Samsung has announced the STORY Station Plus, its new line-up of 3.5-inch external hard drives featuring an eSATA interface for faster data transfer. The 3-gigabit-per-second, high-performance drives are available in up to 2-terabyte densities. The addition of the eSATA interface raises the data transfer speed of the STORY Station Plus series by more than six-fold when compared with models using a USB 2.0 interface, the company says. Having said that, the Samsung STORY Station Plus does retain the USB 2.0 port alongside the faster eSATA interface, should you need to use it with a USB-only computer. The STORY Station Plus line-up will also feature Samsung’s low standby power design that allegedly reduces the standby power by 96 percent to 0.1 watts from the conventional 2.5W. The STORY Station Plus drives will be available globally by the end of November 2009. The STORY Station Plus features a three-year limited warranty and the 2TB version has a $299 MSRP.

If you have any interesting photos taken with a Lensbaby, now’s your chance to get published! Your shot might become one of a dozen photographs that will illustrate a new book by Lensbaby guru Corey Hilz, due out from Focal Press in the Summer of 2010.  “The book will feature ‘how to’ and inspirational content, along with galleries of Lensbaby photos by some of the foremost Lensbaby photographers in the world,” Lensbaby says. “At least 12 of the submitted images will be featured in the Lensbaby book. Popular voting on the Lensbaby forum will be used to help decide one of the chosen images. Corey Hilz and Craig Strong will pick the remaining images”. You have until the end of the year to submit up to two photos for consideration. Voting will take place from 1 to 7 January 2010 and the selected images will be announced on 15 January.

Website: Lensbaby

Opera Software’s Photo Sharing application turns a folder on your computer into a into a fully functional photo gallery that can be directly accessed by your friends and family, in any Web browser. The Photo Sharing application in Opera Unite is available as part of the free Opera Web browser. All you need to do is download the Opera browser, run the Opera Unite Photo application, designate a folder on your PC or laptop as your photo gallery, and it becomes instantly available to friends and family via the World Wide Web, without your having to wait long hours for the photos to upload.

Website: Opera

Data Robotics has introduced the five-bay Drobo S with eSATA, a professional-class storage solution designed for Windows, Mac, and Linux users who require high-speed data transfers and reliable data storage. Thanks to the improvements, the Drobo S is claimed to offer 150 percent of the performance of the current four-bay Drobo. Built on Data Robotics’ BeyondRAID virtualised storage platform, which eliminates the lock-in of traditional RAID configurations, the Drobo S features a one-click toggle between single- and dual-drive redundancy and provides protection against up to two concurrent drive failures. Drobo S is currently available starting at a price of $799 MSRP, with multiple configurations to $1,799 for a 10TB (5x 2TB) solution.

Website: Drobo S

The Mail Tribune is now accepting submissions for its annual Oregon Outdoors Wild Bird Photo Contest. Open to everyone from long-time birders, to amateur photographers, to nature enthusiasts, the Oregon Outdoors Wild Bird Photo Contest invites participants to capture the beauty of their feathered friends in their natural habitats. Participants may enter as many bird photos as they like, but will only be eligible to win one award. All submissions must be accompanied by a completed entry form. Submissions will be accepted through 4:00 pm on 11 December 2009. Full contest rules, as well as submission guidelines and entry forms, are available online at the website below.

Website: Wild Bird Photo Contest

PocketWizard has released a new firmware update for the ControlTL MiniTT1 and FlexTT5 products. Version 4.374 offers truly automatic camera detection, optimised HSS crossover auto detection, flash exposure compensation, pre-flash boost refinements and support for the Canon version of the Metz 58 AF-1 flash unit. Read the download instructions here.

Website: Beta Firmware Overview

The entry deadline for Eyes Wide Open with Jillian Edelstein and Sony Ericsson Satio on Vodafone has been extended until Sunday, 29 November. To celebrate the launch of the new, 12.1-megapixel Sony Ericsson Satio handset on Vodafone, photographer Jillian Edelstein has been commissioned to capture the beauty and individuality of 121 eyes in only 12.1 hours. While Julian Edelstein has become famous for her portraits of celebrities, the Eyes Wide Open project “takes her gaze from the world of famous faces, and looks to delve into the realm of visual communication through the exploration of eyes”, the organisers say. Sony Ericsson are searching for people from all over the United Kingdom and all walks of life to be part of Eyes Wide Open. Simply upload your details, an image of your eyes and tell the organisers why you would like to be involved. Jillian will be personally selecting the 61 participants from all applicants and inviting them to an invitation-only Satio studio photoshoot. You can find out more and win the chance to be involved by visiting the website below.

Website: Eyes Wide Open

Eye-Fi users can now choose which photos or videos to wirelessly upload to sharing sites - like Facebook, Flickr, Snapfish or Picasa - before it leaves their camera. The new feature is aptly named Selective Share. If you already own an Eye-Fi card offering the online sharing feature, all you need to do is log in to your E-ye-Fi account at manager.eye.fi, click “Upload Settings” under “Settings”, plug your card in and enable Selective Share. With Selective Share enabled, all your photos and videos will be automatically and wirelessly backed up on your home computer, plus you can select which images and clips you would like to share online by marking them using your camera’s Protect or Lock feature.

Website: Eye-Fi Manager

Pentax has announced a Windows-only update to the PENTAX Digital Camera Utility 4 program. Version 4.11 adds support for the Pentax K-x digital SLR camera, corrects a few bugs, adds [Cross Processing], [Picture: Blue Sky] and [Picture: Sunset] to the Image data display, adds lens data for the smc Pentax DA L55-300mmF4-5.8 ED telezoom, and improves overall stability. The update can be downloaded by visiting the website below.

Website: Pentax Digital Camera Utility 4 Update for Windows

Nikon UK has announced a promotion: buy a new Nikon D300s until 17 January 2010, and get an SB-900 flash for free. The offer is limited to currently registered Nikon users, and is valid only on new Nikon D300s purchases. Also, the promotion strictly only applies to products which have been supplied and distributed by Nikon UK Ltd within the UK and Republic of Ireland. For more details, please refer to the Nikon Flashback terms and conditions.

Chronicle Books has just released a new rock and roll photograph book - Taking Aim: Unforgettable Rock & Roll Photographs Selected by Graham Nash. Spanning more than fifty years of music-making as seen through the eyes of 40 photographers, Taking Aim is Graham’s personal take, through photography, on the evolution of rock ‘n’ roll music. Some personalities, like Bob Marley and Emmylou Harris, are represented in a single, iconic image. Others, like Johnny Cash and The Beatles, are documented by multiple photographers and throughout various stages in their lives and careers. Accompanying the book is an audio CD with Nash’s insights and reflections on each photograph. The 128-page book, which has 80 duotone and full-colour photos, is priced at $50. The exhibition of Taking Aim, organized by Experience Music Project | Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (EMP | SFM) in Seattle, Washington, opens there in 2010 and will tour thereafter.

Website: Chronicle Books

We’ve just launched an exciting new addition to Photography Blog - you can now sort our camera reviews by manufacturer, rating and date.

Previously we’ve just had a big long list of all our reviews, with the newest at the top, but you can now alternatively choose to browse them by a particular manufacturer, either by date or by rating. Want to quickly find out which are the best Canon cameras? It’s now just a couple of clicks away.

This great new feature works with every camera review that we’ve published since we re-designed the site back in March - that’s a massive 77 of the latest cameras to choose from!

And remember, you can also check out the Best Cameras list to find out which products come with the official Photography Blog seal of approval.

The Sigma Corporation of America Scholarship will award a cash gift of $5,000 and $1,000 in Sigma products to one talented American high school senior to advance his or her education and goals toward obtaining a career in the photography industry. Applications will be accepted until February 15, 2010. Online voting will occur Feb. 16, 2010 to April 23, 2010, and the winner will be announced May 3, 2010. Applicants are required to submit an application, brief essay and three to five images that have a connecting theme in order to be considered for the Sigma Corporation of America Scholarship. The entire package will be judged based on creativity of subject selection, overall technique and, most importantly, image quality. Students are not required to use Sigma equipment to shoot the photo As always, make sure to read the rules before entering your work.

Website: Sigma Corporation of America Scholarship Application Form

Passers-by at London Waterloo station were greeted by a rather unusual sight: a 3.6m x 2m mock-up of the new Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZX1 digital compact camera. The giant snapper, which has appeared at London Waterloo station yesterday morning, is part of Panasonic’s unconventional marketing campaign that had earlier seen a giant pigeon “land” on the grass beside London’s City Hall. The heavily-promoted Lumix ZX1 is a new ultra-compact digital camera with an 8x optically-stabilised zoom lens that provides a 35mm equivalent focal range of 25-200mm in a body measuring just 2.6cm thick.

Review: Read our in-depth review of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZX1

Adobe has posted documentation for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Beta. Help topics include a What’s New section, importing photos into a catalogue, exporting using Publish Services, creating a copyright watermark, simulating film grain, updating the process version, applying a post-crop vignette, exporting a video slide show and Custom print packages. To access the documentation, choose Help > Lightroom Help (F1) in Lightroom 3 Beta or go to Using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Beta. Adobe warns that “just like the software, this documentation is prerelease”.

TweetPhoto and Eastman Kodak Company have announced that the two companies have entered into a collaborative agreement on initiatives focussed around real-time photo sharing. The companies have signed an agreement with the intention to work freely together to develop, test and release products and services that leverage the viral nature of the real-time web and social eco-systems. “Real-time photography is currently used across social networking sites to start a conversation or give context to a tweet,” says Sean Callahan, Co-Founder of TweetPhoto. “Photo sharing on the real time web is only going to continue to grow, and we are pleased with the opportunity to collaborate with Kodak, the world’s leading imaging innovator.”

Imation has announced availability of its next-generation Solid State Drive (SSD) Upgrade Kit, simplifying migration from a hard disk drive to SSD in just three easy steps. Simply transfer existing files from an HDD to the new SSD, then install the SSD and finally, repurpose the existing hard drive into an external USB drive for additional backup and storage using a specially designed case. The M-Class SSD Upgrade Kit is available in a 2.5-inch form factor in capacities of 64GB and 128GB. Products are available for a starting MSRP of $110.99 for the M-class drive and $194.99 for the M-Class Upgrade Kit through authorized Imation distributors, wholesalers, resellers and e-tailers in the US and Europe.

Website: Imation

GoPro has announced HD Hero Naked, a wearable 1080p HD camera for sports enthusiasts. The HD Hero Naked is the newest addition to the company’s line of wearable cameras, which already include vertical market specific HD Motorsports Hero,HD Helmet Hero (outdoor sports), and HD Surf Hero. These units come bundled with a variety of mounts ranging from suction cups to vented helmet straps, head straps and adhesive mounts for attaching the camera to cars, motorcycles, bikes and surfboards. The HD Hero Naked, which captures “professional quality” 1080p / 960p / 720p true HD video at 30 and 60 frames per second, differs from the aforementioned HERO cameras in that the HD Hero Naked comes with one mount for attaching the camera to a helmet or other curved surfaces, the camera, and the housing which protects the camera from bumps and keeps it waterproof to 180’/60m. Included are a removable rechargeable lithium-ion battery and cables for attaching the camera to an HDTV or computer, but aside from this the camera comes “naked,” sans the mounts included in the other models. In addition to shooting HD videos, the HD Hero Naked and related cameras also shoot 5MP photos and feature an optional auto-photo mode that captures photos every 2, 5, 10, 30, or 60 for the duration of a consumer’s sport or activity. The HD Hero Naked is available for $259.99.

Website: GoPro

Hoodman and Trek-Tech have introduced a new toolkit for macro photographers that makes positioning and stabilising cameras for close up, macro photography quick and easy. The toolkit combines the Hoodman Right Angle Viewer and a Trek-Tech T-Pod table top tripod. The right angle viewer with 360° rotation gives photographers the flexibility to position a camera to get down and up close to the subject matter. The table-top tripod supports cameras with “rock solid stability” for sharp focus. The Hoodman Right Angle viewer fits all Canon, Nikon, and Fuji Digital SLR cameras and comes with a compact, protective storage case included. The Trek-Tech T-Pod is very versatile and high quality table top tripod which comes complete with ball head, quick release system and travel pouch. The T-Pod with the upper tube attached adjusts from 10” to 13.5” in height. The ball head may also be connected directly to the legs creating a very stable platform which is 4” high. The Macro Photography Toolkit costs $129.99.

Website: Trek-Tech