Magix has released Magix Website Maker 4, a program that could be of interest to photographers looking to build a Flash website to display their pictures. The new version can be used on Windows and on Macintosh OS X alike. Magix Website Maker 4 requires no installation and has a multi-project mode for pros. Beginners will appreciate the context-sensitive video tutorials, the included 64-page e-booklet “Website tutorial: How to easily create your own website“, and the Website Maker wizard. Magix Website Maker 4 is available now for £39.99 including VAT from Amazon and PC World.

OmniVision has announced a new 1/4-inch, 5-megapixel RAW CMOS image sensor based on its 1.4-micron OmniBSI backside illumination (BSI) technology. OmniVision’s 1.4-micron OmniBSI pixel allegedly delivers best-in-class low light sensitivity (680-mV/lux-sec) and a small footprint, making it ideal for the ultra-compact camera modules used in mobile phones and notebooks. The sensor provides 10-bit images in RAW RGB format with complete user control over formatting and output data transfer. It is also capable of recording 720p HD video at 60 frames per second (fps) and 1080p HD video at 30 fps. The 720p/60 HD video is captured in full field of view with 2 x 2 binning, which doubles the sensitivity and improves the signal-to-noise ratio.

Photobucket has announced that its newest application for Android provides the first-ever full imaging suite for camera phones, complete with automatic upload, content management, and image search capabilities. “By adding the ability to upload all camera phone photos automatically, the time consuming and confusing process of getting pictures off your phone has been rendered a thing of the past,” said Tom Munro, President of Photobucket. “Coupling the simplicity of automatic upload with the full functionality of the Photobucket Mobile application is a game changer when it comes to managing personal photos. Best of all, the service is available to anyone with an Android phone, absolutely free of charge.” This automatic backup solution will make it easier for users to share their memories with the more than 2 million websites that host Photobucket images, including Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter.

Fodor’s Travel has announced the latest in its series of travel photography contests, “Show Us Your France,” where North American visitors to Fodors.com will have the opportunity to upload their favorite photos of France, and the chance to win Fodor’s guides. One grand prize winner will have his/her photograph featured on fodors.com. Photo submissions will be accepted at www.fodors.com/contest/france from February 15th to March 7th, 2010. As always, we suggest that you read the rules before entering your work.

PicStop has teamed up with SanDisk to give one lucky visitor to their website the chance to drive a supercar for the day. The day includes the delivery & collection of either a Aston Martin DB9, Ferrari F430 or a Lamborghini Gallardo with insurance for 2 named drivers. For your chance to enter this prize draw simply click enter and submit your name & email details. Make sure to read their terms and conditions though, as only people with a valid British full driving licence are allowed to drive the car. The draw will be held on 19 March 2010.

Website: PicStop

Sigma Japan has unveiled the release date for the Pentax and Sony versions of the Sigma 17-70mm f2.8-4 DC MACRO OS HSM lens. The lens, which was announced on 4 December 2009, will be launched on 27 February for Sony and 19 March for Pentax. The estimated retail price is 56,200 yen plus taxes - this includes the lens itself and a LH780-04 lens hood.

Looks like it’s large-format day today - Fujifilm has just added some new products to its range of LF papers. The first is a competitively priced, water-resistant 255gsm paper, available with either a satin or gloss finish. Available in 30.5 metre rolls, either 24” or 44” widths; this paper enables prints with vibrant colours with a broad tonal range. The company has also released the new Premium Lustre large format paper, which has similar qualities to the acclaimed Pearl range and is available in 30 metre rolls, in either 24”, 44” or 60” widths.

Kodak has just announced the upcoming launch of Kodak Ektar 100 - the world’s finest-grained colour negative film emulsion available today - in 4x5” and 8x10” sheet formats. Since its introduction in September 2008, the Ektar 100 family of films has won numerous industry awards, including the Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) award (2009), Professional Photographers’ Hot One Award (2009, 2010) and American Photo Editor’s Choice Award (2009). “Large-format photographers, such as landscape and fine-art photographers, will love the impact and flexibility that Ekatr 100 brings.  It’s the ideal choice for creating high magnification enlargements for commercial display, while preserving even the finest detail,” said Lars Fiedler, Marketing Manager Film Capture. “Introducing EKTAR 100 Film in 4x5 and 8x10 further continues our commitment to providing photographers with high quality, relevant films that support a broad segment of the market.” The new Kodak Ektar Film in 4x5 and 8x10 sheets formats will be available worldwide beginning in April 2010.

Related post: SilverFast NegaFix Profile for Kodak Ektar 100 Now Available

SoftColor Toolbox is a tiny command line tool for colour correction, image processing and colour management.All processing uses SoftColor’s layer based colour correction and image processing engine. SoftColor Toolbox reads multiple image formats including raw data, and also handles ICC profiles. A major benefit of SoftColor Toolbox 2 is that it can save output image in Photoshop document format (.psd). With this feature, the original and the improved images are stored in same output file as different layers. A 15-day trial is available through the website below.

Website: SoftColor Toolbox 2

If you live in or near London and own a Canon, Nikon, Olympus or Sony DSLR or an Olympus Micro Four Thirds camera, now’s the time to express your thoughts and feelings about it. A market research company called Acumen Fieldwork has been commissioned to conduct a qualitative research among DSLR owners to find out more about their views on their cameras. The focus group discussions will take place in central London, and participants will be paid £60 cash for their time and input. The research firm has not disclosed the identity of the manufacturer that commissioned the study so that it does not infuence the respondents’ replies. If you would like to take part, call Abi Fuller on 0161 482 2507.

Current users of Adobe Photoshop Elements can now step up to Adobe Photoshop CS4 for half the price if ordering directly from Adobe. This is a limited-time offer open to registered Elements users only, ending 20 February, 2010. You can order Photoshop CS4 by calling 0800 0280 148 and mentioning the Offer Code WV9V - remember to have the serial number of your registered Elements copy ready for verification. The offer is valid un the UK only.

Oceanhouse Media has released Dr. Seuss Camera - The Cat in the Hat Edition, a unique and whimsical photo card maker. It allows users to create fun photo cards using the iPhone’s built-in camera or Photo Library. Users can pose with characters or choose to become the Cat in the Hat, the playful Thing 1 or Thing 2, or even Sally or her brother. Cards can be personalized with comical and colorful stamps, borders and classic Seussian text. Available for both the iPhone and iPod Touch for $2.99, Dr. Seuss Camera - The Cat in the Hat Edition will also be available for the iPad.

DxO Labs have released their sensor-based data obtained from a pre-production Canon EOS 550D digital SLR camera. The Canon EOS 550D / Digital Rebel T2i, which was only announced a week ago, got a sensor rating of 65.6 on a scale of 1 to 100, which is less than some APS-C competitors (Nikon D5000/D90/D300/D300s, Pentax K10D, Samsung GX20, Sony A380/A550/A700) have received in the past, but it has to be mentioned that all of these competitors offer lower resolution and most of them are prosumer rather than entry-level models.

Website: Canon EOS 550D / Digital Rebel T2i Data on DxOMark

Kingston today announced the release of a Kingston 16GB microSDHC Class 10 card. “Host devices such as high-definition cameras and the latest smartphones are being designed to optimize their write performance which will take advantage of performance of the Class 10 card,” said Steve Hall, Product Development Manager of Flash, Kingston Technology. “Users will benefit from swifter copying and transferring of photos, music, videos and e-books when using a multi-format card reader such as the Kingston Media Reader or Kingston MobileLiteG2 with a PC.” Backed by a lifetime warranty and 24/7 technical support, the Kingston 16GB micro SD Class 10 memory card is available for £74.86, or £74.99 with an SD adapter.

LaserSoft Imaging (LSI) has quietly introduced version 6.6.1r5 of its Silverfast software, which adds a NegaFix profile for Kodak Ektar 100, the world’s finest-grained colour negative film manufactured today. NegaFix profiles within SilverFast are a handy tool to get the colours of a negative film right, which can otherwise be tricky because of the differences in the orange mask applied to different emulsions. Kodak Ektar 100 is a new film introduced a bit more than a year ago in 35mm and almost exactly a year ago in 120 format. So far there has been no NegaFix profile available for this emulsion, but SilverFast version 6.6.1r5 has it - albeit only for Epson and Nikon scanners. As an LSI administrator explained in a reply to a question posted on the official SilverFast discussion board, “Every film has a different response with every different scanner model. We will try to update the profile for different scanner modules but it will take some time.”

Website: SilverFast 6.6.1r5

The first Lomography Gallery Store and official Lomography Embassy will open its doors on the US West Coast on 18 February. The USA’s Lomographic Society is planning an “epic celebration” with drinks, live Mariachi music, tacos and tamales, and dancing girls. The festivities will begin at 7pm - if you want to take part, send an RSVP to [email protected]. A series of workshops will also take place on the first week, starting on 19 February. Lomographic Society USA is headquartered at 7998 Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90047. Click through / read on for the details.

For the first time in Europe, the Pentax K-x is now available in eight new colours. These iclude beige, chocolate, metal fuchsia, pink, metal turquoise, metal dark grey, olive green and soft brown. As the Pentax K-x has already been available in black, pearl white, red and navy blue, the addition of these new colours means Pentax enthusiasts now have a dozen different colour schemes to choose from. These new colours, produced in limited edition kits with the 18-55mm lens, will be launched in March, at the same recommended retail price as the existing black version, £599.99 including taxes.