LensPen will officially launch its new smartphone screen cleaner, SmartKlear, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January 2013. SmartKlear features the same grease-cutting carbon compound that’s found in the original LensPen and the SideKick tablet screen cleaner. “SideKick is designed for the large touchscreens on iPads and tablets; really too big for iPhones and smartphones,” Keating said. “SmartKlear has a smaller cleaning pad that works great on a phone.” This might also be an interesting product to serious photographers - not only because they tend to have smartphones but also because of the rapid expansion of touchscreen-based technologies in advanced cameras. Replacement cleaning pads for SmartKlear are also available, Keating said.

Kolor has launched version 3 of its image stitching and panorama creation software products, Autopano Pro & Autopano Giga. The latest update mainly enhances the user experience, with revamped ergonomics and the ability to choose among different projection modes. New features include real-time image manipulation at full-resolution, a great choice of customisable projection modes, a preview of the final image before even launching the rendering, and a selective anti-ghost mode (Giga edition only). Autopano version 3 is available on the new Kolor Store. Current users can upgrade for free or at a
reduced upgrade price depending on the date of their purchase.

DxO Labs have released DxO ViewPoint v1.1, the new version of its software solution dedicated to correcting keystoning and volume anamorphosis. Version 1.1 provides improved keystoning correction tools and more precise automatic recropping. It is now possible to move grid lines directly in the image without having to reposition each anchor point; with this, the anchor points, as well as the slider settings, can now be directly and very precisely moved by using the keyboard. Additionally, the cropping tool now automatically detects the image’s orientation and is also more easily adjustable. This upgrade is free for all owners of DxO ViewPoint v1.0.

Adobe today revealed a major update to its Creative Cloud offering. Members will now have access to over a dozen exclusive new features for Adobe Photoshop, including support for HiDPI displays, the ability to quickly export CSS code for text and objects, Smart Object support for Blur Gallery and Liquify, Crop tool refinements, 3D enhancements and Conditional Actions. Additionally, the company is introducing a new version, Creative Cloud for teams, making it easy for creative professionals to collaborate with colleagues. Also added is Creative Cloud Connection, a desktop sync app, which allows users to automatically sync files to a Creative Cloud account by saving files to the desktop folder, or simply dragging and dropping.

Canon EOS 5D Mark III: The Guide to Understanding and Using Your Camera by James Johnson is a new title from Rocky Nook. This book provides step-by-step instructions for setting adjustments; colour illustrations; and detailed how, when, and why explanations for each menu option. Every button, dial, switch, and menu configuration setting is explored in a user-friendly manner, with suggestions for setup. Screenshots and example images are placed throughout the book, making it easy to follow along. Distributed by O’Reilly Media, the 276-page volume is available for pre-order at a price of $39.95 through the website below.

Kata has launched a new range of sling camera bags for amateur photographers. The Kata 3N1-20DL Sling Backpack fits a pro SLR camera with battery pack and a mid-range zoom attached, plus three to four other lenses and a flash. The Kata The Kata 3N1-22DL can store a similar kit plus a 11.6-inch laptop or tablet. The Kata 3N1-33DL (pictured) accommodates a pro SLR camera with battery grip and a long-range zoom lens attached, plus five to six lenses and a flash. Finally, the Kata 3N1-10DL fits a pro SLR camera with a mid-range zoom attached, plus a couple of additional lenses and a flash or a compact camcorder with accessories.

The British Journal of Photography (BJP) has announced its support for the Photo Art Fair, a new five-day event at the Sorting Office, just off Oxford Street in central London. Taking place from 2-6 May 2013, the Photo Art Fair will showcase the work of 200 photographers, most of which will be on sale to the public. The appeal of the fair is the creation of a whole new platform for photography, spanning a range of genres, from Fashion to war.  It is designed to provide visitors with the unique opportunity to purchase affordable and collectable photographs from both undiscovered and also well-known artists. The BJP is the official sponsor of the event, alongside the Positive View Foundation, a charitable organisation that funds projects working with disadvantaged young people.

Jessops has announced the 12.12.12 Share the Moment competition. All you have to do to enter is simply take a photograph of exactly what you are doing at 12pm on the 12th December 2012 and upload it to the Jessops Facebook page. Your image, along with many others will be displayed in the Jessops Facebook Share the Moment gallery. Sean Emmett, Marketing and E-commerce Director commented “This competition isn’t about capturing your best shot, but the most telling image about you and your life at a selected moment in time; we look forward to seeing as many images as we can captured at 12pm on 12.12.12 and we are sure the results are going to be spectacular!” The competition entries will be judged by the team at Jessops.

Note that the competition is open to residents of the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Republic of Ireland aged 18 years or over only.

84.5mm has announced a new Professional line of photographic filters. The range includes seven rectangular filters (150x84.5mm in size) that are fully compatible with “P” type filter holders designed for square filters with a width of 84-85mm. The filters in the Professional line are available for €32-€39 each.

Pixengo is a new iPhone app which allows users to add thoughts and emotions to still images by fusing them with thirty-second sound bites. Photographers can record their own voice, tell the story behind the photograph or describe their feelings of the moment, then share with friends and peers. You do not need the App to view ‘pixengos’: anyone can view the pixengos you send to them in a web browser, on their mobile or a computer. If you’re roaming abroad, you can create a number of pixengos on the go but opt to send them only when you’re within a Wi-Fi zone to save cash. The app is available as a free download from iTunes.

The winners of the November 2012 Photography Blog Competition have been announced. The theme for November was “Morning Glory” - you can view all of the entries in this gallery.

Fotodiox today launched its WonderBurst NEX Radio Flash Trigger and WonderBurst HSS8000 4-in-1 Radio Slave Trigger.  The WonderBurst NEX ($39.95) enables Sony NEX-3 and NEX-5 cameras to remotely trigger any flash with a standard hot-shoe, giving shooters more options beyond the proprietary Sony hot-shoe. The WonderBurst NEX is capable of flash sync speeds up to 1/160 seconds and features 16 selectable channels. Along with the WonderBurst NEX, Fotodiox is also launching the WonderBurst HSS8000 4-in-1 Radio Slave Trigger ($69.95), a 1/8000 high-speed sync wireless remote flash trigger compatible with any camera flash or strobe. The transmitter plugs into the camera to learn the camera’s specific delay time, allowing it to get ahead of the second curtain sync, or the sync delay that most cameras have. The WonderBurst HSS8000 removes flash sync limitations and will also work as a camera remote for AF remote triggering, continuous shooting and bulb mode.

Leica has announced that the Leica Oskar Barnack Award 2013 contest will open for entries on 15 January 2013. Photographers wishing to take part may submit their photographic projects online until 1 March. The winner of the 2013 Leica Oskar Barnack Award will receive a Leica M camera with lens worth approximately €10,000 in addition to a cash prize of €5,000. A second honour in the course of the competition will be awarded in the category ‘Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award’, for (prospective) professional photographers aged 25 and under. The winner of the first prize in this section will also be awarded a Leica rangefinder camera complete with lens. The awards will be presented in the course of the Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie photography festival to be held in Arles, France from 1 to 7 July 2013.

Leica and Rankin hosted a private viewing of images from the Leica ‘S Mag: The Rankin Issue’ at the Annroy Gallery in London, an exclusive invitation-only event which was attended by over 400 guests. Using only the Leica S-System camera (pictured), Rankin collaborated with nine individual hair stylists, to create a series of striking images and a collection of diverse fashion stories which are communicated across the latest 200-page edition of S Magazine. Rankin said: “I’d always thought it would be interesting to do a hair book – where you take hairdressers and you give them the opportunity to do anything they want.” He added: “It was a chance to collaborate with the people I really admire, but also people I knew had hidden talents that maybe hadn’t come out yet.”

The winners of the EyeTime 2012 competition have been announced. EyeTime 2012 was assembled as a means to publicly promote the research, exploration and investigation currently happening amongst today’s emerging talent. In the Future Voices category, the jury has selected the works of Gerald Haselwanter, Laurent Evrard and Simon Chang; while winners in the Emerging Talent category include MArk Harless, Nicholai Go and Zulinadi Abdul Azli.

Phase One has announced a number of free seminars on Capture One Pro 7. These skill-building 3-hour seminars will be held twice on Tuesday in London and twice on Thursday in Manchester this week. Phase One’s popular Image Quality Professor, Niels V. Knudsen, will be there
to offer insights and answer questions about the new processing engine in Capture One Pro 7. David Grover will present information on organizing images with Capture One Pro’s new digital asset management features. Seminars are appropriate for all photographers seeking better after-capture image processing results. To register, participants need only to send an email to [email protected] requesting the city and time they would like to attend. Click through / scroll down for the seminar schedule.