The Great Photo App by Baglan Dosmagambetov is a photo education app for the Apple iPhone and iPad. The app teaches users about the concept of exposure and its main variables - aperture, shutter speed and sensitivity - as well as depth of field, camera lenses and much more. The Great Photo App is available on iTunes priced at $0.99.

Akvis has released version 5.5 of its NatureArt for Windows and Mac OS X. This update adds a Share option that lets you post your images from the program to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr and Google+, changes the installation process for Windows, adds support for raw images from various cameras, fixes bugs and adds compatibility with Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks. Additionally, the plug-in variant gains compatibility with Adobe Photoshop CC, Adobe Photoshop Elements 12, and Corel PaintShop Pro X6. Pricing for Akvis NatureArt starts at $72.

Eye-Fi has just announced a beta Windows desktop receiver for the Mobi card. With pricing yet to be announced, Eye-Fi’s new desktop receiver for Windows will be free to all customers during beta and gives Mobi users more choice in where their high-quality photos can be transferred, stored and shared. Mobi users will now have the option to transfer to mobile for on-the-go sharing or to the desktop for greater archiving and editing ability – all without the hassle of wires. The beta Eye-Fi desktop receiver for Windows is available for Mobi users to download now, with a Mac version coming soon.

Adobe has released the final versions of ACR 8.3 and Lightroom 5.3. Previously available as Release Candidates, these updates add support for twenty new cameras and digital backs and nineteen lens profiles. For the full list of additions, improvements and fixes, head to the website below.

Website: Adobe Lightroom Journal

WnSoft has released version 8 of PicturesToExe, featuring countless enhancements, optimizations and expanded functionality. PicturesToExe produces compact and highly portable slideshows that can be played back on any PC or Mac systems, uploaded to YouTube or other video hosting sites, and shared in social networks. The key benefits of the program include a powerful audio editor, smooth playback of panning and zooming effects, pro-level animation tools for photos and support for images of any size. WnSoft offers two editions of PicturesToExe – Essentials, intended for home users, and Deluxe, targeted at professional photographers and AV enthusiasts, – for $69 and $129, respectively.

Akvis has launched an entirely new program called OilPaint. Available as a standalone application and as a Photoshop plug-in, the software is claimed to offer "an incredible algorithm" for turning photos into oil paintings. The software offers a number of ready to use presets, and allows users to share their favourites with other fans of the oil painting technique. The batch processing feature enables the program to automatically process a series of images in order to create a number of illustrations at the same style or to process all frames in a video. Retailing at $49 for the Home version, $69 for Home Deluxe and $89 for the Business edition, the software runs on Windows XP/Vista/Win7/Win 8 and on Mac OS X 10.4-10.9, both 32 bit and 64 bit. A fully functional ten-day trial version is available at the website below..

Bits&Coffee have released VideoStory 2.2, a new version of their free slideshow app for iOS. New features in version 2.2 include an updated user interface and the ability to add customisable titles to the user's video stories. This is a universal iOS app that runs on iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch with support for iOS version 6 and 7.

Macphun Software has released Focus 2, a program which enables photographers of all skill levels to easily add selective focus, creative blurring and miniature effects to photos. A Custom Focus setting provides even greater control when applying focus and blur to images. Users can set the centre focal point and amount of blur, while Vividness and Vignette features provide a professional finishing touch to images. “Focus and lens blurring effects are among the most popular techniques photographers use to draw attention in their images, but high quality results are often difficult to achieve without expensive  lenses,” said Paul Muzok, co-founder and CEO of Macphun Software. “Focus 2 allows anyone to achieve a perfect focus and blurring effect with a few clicks.” Focus 2 is available now from the Mac App Store for a special introductory price of $9.99.

VSCO Cam is now available worldwide in the Google Play Store for most devices running Android 4.0 and higher. The app includes a default set of presets and tools with adjustable strengths, allowing for precise editing and customisation. Additional presets and tools can be purchased separately. Photographers can easily share their images via multiple outlets, including VSCO Grid, Google Plus, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Weibo, Gallery and email.

Delix Software has released version 1.1 of Alayer, an iOS app that promises to "give anyone unprecedented control over the aesthetics of their [smartphone] photos." Now you can clone/duplicate the photo you are working with as a new layer, and choose from  over 100 presets and 15 different blending modes to manipulate the image. Alayer is available for $0.99 on the iTunes App Store.

TeoreX has updated iResizer, a simple yet capable utility designed to resize pictures and remove undesired objects. Version 2.4 adds a feature enabling users to automatically resize their photos for Instagram without cropping. You only need to mark areas on the photo you would like to preserve, and run Instagram resizing. iResizer is available for Windows and Mac OS, priced at $19.99.

DxO Labs have just launched version 4.5 of their photographic film emulation software, DxO FilmPack. This update adds Agfa Scala 200X and Kodak Ektar 100 film renderings, provides new creative looks, and improves its palette of special effects. "Thanks to DxO Labs’ exclusive calibration technologies, the two new film renderings achieve an unrivaled level of quality and fidelity," the company claims. "DxO Labs perfectly reproduced the grain, quality, and style of these two films by following a rigorous scientific process: taking carefully-controlled photos with the analog films; developing the photos using two renowned professional photo development laboratories; and carefully scanning, digitizing, and analyzing the developed shots." This upgrade is free for all owners of DxO FilmPack 4, as well as for photographers who acquired a DxO FilmPack 3 licence on or after 1 March 2013.

DxO Labs have released version 9.1 of its image processing software, DxO Optics Pro. This update enhances the application's PRIME denoising technology that restores the finest details in images even at the very highest sensitivities; provides support for eight new cameras; integrates the features of new DxO FilmPack v4.5 in plugin mode; and includes a new Export to Facebook option. This upgrade is free for all owners of DxO Optics Pro 9, as well as for photographers who acquired a DxO Optics Pro license on or after 1 September 2013.

With Black Friday upon us and Cyber Monday just around the corner, we've rounded-up all 7 Holiday Gift Guides that we've published in the last week. If you're looking to buy a camera, make sure to check out our expert guides first!

DSLR Cameras

Compact System Cameras

Premium Compact Cameras

Superzoom Compact Cameras

Compact Cameras

Smartphones

Accessories and Software

Tiffen has announced an app sale running through Cyber Monday, 2 December 2013.  Available on the iTunes Store, Tiffen Photo fx can now be purchased for $.99 (regularly $2.99) and Tiffen Photo fx Ultra for $1.99 (regularly $4.99).

Datacolor will be hosting two new free-to-attend webinars in December. On Thursday, 5th December, Datacolor expert David Saffir and Google Nik Photography expert Dan Hughes will be hosting an online seminar titled, "Taking Control of Landscape Photography with Datacolor and the Nik Collection." Starting at 7p.m., this webinar will cover best practices in colour management throughout the workflow, capturing landscape scenes and post-processing in the digital darkroom using Nik Software products Viveza 2, ColorEfexPro 4 and SharpenerPro 3.0. The second session, "Highlights of the 2013 Creative Roadshows" (Tuesday, 10th December, 7p.m.) hosted by Datacolor expert Richard West, will provide tips and tricks on how to build and optimise your imaging workflow whilst maintaining colour accuracy throughout. To register, visit the website below.

onOne Software has now released Perfect Photo Suite 8, which had been announced back in September. Key new features include the Perfect Enhance module for essential photo adjustments, the Perfect Eraser with content-aware fill technology, the Perfect Batch processing utility for applying workflows to multiple images at once, and a re-engineered Perfect Effects module with twice as many filters, customisable presets, and integrated FocalPoint technology. The new Perfect Photo Suite 8 will be available 26th November in three editions: Premium, Standard, and an edition for Adobe Lightroom & Apple Aperture. Perfect Photo Suite 8 for Adobe Lightroom & Apple Aperture works with Lightroom, Aperture, Photoshop Elements, and as a standalone application. It is available for $129.95; upgrades are $79.95. The Standard Edition works as a complete standalone photo editor and is available for $79.95.

Akvis has released version 7 of Akvis Magnifier. 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 7 offers native 64-bit support, compatibility improvements, a new Crop tool and a Share option that lets you post images from the program to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr and Google+. Registered users of Magnifier can upgrade to version 7 free of charge.

Adobe is extending its Photoshop Photography Programme to all photographers as a limited-time offer. The company initially launched this programme in September to support the needs and workflow of photographers who use CS3 or later. Now, for a limited time, Adobe is extending this offer to all photographers for £8.78/month as an annual subscription. Those wishing to take advantage of this offer have until 2nd December (7:59 pm GMT) to register. The programme offers access to Photoshop CC and Lightroom 5 (plus respective feature updates and upgrades as they are available), 20GB of cloud storage and Behance ProSite, all via Adobe Creative Cloud.

Website: Adobe UK