The Photographic Museum of Humanity , the first Internet museum dedicated to high-quality photography, has officially inaugurated its second exhibition. Based around the theme “Where the Instinct Roams,” this exhibition is accessible online until the end of this month.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 is a new Android 4.2.2 powered smartphone with a 13-megapixel image sensor (and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera). Key photo-related features include a Dual Camera shooting mode enabling users to simulatneously capture images and footage with both camera units; Eraser Shot, which takes multiple images of the same scene in rapid succession and automatically deletes any objects that have moved between frames; a panoramic image mode and Drama Shot, a multi-exposure shooting mode in which the built-in camera takes a large number of photos within an extremely short period of time and combines them into a single photograph that shows the individual phases of the same movement (somewhat like photos taken with stroboscopic flash). Also of interest is the 5” Full HD AMOLED screen, which boasts a resolution of 441ppi,

Website: Samsung Galaxy S4

Thames & Hudson is set to publish a new book entitled “famous,” a photographic expedition through the world of celebrity. Expected to be released in May, the book spans 40 years of legendary figures as they invite or avoid the inevitable attention of the camera. Photojournalists Bruno Mouron and Pascal Rostain, who first collaborated in the 1970s for Paris Match and later founded the photo agency Sphinx, captured the tension between performance and vulnerability, distance and tangibility, fiction and reality, transforming each photo into an inquiry into the function celebrity serves in our culture. The 195-page paperback will retail for $34.95.

Pomfort, a global provider of professional solutions for data and color management on the film set, has announced an upcoming upgrade to its flagship software product, Silverstack. Version 3 supports arbitrary file types including raw sequences, photos, sound files and other production documents as wekk as tools for quality check., playback and metadata controls for ARRI Alexa, and RED cameras, Canon DSLRs, Nikon DSLRs and GoPro models. Silverstack 3 will be available end of March for $599. Existing customers can upgrade to the new version for $129.

Places I Remember: My Time with the Beatles by Henry Grossman is a new title from Curvebender Publishing. For over four decades, the vast majority of Grossman’s Beatles archive has been tucked away, awaiting rediscovery. Now, for the first time ever, over 1,000 of these images – most of which have never been published or even seen – are finally being made available in Places I Remember: My Time With the Beatles, published in a limited quantity of 1,200 numbered copies, the first 250 signed by the photographer. “This new book is the best of my many Beatles photographs,” says Grossman. “I’m happy to share some of my favourite work and thoughts on those scenes. These are souvenirs of places I remember and some very memorable friends.” Retailing for $495, Places I Remember can be purchased directly through the publisher’s website. The copies signed by the photographer are priced at $795 each.

CyberLink today announced the “Goodbye Plain Shots” Photo Challenge. Intended to be a fun contest that will “bring out the creative side of photography enthusiasts worldwide,” the “Goodbye Plain Shots” photo challenge invites photo enthusiasts to submit a photo for others to edit, edit a photo submitted by another contestant, or simply “Like” their favourite edited photos. The company is providing a free trial download of its award-winning PhotoDirector 4 software for contest participants to use as a part of the contest. Do note that photos edited using other software will be excluded from the contest. Up for grabs are the latest professional grade dSLR and compact system cameras and the full version of CyberLink’s PhotoDirector 4 software. The “Goodbye Plain Shots” Photo Challenge will run from March 7, 2013 to May 17, 2013.

Ed Hamrick has just released version 9.2.10 of Vuescan. This update adds native support for 339 Brother scanners to the desktop edition. “We have had numerous requests from Brother customers asking us for help, and we are pleased that we have added support for such a large number of desktop scanners,” Hamrick says. Of the 339 models 204 are network capable which means they will also work with Vuescan Mobile. Vuescan Desktop will work on Brother scanners directly for Mac OS X and Linux, which means that no Brother drivers are required. In addition, Vuescan no longer needs a WIA driver on Windows or an ICA driver on Mac OS X. Vuescan Desktop is available in two editions, Standard Edition ($39.95 USD) and Professional Edition ($79.95). The Professional Edition adds unlimited free upgrades, advanced IT8 color calibration and support for “raw” scans.

Canon U.S.A. today announced the 2013 Canon Live Learning (CLL) workshops and programs schedule. CLL programmes are available throughout the United States and, as in previous years, the 2013 EOS Immersion series of seminars and workshops will be presented in a weekend format. Canon representatives will be on-hand to provide technical assistance at all CLL events to help ensure that any questions and concerns can be answered accurately and immediately. For more information on CLL, including the schedule of classes and pricing information, visit the website below.

Almost exactly half a year after purchasing Nik Software, Google announced that they will “no longer sell or provide updates for” the desktop (Mac and Windows) versions of Snapseed. “Existing customers will continue to be able to download the software and can contact us for support,” the company said in a statement. “We’ll continue to offer the Snapseed mobile app on iOS and Android for free.”

The Vanguard Abeo Pro 283CGH has won a Red Dot Design Award. Prof. Dr. Peter Zec, CEO of the Red Dot Design association, has pointed out that strong design competence and economic success nowadays go hand in hand: “The winners of the ‘red dot award: product design 2013’ are the protagonists of a highly developed design culture and design industry. These days it is becoming more and more difficult to distinguish between well-designed products. It is often only in the details that the special qualities become apparent. However, those product creations that pass the test before the critical eyes of the international red dot jury will not disappear into the crowd and will be able to fend off global competition.”The Abeo PRO 283 CGH tripod kit is the 5th award in a row Vanguard received from the association. The awards ceremony takes place on 1 July 2013 as part of the traditional Red Dot Gala.

The Association of Photographers (AOP) has just announced this year’s Awards programme. “The Photographers Awards will be a more focused format, with a range of categories in single and series but with no distinction between commissioned and non-commissioned,” Awards Manager Charlie Thomas said. “One exciting addition for this year is a special 30th Anniversary Lifetime Achievement Award, voted for by the AOP membership.” The submission period will open at 10am, Monday 2 April and closes on 6pm, Friday 10 May (Photographers’ Awards) and 6pm, Friday 31 May (Open Awards). During the first two weeks, there will be an Early Bird discount on entry prices.  After 6pm Friday 12 April, the regular prices will apply for non-members, however there will be a continual discount for AOP members.

Nero has released a new version of its Nero 12 and Nero 12 Platinum multimedia suites. The most significant enhancements in the new version concern the Nero Recode video converting application, which now includes pre-configured device profiles for the latest generation of tablets and smartphones, including the iPad Mini, all iPad models, iPhone 5, iPod Touch 5G, iPod Nano 7G, Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro tablets, Windows 8 Phone and Kindle Fire HD. Nero Recode also now automatically detects a computer’s GPGPU (general-purpose graphics processing unit), and uses it by default to finish video converting jobs four to eight times faster. The overall performance of Nero Video was also improved to make editing and exporting faster. It now uses memory more efficiently to allow for longer and more involved projects. It also boosts the viewing and editing experience for HD formats such as AVCHD 2.0. Nero 12.5 is available now as a free online update for anyone who has purchased Nero 12 or Nero 12 Platinum.

Addonics today announced an internal and external reader/writer that allows you to use mSATA SSDs or CFast cards as removable media on any computer. The Addonics External Reader/Writer comes bundled with mSATA and CFast adapters. The adapters convert the mSATA or the CFast media into a 1.8” micro SATA storage device that can be inserted into the open slot of the Reader/Writer. The Addonics Internal Reader/Writer mounts directly in the 3.5” drive bay of any system and connects via the SATA port or SuperSpeed USB 3.0 port. Like the external version, the Internal Reader/Writer comes bundled with two adapters for the mSATA SSD and CFast card and converts the mSATA or the CFast media into a 1.8” micro SATA SSD that can be inserted into the open slot of the reader/writer. A model with two slots is also available to accommodate two media. MSRP starts at $55 for the single-slot internal model with SATA interface.

58 North has announced that the free iPad digital photo book app, Pholium, now offers the highest-quality hardbound photo book printing capabilities. By including QR codes in Pholium photo quality printed books, viewers can experience the same interactive sound and video contained in the eBooks. When a user hovers over a QR code with any smartphone or tablet, they are instantly directed to the multimedia content. “Printed photo books are great, but they are limited to whatever is on the page,” said Robert Sinclair, co-founder of 58 North. “With this update, we’re giving life to printed photo books and allowing our users to tell and share a richer story through multimedia assets.” The lay-flat printed Pholium books are available with glossy or matte finished image wrap covers and can contain up to 158 photos, audio captions and video links.  The up to 80-page printed books start at $42 (8-inch) and $47 (10-inch). Shipping is included.

500px and Wave have launched a new photo contest. Wave is a smart online application for invoicing, accounting and payroll that helps small businesses (such as photography studios). The winner of this week’s photo contest will receive a $500 gift card and exposure on Wave’s social media channels. The theme is “Storefronts” and photographers have until Sunday 17th March to submit their work. Note that you need to have a 500px profile in order to enter the competition.

Franzis Verlag, a German publishing house, introduced its HDR Projects Platin software for the first time to an international audience at the Focus on Imaging 2013. HDR Projects Plating features an extensive array of functions and flexible editing methods for high-quality results, the company says. Highlights include seven HDR imaging algorithms, selective HDR for precise results, “exceptionally natural” and realistic rendering of high-contrast scenes, adjustable smoothing for the removal of unwanted halos and more. HDR Projects Platin is a stand-alone software optimised for MacOS 64-bit and Windows 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems and sells for £99 including VAT.

BlackRapid has teamed up with Tether Tools to create the new TabStrap for tablet users. Comprisign a BlackRapid Metro strap, connector and bracket that integrates with a Wallee tablet case, the TabStrap enables users to comfortably wear a tablet and free up their hands during events such as wireless tethering photo shoots, trade-shows, meetings, educational platforms and more. The system currently supports all iPad models and Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablets. The complete TabStrap kit retails for $89.90.