In February, Toshiba will start shipping its first SDHC memory card with embedded wireless LAN functionality. The new card, FlashAir, has an 8GB capacity and allows users to upload and download photographs to and from a server and to exchange photographs and other data with other devices, including digital cameras that are FlashAir compliant and, smartphones and PCs that support wireless LAN. Even in digital cameras not compliant with FlashAir (this basically applies to all current models), the new card can share digital images with smartphones and Wi-Fi enabled computers. Toshiba will secure certification of FlashAir for wireless communication in Japan, North America and Europe. Pricing to be announced.

The 43rd edition of the free PhotographyBB Online Magazine is now available. This month’s edition examines the fundamentals of HDR imaging, along with the practical applications for its place in the world of photography. In the Social Networking for Photographers column, the Mike Frye takes a look at Google+ and the important roles it can play for photographers both socially and in business. Additionally, readers will learn techniques for transforming their digital photos into pencil sketches, along with a tutorial for mastering some of Photoshop’s most useful tools. PhotographyBB Online Magazine is available as a free download through the PhotographyBB Website.

Starting September 2011, Carl Zeiss will be offering its UV filters and circular polarisers in four new sizes: 52mm, 55mm, 62mm and 77mm. Until now the company’s filters have only been available in 58mm, 67mm, 72mm and 82mm sizes. Additional diameter sizes will follow in January 2012: 43mm and 46mm for UV filters and 95 mm for both polarisers and UV filters. The T* anti-reflective coating used on these filters minimises flare on glass-air surfaces and improves light transmission.

Samyang has announced the availability and estimated retail price of the Samyang 7.5mm f/3.5 UMC Fish-eye lens for Micro Four Thirds. Directly competing with the Panasonic Lumix G Fish-Eye 8mm f/3.5 (read review), the new Samyang lens is the first model from the new family of lenses developed specifically for the Micro Four Thirds system. Offering a diagonal angle of view of 180 degrees, the Samyang 7.5mm f/3.5 UMC Fish-eye is a tiny manual-focus lens that will be available in two colour versions later this month at an estimated retail price of €299.

Jessops has announced a number of deals and the chance to win a superzoom digital camera at its Isle of Man store in Douglas. To celebrate the Commonwealth Youth Games, the Jessops store within the Strand Shopping Centre is offering a £100 discount on the Sony A35, a temporary 50% price reduction on in-store photo books and in-store canvas prints, and 25% off 1 hour in-store photo printing services. You can also buy the Tamron 70-300mm f.4/5.6 Di lens for £99.95 and the Velbon UP-400 monopod for £14.95, representing savings of £20 and £5, respectively. Additionally, SanDisk Extreme and Extreme Pro memory cards can be purchased at a 20% discount. All offers are for a limited period only from Wednesday 7th to Tuesday 13th September.  The company has also announced a competition: those who e-mail their action shots to [email protected] will see them featured on Jessops’ Facebook page and also get a chance to win an Olympus VR-320 camera (pictured).

To celebrate the launch of their PinPoint focus assist accessory, DeluxGear has announced a photography competition entitled, “Almost Picture Perfect”. PinPoint helps eliminate focus issues by emitting a narrow, green light beam to assist the camera’s focus system. Running until 25 September 2011, the contest encourages photographers to enter their missed shots that best represents the “perfect picture that got away” due to focus issues. Once a photo is submitted to the competition’s Facebook page, entrants will be eligible to win DeluxGear’s PinPoint, Lens Guard, and Lens Cradle products.

Schilt Publishing has announced the upcoming exhibition and book launch of Michelle Sank?s photographic series The Submerged at Hotshoe Gallery, London. The Submerged was produced within Mid-Wales in the hilly and coastal areas around Aberystwyth, and portrays “a grittiness evident in the geological and architectural fabric of the place”, the publisher says. The exhibition opens tomorrow and runs until the 29th at Hotshoe Gallery, 29 – 31 Saffron Hill, London, EC1N 8SW. The book, distributed by Thames & Hudson, retails for £29.95, with a limited edition - including a print - available for £200.

The JVC GC-PX10 is a hybrid digital camera that takes 12-megapixel stills and 1080p full HD video sampled at 36Mbps. Featuring 32 gigabytes of built-in flash memory plus a slot for SDXC/SDHC/SD cards, the JVC GC-PX10 can even shoot stills and video simultaneously. Other highlights include 300fps slow-motion movie capture at VGA resolution, 10x optical zoom with optical image stabilisation, a 3” tiltable touch-sensitive screen, time-lapse recording and a top sensitivity setting of ISO 6400. The JVC GC-PX10 is scheduled for launch in September with pricing to be announced.

X-Rite has announced the September theme for its Colour Perfectionists Unite Photo Contest. To enter, submit a photograph that represents the “Back to School” theme, follow @xritephoto on Twitter and “like” X-Rite Photo on Facebook, then invite friends and family to vote for your image. The top 20 photos with the most votes each month will be entered in the final round.  The finalist images will be featured in a monthly gallery on Facebook and added to the Colour Perfectionists group on Flickr. Finally, an X-Rite Coloratti will judge the 20 finalists to determine the winner of the best photograph that illustrates the theme of the month. Prizes to be won include a ColorChecker Passport (pictured) and an i1Display Pro.

Sigma has released a firmware update for the Sigma SD15 digital SLR camera. Version 1.02 adds an option to save images in both raw and JPEG format simultaneously, improves flash output control and the accuracy of (evaluative) exposure metering, and corrects various bugs. You can download the firmware update from the website below.

Website: Sigma

On 1 December 2011, Hasselblad will release a firmware update for the Hasselblad H4D-40 and H4D-50 medium-format DSLR cameras, which will enable them to provide many of the features of the newer Hasselblad H4D-60. The new features include one-click focus check, a bi-directional spirit level, quick access to a new rear info screen, a live video view mode via Phocus when working with the camera connected to a computer, and support for electronically controlled Schneider and Rollei shutters. Interested readers can get more information and a sneak peek at the additional features at the website below.

Pentax USA has just announced a price reduction on the Pentax K-5 semi-professional digital SLR camera. The MSRP of the K-5 has dropped $100 to $1499.95 (body only) and to $1,649.95 (for the K-5 lens kit with DA 18-55 WR lens). In addition to this (permanent) price reduction, from now until 30th November, a $300 instant rebate is in effect on any qualifying purchase of either kit configuration.

Review: Read our in-depth review of the Pentax K-5

Apple has posted a Camera RAW compatibility update, adding system-level support for raw files produced by a number of new (and not-so-new) digital cameras. The newly supported models include the old Konica Minolta DiMAGE A200 as well as the new Olympus E-P3, Panasonic LUMIX DMC-G3, Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GF3, Samsung NX11, Samsung NX100, Sony NEX-C3 (pictured) and Sony Alpha SLT-A35. To view the full list of currently supported digital cameras, visit the website below.

Website: Apple Mac OS X Lion: Supported digital camera raw formats

LPA Design, the company behind the PocketWizard brand, has issued a major firmware update for both Nikon and Canon versions of its MiniTT1 and FlexTT5 radios. Available now, version 3.0 for Nikon and Version 6.0 for Canon include several new features and updates including HyperSync Automation, SpeedCycler and flash power control without a camera. “We’re excited about these new features for the ControlTL system and the creative potential they represent for photographers,” said Dave Schmidt, Vice President of Marketing at LPA Design. “Firmware upgrades such as this are a benefit for photographers who invest in PocketWizard radios. HyperSync Automation will be a game changer in that it opens up the amazing capability to use blazing fast sync speeds with flash units – creating amazing potential in sports or portrait applications.”

Photography Blog and Cyberlink are giving away FIVE copies of Cyberlink PhotoDirector 2011, each worth £79.99!

CyberLink’s PhotoDirector 2011 is designed to smooth the flow from the time an image is imported to the PC to its final output by delivering powerful management and editing tools.

PhotoDirector 2011 features a wide array of dynamic adjustment tools that can be applied in a non-destructive editing environment, leaving your original images unaltered. Offering native rendering of RAW files from Canon and Nikon cameras provides photographers with a great feature to maintain the immaculate quality of each image. PhotoDirector 2011 is also the first photo software that lets users easily share their own presets and download an unlimited number of presets defined by others, directly from the application, through CyberLink’s online community DirectorZone.com.

The 5 winners are: James Golden, Michael Flowdy, David Lonsdale, Kurt Skeels and Paul Rose

The contest closed at 11.55PM GMT on Wednesday 31st August 2011.

The winners of the August 2011 Photography Blog Competition have been announced. The theme for July was “Street Portrait” - you can view all of the entries in this gallery. Here are the 5 winners:

1st Place
Out in the Cold by mortong

Prize: X-Rite ColourChecker Passport
Kindly donated by X-Rite
http://www.xritephoto.com/

Want to see what the new Pentax Q compact system camera looks like in the flesh?

Here’s a gallery of hands-on photos of the Pentax Q, the world’s smallest and lightest interchangeable lens camera, together with the 47mm prime lens.

Want to see what the new Samsung NX200 looks like in the flesh?

Here’s a gallery of hands-on photos of the Samsung NX200 compact system camera, together with the 16mm pancake, 18-55mm, 18-200mm, 60mm, and 85mm lenses.