CyberLink has just launched MediaStory, a unique slideshow creator application for iPhones and Android Phones. The application comes with pre-designed slideshow templates with various themes that can be applied to turn photos into animated slideshows on the fly. The slideshows can be played on the smart phone or uploaded to Facebook. CyberLink MediaStory for smart phones can be purchased from the iTunes App Store and Android Market, at $2.99. Also, there is a free version - CyberLink MediaStory for Facebook - that creates animations from photos already stored on Facebook.

A US Coast Guard investigator named Paul Shultz recently fished out a Nikon Coolpix L18 digital compact camera, housed in an underwater case, which has turned out to have floated to Florida from the island of Aruba. According to a report by Associated Press, it took the camera half a year to make the 1,100-mile journey on the back of the waves, helped by “various currents”. Owing to the underwater housing - whose make/model has not been disclosed - the camera remained functional, and it was possible to retrieve the pictures - and a video “recorded by” a sea turtle that accidentally turned on the floating camera while it was en route to Florida - stored on its memory card. Using clues found in the photos, Shultz was able to identify the owner of the camera as Dick de Bruin, a sergeant in the Royal Dutch Navy. “The camera is on its way to the de Bruin family via FedEx and should be there any day,” AP says.

Via Associated Press

Canon has recently filed a patent application for a solution that would allow digital cameras to faithfully capture high-contrast scenes in a single take. Photography Bay reports that the patent application describes a process whereby different exposure times are assigned to different photosites on the sensor to ensure highlights are not blown out and shadows are not blocked up. If you are interested in the technical details, you can read the entire patent application online.

Via Photography Bay

Adobe has posted a second prerelease of its Lens Profile Creator utility, which generates custom lens profiles for use with the Lens Correction tool in Photoshop CS5. As Adobe puts it, “a lens profile describes the types of optical aberrations that exist in a particular lens and prescribes how to correct the lens distortions in an image captured from the same lens”. These optical aberrations include geometric distortions, corner shading and chromatic aberrations. You first need to capture a set of chequerboard images with your camera (provided as part of the application package), which you can then feed into the Lens Profile Creator utility. Today’s update fixes several reported issues in the initial build, Adobe says.

Website: Lens Profile Creator

Bibble Labs has just released version 5.1 of Bibble Pro, and introduced Bibble 5.1 Lite. New additions to Bibble include tools like Perfectly Clear, a one-touch image optimisation algorithm, and Heal & Clone, which allow photographers to remove distracting elements from their images. Also new to version 5.1 is raw support for ten new digital cameras including the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 and G10, Sony A450, NEX-3 and NEX-5 and Olympus E-450 and E-600, among others. As far as the all-new Bibble 5.1 Lite is concerned, it offers much of the same speed, power and control as Bibble Pro, but without several of the pro-specific features at a lower price. Bibble 5.1 Pro and Bibble 5.1 Lite are available immediately for Windows, Mac, and Linux computers for $199.95 and $99.95, respectively. Bibble Labs customers who purchased Bibble 4 since September, 2006 are eligible for a free upgrade to Bibble 5. Bibble 5.1 is a free upgrade for all current Bibble 5 customers.

Website: Bibble Labs

From June 9 to July 2, Craftsman Tools is encouraging DIY enthusiasts and budding photographers to submit their photographic interpretation of the phrase “Trust in Your Hands.” The competition is hosted on Twitter. Entry tweets should read “@CraftsmanClub: Look how I put #trust in my hands,” followed by a URL link to the photo. At the end of the contest, 10 winning submissions will receive a Craftsman C3 tool package valued at $750 each. The contest is open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, 18 years or older. For official rules, visit the website below.

Website: Craftsman Photo Contest

Sigma has confirmed the launch date of the Sigma SD15 digital SLR camera, which was first announced nearly two years ago. According to Photoscala, the Sigma SD15 will become available on 25 June, at the surprisingly high price of €1,199 (earlier this year, the official German website of the company quoted a recommended retail price of €899. which has now been modified). In the UK, the camera will start shipping at the beginning of July, priced at £899.99. The Sigma SD15 has a Foveon sensor with 4.7x3 megapixels, and incorporates a TRUE II processor, a 77-segment metering sensor as well as a 3-inch rear screen with a resolution of 460,000 dots. The shutter is rated for 100,000 actuations.

Update: 14/6/2010 - We’ve just added a press release issued by Sigma UK.

From now till July 19th, you can submit a photo or video of your “moments of wonder” to a dedicated website set up by Samsung, for a chance to win one of 7 DualView cameras or a 24” HD monitor. Your moment can represent an everyday joy or a once-in-a-lifetime event, like sitting front row at your daughter’s college graduation. Note that this competition is open to US citizens only. As always, we recommend that you read the rules before entering your work.

Website: Moments of Wonder

Photobucket announced today that its “Photobucket Mobile” application is available now in RIM’s BlackBerry App World. The app allows users to interact with their Photobucket albums no matter where they are right from their phone. Blackberry users can download Photobucket Mobile from BlackBerry App World by searching for “Photobucket”. The application is also available in the Android Market and the App Store for iPhone and iPad.

Website: Photobucket Mobile

The first ‘Create by Jason Wu’ digital camera intended for the UK market has been unveiled at the Graduate Fashion Week in London. The ‘Create by Jason Wu’ line was first announced in the U.S.A. earlier this year, resulting from the unique collaboration between General Imaging and Jason Wu, the 27-year-old designer who has claimed the international fashion spotlight, dressing celebrities like Drew Barrymore, Diane Kruger and Natalie Portman. The first UK model has a stunning leather body with luxurious matching case, elegant wrist strap and neck strap. The camera also boasts an internal memory capable of storing over 1,000 images, and a retractable USB plug for easy connection to a laptop or PC. Available this month, pricing to be determined.

In the wake of the recent acquisition of Microsoft’s Expression Media software for digital asset management, Phase One has updated Capture One to improve the applications’ compatibility. Version 5.1.2 allows users to easily add a selection of images from Capture One to an Expression Media catalogue, preview images in Expression Media using Capture One’s default rendering, and create a Capture One album with images found by searching in Expression Media. Additionally, Capture One 5.1.2 adds support for Leaf Aptus-II 10R and Olympus E-PL1, updates firmware for Leaf digital backs and adds QuickLook and WIC support for Leaf MOS files. This is a free service release to existing Capture One 5.x users.

Announced at the beginning of the year, the Kodak ESP 7250 printer is now officially launched in the United Kingdom. Compatible with the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch (second generation), the Kodak ESP 7250 features easy-to-use wireless functions, an intuitive control panel and the lowest total ink replacement cost in the industry, according to Kodak. Apart from its wireless capabilities, the Kodak ESP 7250 features a built-in duplexer, intelligent paper sensor and auto-engaging photo trays saving time and money, and a 2.4” LCD screen as well as a number of memory card slots. Available this month, the Kodak ESP 7250 retails for £169.99.

Lomography has announced the Spinner 360°, a fully mechanical camera that captures 360° panoramas on 35mm film with a spectacular spin. Simply take the Spinner 360° in one hand, pull the trigger-cord with the other and release it – in a split second the camera spins 360° around its own axis and records everything that’s around you on a frame more than 4 times longer than a conventional landscape picture. For best results, it is recommended to load the Lomography Spinner 360° with ISO 400/27° film. Given the size of the panoramic images, you can expect to manage approximately 8 frames on a standard 36-exposure roll.

Website: Lomography

Datacolor has announced the first in a series of upcoming webinars designed to demonstrate the simplicity of achieving optimum monitor calibration. Hosted by Datacolor Education Manager, Joshua Fischer, and Manfrotto Distribution Product Manager, Will Holowka, the first webinar will discuss Datacolor’s entire line of Spyder3 monitor calibration products with step-by-step instructions on how to achieve accurate colour on your monitor. Guests will have the ability to interact with the speakers, allowing for first-hand input for their calibration queries. Taking place on 16 June from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM EST, the webinar is accessible at the website below.

Website: Datacolor Webinar

Between Here and There: Passages in Contemporary Photography, on view 2 July 2010 through 13 February 2011, is a new exhibition to be held in the the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The first half of the exhibition shows how artists in 1960s and 1970s, working in the context of Minimal and Conceptual art, were drawn to photography for its differences from traditional art media. The second half features photographers from the 1980s to the present day including Rineke Dijkstra, Doug Aitken and Weng Fen. The exhibition will be on display in the Joyce and Robert Menschel Hall for Modern Photography.

The majority of GE’s new cameras, announced earlier this year, are now available in the UK. These include the GE X5 superzoom camera with 15x optical zoom (pictured), the GE E1486TW touch-screen model featuring an 8x optical zoom in a slim body, the 14.2-megapixel GE J1455 that sports a 5x zoom lens with image stabilisation, and the smart-looking GE A1255 and A1455, which come with 5x optical zoom and a 12 and a 14 megapixel imager, respectively. The 12.2-megapixel GE G5WP waterproof compact and the 14-megapixel GE E1486W - which is essentially an E1486TW without the touch-screen interface - are slated for July.

The National Association of Photoshop Professionals has launched its new Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Learning Center. Timed to coincide with the release of Lightroom 3, the NAPP Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Learning Center is open to the public and offers new in-depth tutorials on the most talked about features including: the new import dialogue, tethered capture, improved noise reduction, lens correction, the new grain feature, and more.

Website: NAPP’s Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Learning Center

Fujifilm has posted firmware updates to a number of their S series digital cameras. The affected models include the FinePix S2500HD, S2550HD, S2600HD, S2700HD, S1800, S1850, S1880, S1900, S1600, S1700, S1730, S1770 and the S1780. Firmware version 1.04 addresses the issue that unwanted number of sheets are printed by setting with “PictBridge” function, and improves handling when playing back images.

Website: Fujifilm Finepix Firmware