Adobe today launched its subscription-based Creative Cloud service. Touted as “a new option for purchasing and experiencing Adobe software innovation,” Adobe Creative Cloud integrates Adobe’s creative tablet applications, such as Photoshop Touch, into everyday work, and provides users with access to download and install every new Adobe CS6 application announced today. Creative Cloud membership also includes access to Adobe Muse and Adobe Edge preview and new tools for HTML5 design. Members will receive ongoing updates to Creative Suite applications as well as other new products and services as they emerge. Adobe Creative Cloud membership will be available qithin 30 days. Pricing for individuals is £38.11 per month based on annual membership and £57.17 per month for month-to-month membership. A special introductory offer of £22.23 per month for CS3, CS4, CS5 and CS5.5 individual customers is also available. Note that the quoted fees do not include VAT.

Adobe has launched Photoshop CS6 and Photoshop CS6 Extended. New features include Content-Aware Patch, a Blur Gallery that allows users to quickly create photographic blur effects, a set of new and re-engineered Design Tools and new video tools to create and enhance any video clip. The new Adobe Mercury Graphics Engine takes advantage of the graphics processing unit in modern hardware to speed up imaging and editing tasks. Additionally, Photoshop CS6 Extended includes new 3D controls and effects as wells as Mercury Graphics Engine for 3D, which offers increased power and speed via engine optimised for 3D imaging. Scheduled to become available within 30 days, Adobe Photoshop CS6 and CS6 Extended can be pre-ordered now for for£556 (ex. VAT) and £794 (ex. VAT) , respectively.

Now compatible with square-format photographs, version 1.1 of Decosoft’s Photo Borders iOS app is aimed at Instagram users. “With the option to choose from nearly 60 great looking frames and then customise their colour, Photo Borders will provide those artistic folks with the tools needed to really make their images stand out,” the company says. “With the enormous growth that Instagram has encountered there are bound to be many who find the editing options a bit restricting. Photo Borders V1.1 looks to fill that gap and will be a crucial weapon for any iPhone camera connoisseur.” The app is free and available now on iTunes.

Nik Software has released a new version of Snapseed for iOS. New features in Snapseed 1.4 include the ability to open photos directly into Instagram and additional language support for Brazilian Portuguese and Arabic. Several popular filters within Snapseed have also been updated, and compatibility with the new iPad and iOS 5.1 has been added. Snapseed is available on iTunes for $4.99.

Hasselblad has launched version 2.6.6 of its Phocus software, plus version 2.0 of Phocus Mobile for iOS. “Photographers can be wirelessly linked to a computer running Phocus, and now with the new 2.6.6 version, any number of Phocus Mobile clients can connect to the Phocus server simultaneously,” said Peter Stig-Nielsen, Hasselblad Product Management Director. Features provided include Hasselblad Natural Colour Selection (HNCS), sophisticated lens corrections for H and V System lenses, extensive customisation options for individual workflow scenarios, live video, scene calibration and reproduction tools and highlight recovery, shadow fill, clarity and dust removal tools. Click through / scroll down for a short video released by Hasselblad.

Corel has issued an update for its AfterShot Pro software. Version 1.0.1 adds support for 20 new camera raw formats and incorporates improved highlight recovery processing, two new plug-ins, an improved plug-in SDK and support for 40-megapixel images. Available for Linux, MacOS and Windows, the update can be downloaded from the website below.

Website: Corel Patches & Updates

Tiffen has announced that its Tiffen Dfx digital filter suite will support the upcoming Adobe Creative Suite 6 software. Attendees at NAB 2012 can get a hands-on look at the Tiffen Dfx v3 for Adobe Creative Suite 6 at the Tiffen booth (C8818). “It was a top priority to roll out Tiffen Dfx for Adobe Creative Suite 6, and we are thrilled to be showcasing it on the show floor at NAB,” said Steve Tiffen, President, The Tiffen Company.

Canon has posted a quality issue announcement saying it has identified an issue that prevents users of the Canon EOS 5D Mark III from processing raw images when using Digital Photo Professional (DPP) 3.11.10. The company has promised to release an update for users to download which will address this issue. The update will be available on the Canon website in mid-April.

Lunabee has released oneSafe Photos, its latest app for iPhone and iPad, which safeguards personal pictures and private videos on a user’s device inside a locked vault. Featuring hardware encryption, a full-screen viewing mode and built-in search functionality, oneSafe Photos is easy to set up: users only need to choose a 4-digit PIN, password, or visual pattern. They can lock the vault with the touch of a button or automatically when they leave the app. Additionally, the app features an option for double protection. This “vault within a vault” is designed to protect highly valuable information and is only accessible after entering a second password. oneSafe Photos is available on iTunes for $0.99.

At the annual National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show, Adobe will showcase the upcoming Adobe Creative Suite 6 Production Premium software package. Featuring major updates to Adobe After Effects, Audition, Media Encoder and Premiere Pro, Adobe CS6 Production Premium promises to “redefine the content creation workflow” for video professionals. “After Effects CS6 is the biggest release in a decade, with huge performance gains and powerful 3D features,” the company claims. Adobe will demonstrate its new solutions at its booth #SL2624 as well as more than sixty partner booths throughout the show.

UK software developer FXhome has released PhotoKey 5, a professional post-production tool which enables photographers to remove green screen backgrounds from studio shots.  Version 5 has a completely new Chroma Key system and, whilst it remains simple to use, gives users the best results possible by addressing many of the problem areas associated with other green screen solutions, the company claims. Enhancements in PhotoKey 5 include the addition of a new Chroma Key filter, which provides a more powerful keying algorithm than the existing Auto Colour Difference Key, as well as a new spill suppression technique for more realistic composites. Fully licensed backgrounds and overlays are included as standard, and the Pro version includes a new bilateral blur filter and support for multiple background images. PhotoKey 5 will be available to buy from 19th April for both Mac and Windows PC and will retail at $149 (£97.50) for the standard version and at $299 (£195) for the Pro version.

DxO Labs have just released DxO Optics Pro 7.2.2 for Mac and Windows, offering support for the new Nikon D4 (pictured), as well as for the Olympus XZ-1 and Olympus PEN E-P1. Additionally, more than 500 new camera-lens combinations were added to the DxO Optics Module library during the past several weeks, crossing the milestone of 6,000 available modules. This means that DxO Optics Pro v7.2.2 now supports additional Canon, Minolta, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax, Samyang, Sigma, Tamron, Tokina and Zeiss lenses for numerous Canon, Fuji, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, Panasonic, Samsung and Sony cameras. This upgrade is free for all owners of DxO Optics Pro 7, as well as for photographers who acquired a license for DxO Optics Pro 6 after September 1, 2011.

Unified Color Technologies have announced that their HDR software offerings now support Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4. The company has updated HDR Expose 2 and HDR Express to support Lightroom® 4 and tested for full compatibility. To download the free updates, users of the respective applications can simply choose the “Check for updates” option in the Help menu.

Facebook has agreed to acquire Instagram for nearly one billion US dollars in cash and stock. On his own Timeline, Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg wrote that “providing the best photo sharing experience is one reason why so many people love Facebook and we knew it would be worth bringing these two companies together”. Instagram has attracted approximately 27 million users in just 1.5 years, on the iOS platform alone, before launching an Android app a week ago.

BeProNow has released two versions of its PhotoGuide app for Android and iPhone. For each platform, there is a a free and a full (paid) version available. Photo Guide gives users expert advice with quick and easy instructions on finding the most attractive composition for landscapes, action shots and portraits, choosing the correct f-stop, working with different lighting situations, and more. For more details, visit the website below.

58 North and Bottle Rocket Apps have launched Pholium, a digital photo book design app for the Apple iPad. Pholium enables users to create digital books for free, fine-tune images and share the completed photo books with others, all on the iPad and all within the app. Book recipients who use Pholium receive instant Push Notifications the moment new books are available to them and may be downloaded directly to their iPad from Pholium’s cloud server. By tapping on any image within the book, users can view images up to 2x and also have the option of viewing the digital book in a slideshow format. The Pholium App is available for $9.99 from the iTunes App Store.

Shiraz Software has revealed a complete overhaul of its Focus printing software for photographers. Now available as either Focus Solo for users with a single printer, or Focus Server for larger print environments, Version 4 boasts a redesigned user interface for streamlined workflow and simplified everyday tasks, powered by a faster, more efficient processing engine. The extended Gallery Wrap function now gives users the ability to split images over any number of columns and rows, for the creation of custom canvas wrap displays. Two further frame options, Sample and Stretch, offer the ability to specify mirror preferences for wraps. Shiraz Focus V4 is available from the website below.

CyberLink has released Version 6 of its multimedia software, MediaShow. Features include the ability to rapidly import, organise and playback photos and videos, automatically organise photos and videos in a calendar by the date they were taken, instantly apply a variety of basic edits to improve photos, quickly correct imperfections on both 2D and 3D media, create stylish slideshows, create polished movies by applying any of 15 different style templates to video footage, burn photos and movies to DVD, Blu-ray and AVCHD discs, and more. MediaShow is available today and can be downloaded from the CyberLink online store. A free trial download is also available from the CyberLink website.

The Instagram app is now available for Android devices running Android 2.2 or higher. A huge hit with iPhone users, Instagram allows mobile photographers to take a shot, apply a filter of their choice, and then share it via an online platform. Additionally, you can share your images on a photo-by-photo basis on Facebook and Twitter. Note that there are a few features that are not included in the first version of the Android app, such as Tilt/Blur, Share from Feed, Live Preview and Share to Flickr. Instagram for Android is free and available on Google Play.

Kdan Mobile Software has released Pocket Snapper - Virtual Studio for the iPhone. The app creates a virtual studio with models and utilises the device’s built-in gyro sensors to simulate the authentic photo-taking experience, the company says, adding that the app “allows amateur photographers to practice and sharpen their photo-taking skills”. Pocket Snapper is available on iTunes for $1.99.