony A99M2. "We have developed Capture One Pro 10 to greatly improve users' experience so they can achieve the results they want much faster and with greater confidence," said James Johnson, software product manager, Phase One. "Image adjustment options are now at a whole new level. We believe that with this release, we are delivering the most powerful, responsive, and user customizable image processor available." New customers can purchase Capture One Pro 10 for €279/$299. Owners of Capture One Pro 8 and 9 may upgrade for €/$99. For customers who have purchased Capture One Pro 9 after 1 November 2016, Phase One are offering a grace period, exempting them from the upgrade fee.

Fluntro today released Exif Viewer by Fluntro 2.7, an iOS app that displays EXIF metadata and includes the Exif Viewer Photos Extension and the iMessage App Extension. In this version, users can customise the UI, re-order and hide EXIF tags and remove unwanted metadata. The app also supports 3D Touch on iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus (or newer 3D Touch enabled devices). Exif Viewer includes shortcuts to access Favorites, Photo Streams, Albums, and All Photos quickly. Exif Viewer by Fluntro 2.7 is available for $0.99 on iTunes.

BenVista have released their new image resizing software, PhotoZoom Pro 7, for Mac OS and Windows. This update boasts an enhanced S-Spline Max algorithm, which uses new filters to improve image quality. "PhotoZoom Pro's core strength is its capability to preserve sharpness and detail during enlargement like no other," said Dimitri Schoolwerth, CEO at BenVista. "But what if all you have is a low quality original? PhotoZoom Pro 7 introduces additional tools to not only preserve, but also improve image quality during enlargement. It can remove noise, reduce JPEG artifacts, fix overexposure, brighten unwanted shadows, and enhance image vividness. Now even low quality originals can be enlarged successfully, all in one simple step." Prices start at €159 for new licenses, and €69 for upgrades.

Akvis today released a major update to Chameleon, their photo collage creation software for Windows and Macintosh. This edition offers new selection and post-processing tools, an advanced montage algorithm, a redesigned interface with support for 4K and 5K displays, and other improvements. The software runs on Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10; and on Mac OS X 10.7-10.12. The product is available as a standalone application and as a plug-in to Photoshop and other popular image editors. This update is free for users who bought Chameleon in the last 12 months.

The Windows version of Affinity Designer is now available to purchase. Designed to work on 64-bit Windows 7 and above, Affinity Designer is part of a trio of professional-quality design software tools, alongside Affinity Photo and Affinity Publisher. Ashley Hewson, Managing Director of developer Serif, says: “When we launched Affinity Designer [for Mac] we never expected the impact it has made. Seeing it so widely adopted by designers around the world – and all the incredible work people are creating with it – has been such a rewarding experience for the team here.” To celebrate the launch, Affinity Designer for Windows can be bought for a discount price of $39.99 / £29.99 / €39.99 until 24th November.

Datacolor today announced that they will be partnering with Adobe to offer customers who purchase a qualifying Spyder product the opportunity to receive a 90-day Adobe Creative Cloud Photography plan trial. In conjunction with Adobe’s Affinity Partner programme, Datacolor customers will receive promotion redemption instructions upon purchase and activation of qualifying Spyder colour calibration tools, which include Datacolor’s Spyder5EXPRESS (pictured), Spyder5PRO, Spyder5ELITE, Spyder5STUDIO, Spyder5CAPTURE PRO and SpyderPRINT products. “We are always looking for innovative ways to provide our customers with the optimal photography workflow, from capture to print.” said Stefan Zrenner, Director Global Sales & Marketing Imaging, Datacolor. “We’re excited to announce this partner promotion with Adobe, as the seamless integration between our industry-leading color calibration products and Adobe’s world-renowned photography tools will allow our customers to exercise total creative control over their images.”

Version 1.7 of slimRAW, a fast CinemaDNG compressor which saves storage space and reduces storage bandwidth requirements for CinemaDNG raw video production, is now available to download. This update adds the ability to downscale CinemaDNG raw video to half its original resolution: slimRAW can now produce 2K CinemaDNG from 4K CinemaDNG, 2.3K from 4.6K, and so on. Together with the previously available raw compression functionality, this allows huge data size reductions (up to 20:1 or more) and facilitates a raw proxy workflow for high resolution CinemaDNG production. slimRAW is available for Microsoft Windows and Apple OS X.

Windows users can now download a free beta version of Serif's professional image editing application, Affinity Photo. The software offers raw image processing, PSD import and export, 16-bit-per-channel editing, colour management,camera lens and exposure corrections, accurate adjustments, live filter layers, high-end controls for channels and masks, advanced layer handling, and built-in frequency separation editing. Other features include andvanced HDR exposure blending, a novel way to edit 360 degree images, tone mapping, batch processing, focus stacking and macros. Interested readers are encouraged to pay a visit to Serif's website to download the free beta version of the program.

Adobe showcased next-generation Creative Cloud innovation, including a new breed of applications in experience design, photography and 3D compositing, as well as new developments brewing in the company’s research labs, at Adobe MAX 2016. A new Mac release of Adobe Experience Design CC (XD), the first all-in-one tool for designing, prototyping and sharing user experiences for website and mobile apps, is now available with two highly anticipated features - Layers and Symbols support. First made popular in Adobe’s flagship design tools Photoshop CC and Illustrator CC, XD reimagines Layers and Symbols to address the specific needs of user experience designers. The next release of Adobe Premiere Pro CC includes auto-aware virtual reality that seamlessly detects and applies the correct setting to stereoscopic and monoscopic media. First introduced at IBC, updates to Premiere Pro, After Effects CC and Prelude CC will also include a Beta of Team Projects that allows teams and enterprise customers to co-edit and collaborate on Creative Cloud projects. Adobe is also releasing a new Cinema 4D renderer in After Effects that will speed up efficiency and quality of 3D content generation. Additionally, Adobe announced a partnership with Reuters, the world’s largest international multimedia news provider, to bring Reuters video and photography to Adobe Stock’s new editorial collection. Available through Adobe Creative Cloud, creatives will be able to access Reuters editorial content including Reuters photos covering news, sports and entertainment events, and Reuters video footage covering all major events across the globe.

Luminar, Macphun’s first all-in-one photo editor, is now available for pre-order. Introducing a brand new personal darkroom approach to photo editing, Luminar addresses the many varied needs of photographers of all levels through an innovative user experience which adapts to the capabilities and knowledge of the user. Personalised workspaces, a bevy of creative filters, image correction tools, layers & masking, and extensive file import/export capabilities make Luminar a compelling solution for anyone interested in editing photos on a Mac. The pre-ordering period runs from 2-17 November 2016.

Iridient Digital has released version 3.1.2 of Iridient Developer, a raw file conversion and photo processing application for Mac OS X. This update brings support for the Hasselblad X1D-50c, H6D-50c, H6D-100c, True Zoom, Flextight X5 and Flextight X1; the Google Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones, the Fujifilm X-A3, the Panasonic FZ2000 (DMC-FZ2500) and the Yi M1; and resolves an issue with potential overcorrection in the extreme corners with the automatic lens vignetting correction used for Fujifilm X models. This release also restores support for the the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX100 and the Mamiya ZD. The update is free for all users who have purchased a new or upgraded license after 20 September 2014.

Akvis have rolled out Version 9.0 of their Magnifier application. Available as a plug-in or a standalone application, the software is claimed to “deliver good results” when ‘uprezzing’ a photo to create poster-sized enlargements. “Resizing pictures with Akvis Magnifier yields a much higher quality image than simple bicubic interpolation,” the company says. Version 9.0 offers enhanced configurability and customisation options including an expanded pixel limit, new resolution values, support for Ultra HD displays, and other improvements. The update is free for users who bought Magnifier within the last 12 months.

Apple today introduced a significant update to its professional video editing app, Final Cut Pro X. This new edition adds new editing features for the Magnetic Timeline, support for the new Touch Bar on the latest-generation MacBook Pro and a redesigned interface with full support for wide-colour workflows. The Touch Bar replaces the keyboard’s traditional function row with a Retina-quality Multi-Touch display that dynamically adapts to Final Cut Pro X by putting intuitive, context-sensitive controls right at the user’s fingertips. “This is our biggest update to Final Cut Pro X since we completely redesigned it five years ago,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Apps Product Marketing. “The new version features a sleek interface and adds powerful new editing features that go far beyond what’s possible with traditional, track-based video editing apps; and integration with the revolutionary Touch Bar gives professional video editors a whole new way to interact with Final Cut Pro X.” Apple also released updates to Motion and Compressor. All of these upgrades are free for new users.

Akvis have announced the release of SmartMask 9.0 for Windows and Mac. This update adds a new Chroma Key mode that allows users to quickly and accurately remove a monochrome background, and a Custom Background mode that enables you to place your own background image behind the cut-out object. Additionally, the enhanced Refine Edges mode now preserves more fine details than ever before, whilst the Quick Selection tool has been improved to produce more precise selections. Version 9.0 is a free upgrade for everyone who bought the product in the last 12 months. The software runs on Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10; and Mac OS X 10.7-10.12. The product is available as a standalone application and as a plug-in for Adobe Photoshop and Corel PaintShop Pro.

TomTom has announced the availability of its Bandit Action Camera Software Development Kit (SDK). The TomTom Bandit is an action camera with integrated GPS, accelerometer, gyro and pressure sensors that record video and data in an MP4 video file. This action data is used to tag interesting moments, called highlights, which allow users to quickly find their best moments from hours of recorded video. Developers can now start building upon the Camera Media Server API which includes a live viewfinder, video manipulation, file management, transcoding capabilities, and much more – all by connecting to TomTom Bandit. With accompanying libraries for both iOS and Android, developers will be able to integrate TomTom Bandit technology into their applications. Peter Frans Pauwels, Co-founder of TomTom said: “The TomTom Bandit action camera is a great example of how we translate high-end technology into an easy-to-use consumer product. With the TomTom Bandit SDK we are now making this unique technology available to developers in an easy way.”

MAGIX has released a new version of its slideshow software, Photostory Deluxe. Offering a completely reworked and modernised interface with touch elements, plus a new Photostory Wizard; the latest version of Photostory Deluxe lets you create attractive slideshows set to the beat of music you import. Other novelties include Shot Match, Blur and Ambience effects, plus additional intros, "outros" and dissolves. MAGIX Photostory Deluxe is now available in stores and online for £54.99.

The latest version of Zoner Photo Studio, dubbed ZPS X, now offers layers support for more photo editing possibilities than ever, non-destructive gradient filters, new sorting options, and more. “The addition of layers in the Editor is the crowning touch to the major redesign that we began several years back. We’re also pleased to note that these changes have opened up new possibilities for future development,” says product manager Jan Kupcik. The new Create module lets you turn your photos into printed products such as photo books, canvas prints and calendars — and then allows you to order the products straight from the application. The Develop module now supports exposure editing with the Dehaze slider, which suppresses haziness caused by fog or smoke. All of the new ZPS X features now come in the form of a prepaid yearly subscription license for a fee of $95.88.