Independent developer Florian Stiassny has announced iLightningCam 4.00, a new version of his real-time lightning photography app for iOS devices. iLightningCam enables everyone to take spectacular real lightning pictures with full photo resolution. Version 4.0 introduces 4th Gen support for iPod touch, support for iPad 2 and 3, improved night mode,  optimized exposure for night lightning storms, minor bug fixes and improved instructions. iLightningCam 4.00 is now reduced to $0.99 for 2 days and available worldwide exclusively through the iTunes App Store in the Photo & Video category.

MacPhun has recently released ColorStrokes, a successor to its Color Splash Studio app for iOS and Mac. “The key feature of ColorStrokes for Mac and iPhone [is] the possibility to recolour the images and add colours to black and white photos,” says MacPhun’s Veronica Melnikova. The iOS app is available now for $1.99 on iTunes (free for Color Splash Studio users). The Mac version is “coming soon”.

Cooliris has updated its photo app for the Apple iPhone and iPad. “The application makes it very easy to instantly have a digital, hi-resolution mobile portfolio,” explains Claire Illmer of Cooliris. “The Cooliris app organizes your personal photo albums from your iPad or iPhone LIbrary, as well as your Instagram and Facebook photos. Additionally, you can quickly share multiple photos to Facebook to broadcast new shots to your Timeline, or share your photos directly from any of your libraries and networks in either one-on-one or group conversations.” Cooliris 2.0 is available as a free download from the iTunes App Store.

Showboat is a new scrapbook app for the Apple iPad. The easy-to-use program creates a double-page portrait photo album, a single page landscape photo album as well as a full-screen slideshow album - all at once. “Showboat was designed for anybody who wants to easily view and show their photos in a beautiful photo album format that looks like a traditional scrapbook,” the developers say. The app is available now on iTunes for $1.99.

58 North has announced that its digital photo book app, Pholium, is now free and offers a range of new features. Pholium’s latest version provides users with the ability to include an unlimited number of photos within each digital book that they create, while allowing users to share as many books as they want using iCloud. Pholium 1.2 for iPad is now available as a free download from the iTunes App Store.

Flock is a new iPhone app that addresses the common problem we all face when taking pictures with our phones: remembering to share the photos with the people who were actually with you when the photos were taken. Whenever Flock finds photos you’ve taken while with your Facebook friends, it will ask you if you want to share those images with them – and when your friends choose to share their photos from the same event or hangout, they’ll be added to the same group album. Note: this requires that all of your friends and family have the app too. Flock is available as a free download from the iTunes App Store. Click through / scroll down for a promotional video illustrating the app.

Apple today announced that OS X Mountain Lion is now available as a download from the Mac App Store. New system-wide Sharing allows you to share photos and videos quickly via a Share button, without having to switch to another app, and you just need to sign in once to use third-party services like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Vimeo. With built-in support for Facebook - available in an upcoming software update to Mountain Lion -, you will be able to post photos with locations right from your apps. Additionally, the new AirPlay Mirroring lets you wirelessly send an up-to-1080p secure stream of what’s on your Mac to an HDTV using Apple TV. OS X Mountain Lion is available from the Mac App Store for £13.99. Note that Mountain Lion requires Lion or Snow Leopard (OS X v10.6.8 or later), 2GB of memory and 8GB of available space.

Photoshop CS6 and Lightroom 4: A Photographer’s Handbook by Adobe Certified Instructor Stephen Laskevitch is a new title from Rocky Nook. In addition to describing the essential features of the two programs, Laskevitch covers new features specific to the 2012 releases, including geocoding in Lightroom, Photoshop’s Blur Gallery, new development controls in Lightroom and Camera Raw, and more. The 344-page volume can be pre-ordered for $44.95, with an electronic version also available for $19.95.

FilterCalc is a free Android app for photographers who use filters on cameras with no TTL metering (e.g. vintage rangefinders, TLRs etc.). “While there are many apps out there that help you compute exposure compensation in terms of aperture / shutter speed, there are none that allow you to calculate the offset in terms of ISO,” says developer Tatyana Skymyrka. “A traditional technique in using filters is to deduct the number of stops/filter factor off actual ISO/ASA you’re using and use the newly ‘computed’ base ISO in your light meter. Readings then result in proper exposure. While computing 1-2 stops is not a big deal, attempting to calculate offset say of 6 3/4 stops in a field can be a challenge.  This is precisely what the app addresses.” Compatible with devices running Android 2.3.3 and higher, filterCalc can be downloaded from the Google Play Store.

Magix has released its latest version of its free Android photo app, Camera MX. Featuring 50 realtime effects, looks and frames, Camera MX 2.0 adds HDR, colour splash and a tilt-lens effect. Camera MX is available now in the Google Play Store and is compatible with all Android versions starting with 2.2 Froyo.

Blurb has announced major improvements to its ebook offering today. The enhanced Adobe InDesign plug-in allows designers and photographers to optimise their ebooks for the iPad using an online editing tool. This new functionality allows users to create ebooks in ‘fixed format’, which ensures they will be recreated identically on the iPad. “We’ve been hearing from our Adobe InDesign users that they want a straightforward way to design and create beautiful books for the iPad that respect their design decisions. So, we are truly delighted to respond with such a rich set of capabilities including the new plug-in for fixed format ebook creation, free online editing tools, plus the ability to sell their ebooks for profit in the Blurb bookstore” said Eileen Gittins, CEO of Blurb.

Diptic, a photography app developed by Peak Systems, is currently available for free as the App Store App of the Week. The app has been designed to quickly and easily combine multiple photos to create a new collage. It offers over 52 frames to choose from and the user is able to tweak brightness, contrast and saturation, adjust border colour, width and curvature. Once created, the image can be saved or shared via email, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr or Posterous. Diptic will return to its normal price of $0.99 once the promotion ends on 19th July.

Website: Diptic on iTunes

AKVIS has released AKVIS MultiBrush 6.0, the latest update to its photo retouching software. The new version adds new options to the Clone Stamp: Flip Horizontal, Flip Vertical and Scaling; fixes bugs in both the Windows and Mac versions, and adds compatibility with Adobe Photoshop CS6. Version 6.0 is a free upgrade to existing users.

Corel has released Corel Cinco for Painter, a new companion app that enables users to control Painter 12’s desktop with an iPad. “Cinco integrates seamlessly into the Painter user’s workflow and allows them to work faster by quickly accessing their favorite and most used tools with the tap of a finger,” the company says. Corel Cinco for Painter is available as a free English iPad (iOS 5.0.1 and higher) app for a limited time only in selected Apple App Stores worldwide. Users will also need Painter 12.2 (Windows or Mac version) with the latest updates installed.

Pforzheim-based Mocapo today released Griddin, their new real-time effects camera app for the Apple iPhone. The app combines “Photoshop-like” real-time effects with the possibility to generate individual distortions with your finger - based on a customisable ImageGrid. Griddin is available now on iTunes for $0.99.

Ho Chi Minh City based software development company Not A Basement Studio has just released a free version of its collage making app, Fuzel. “Whatever it is that you love, Fuzel helps you take their photos, put them together in your own layouts, retouch them individually with gorgeous photo filters, complete them with beautiful frames and captions, then share them with your loved ones on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, or just email,” the company says. The paid version, now renamed Fuzel Pro, offers a number of extra colours, frames and layouts for $0.99.

The new WebRotate 360 Product Viewer v3 features a simple 360° photography publishing software integrating various product presentation capabilities for both mobile and desktop browsers. “It’s a unique 360 product viewer with hot-spots and deep zoom capabilities that runs well in web browsers without Flash and on devices such as iPad and iPhone,” says Business Development Manager Irina Berry. Click through ! scroll down for more information including links to a few samples posted on the company’s website.

Magix has announced the release of PhotoStory on DVD MX and PhotoStory on DVD MX Deluxe. Magix PhotoStory on DVD MX (Version 11) allows users to transform their photos and movie clips into video slideshows with text, music and special effects, create interactive DVDs, and more. In addition, they can export their shows to USB sticks and memory cards, and share them online. PhotoStory on DVD MX Deluxe additionally supports HD output and comes with advanced design options, templates and an expanded effects library as well as customisable zooming and panning actions, and many further extras. Magix PhotoStory on DVD MX and Magix PhotoStory on DVD MX Deluxe are available now for £39.99 and £69.99 respectively from Amazon and PC World.

DxO Labs have released an update to DxO Optics Pro 7. The newest version adds support for the Olympus OM-D E-M5 (pictured) and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ150 and GF5, Additionally, more than 300 new camera/lens combinations have been added since the previous version. These modules support additional Canon, Minolta, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, and Zeiss lenses for numerous Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax, and Sony cameras.

Phix software has released MonoPhix HD 1.2, a major update to its black-and-white photography app for the iPad. The new version incorporates better support for multitasking, support for the new iPad’s retina display, a new mode allowing tonal adjustments, colour filters, vignetting and the ability to share your pictures on the new Phix filter and photo sharing service. MonoPhix HD 1.2 is available on iTunes for $1.99.