Talenthouse, a purpose-built online platform for all artists and creatives, launched today at www.talenthouse.com. Artists can log onto talenthouse.com and create a profile that showcases their talent, including a brief description of history and past work experience, a profile picture as well as links to personal Web sites and other social networking pages. Most importantly, Talenthouse provides easy access to samples of an artist’s work, which are uploaded and presented in a unique 3D timeline. The site has already recruited more than 25,000 members in a closed Alpha release, with the goal of signing up more than 1 million before the first anniversary of the site in June 2010.

In his brand new exhibition, photographer Richard Nolan-Neylan explores the Danish bicycle as an art form. The vibrant culture surrounding the relationship between the Danes and their bike has allowed for richness in colour, shape and form. Richard has observed that the practical perspective with which this mode of transport is viewed has lead to inspired designs. All the images were taken over 2 days in July 2008. The random nature of the pictures and the places they were taken in is reflected in the bikes. The exhibition, hosted by Alternative Arts Photo-space at 530 Commercial Road, London E1 0HY, runs from 3 July to 1 August 2009. The gallery is open Tuesday-Saturday from 11am to 6pm and admission is free.

A new incarnation of Cooliris, the free plug-in that transforms your browser into an interactive and infinite 3D Wall of content, has just been released. Version 1.11 changes the way Cooliris interacts with you “in some really fundamental but really important ways”, the company says. A big change is that Cooliris now features tabbed browsing. This enables you to run multiple instances of the app, and lets you jump freely between Cooliris, other tabs, and desktop programs such as email clients and iTunes. Furthermore, full-screen is now an option rather than a default, allowing you to make Cooliris your centerpiece or just another window. The new version can be downloaded from www.cooliris.com for Firefox (Windows, Mac, Linux) and Internet Explorer. A beta version for Safari (Mac) is also available.

E-pens Create is a new digital pen designed for drawing, handwriting and easily editing creative projects and photos on a PC or laptop. It provides a solution to converting hand drawn illustrations to a digital format for further editing. Users can clip the e-pens base unit to a normal paper notepad and connect it via the USB cable to draw directly into their PC. Furthermore, the digital pen can be used to easily and accurately amend photographs by removing red eye and improving colours and clarity. Manufactured by Apcom Limited, e-pens Create is available for £59.99 from Amazon.

From almost 8,000 outstanding entries, 12 successful images have been chosen as winners of the DK Eyewitness Travel PhotoBritain Competition. The overall winner of the competition is London-based amateur photographer, Frame Muller. Frame’s image - entered in the Heritage category - captures the magnificence of Leeds Castle at sundown. This shot will be published on the front cover of DK Eyewitness Great Britain Guide 2010. The successful applicant has also been awarded £100 worth of DK books, £1,500 Landmark Trust holiday voucher, £100 of PhotoBox vouchers and a PhotoBox canvas of their winning image. A selected collection of entries will be exhibited at the Waterstone’s flagship store in Piccadilly, London from 6th-31st July 2009.

Burrard-Lucas Photography has launched a new travel photography competition with over $2,000 in prizes. The theme is ‘Mysterious Places’, and is sponsored by Lensbaby and Smugmug. The competition isopen to participants worldwide, aged 18 or over on the closing date, whichis 31st October 2009. We encourage you to read the rules at the bottom of the competition page.

Seagate has introduced an advanced line-up of mobile and desktop FreeAgent for Mac storage solutions and accessories. These include the FreeAgent Go for Mac with USB, FreeAgent Go Pro for Mac, the 2TB FreeAgent Desk for Mac and FreeAgent Go Dock+, a powered USB hub and dock for the FreeAgent Go. All Seagate FreeAgent for Mac solutions come formatted as HSF+ for Mac OS X and are Time Machine ready.

Flip Video has announced that its revamped Flip Ultra and Flip UltraHD pocket video cameras are now available for purchase in the United Kingdom. As with the original Ultra, the cameras provide simple, one-touch recording and the signature flip-out USB arm connects directly to any computer. Key advances for both the Ultra and UltraHD include a doubling of the internal memory capacity, allowing users to capture up to two hours of footage on the camera without the need for costly additional SD cards. The Flip Ultra’s viewing screen has also been significantly expanded to two inches. The Flip Ultra is available in black, white, pink, and yellow and is available at just £129.99. The Flip UltraHD comes in black and white complemented by a chrome trim and is available at £159.99 from Amazon, Play.com, Dixons, Currys.digital and PC World.

1clickactions have released their latest set of Photoshop actions for photographers, called 1clickPRO. Using a combination of traditional actions and javascript, 1clickPRO offers a higher degree of versatility and control than has previously been available, the company says. The 1clickPRO series is compatible with Photoshop CS2 and later on both Windows and Macs and is available now from http://www.1clickactions.com.

Issue #17 of the PhotographyBB Online Magazine has been released. The June 2009 edition features articles on composition and how keeping things simple can lead to great photography. The issue also examines how to overcome “photographer’s block” when lack of inspiration occurs. Included is also a Photoshop tutorial on creating an urban “grunge” type effect for dramatic impact. In the Photography Around the World column, photographer Ian Miller takes readers to Cambodia, a place of interesting history and rich culture. The magazine also has some tips on how you can make money with your photography, an editorial for the film purists, a look at 50mm prime lenses, and an interview with one very talented photographer. PhotographyBB Online Magazine is available for free download from http://www.photographyBB.com/magazine.

Plawa-feinwerktechnik GmbH & Co. KG has just announced the AgfaPhoto DC-600uw, a compact digital camera that is waterproof down to a depth of 10 metres. The manufacturer has apparently resisted the urge to put a ten- or twelve-megapixel sensor into the DC-600uw, equipping it with a more reasonable-sounding 6-megapixel CCD instead. The other highlights of the new camera include a moderately wide, 36.5mm equivalent prime lens, a 2.4” TFT LCD screen, a sensitivity range of ISO 100-1600, ten scene modes, a custom white balance option,  32MB of internal storage plus compatibility with SD/SDHC memory cards. In addition to taking still photographs, the AgfaPhoto DC-600uw underwater camera can also capture 640x480-pixel videos at 30 frames per second. Weighing in at 131 grams, the camera runs on two AA-sized batteries and is available now for €149 including German VAT in Europe. The MSRP in the U.S.A. is $199.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Olympus Corporation and the AFP Foundation have announced a photography competition entitled “Picture This: Caring for the Earth”. Its aim is to portray the people of Africa as stewards and protectors of their environment, and photos submitted for the contest must illustrate that theme. Special attention will be given to photos that take into account the role that women can and do play in that regard. There are two categories: individual photos (up to 5 entries per person) and photo essay (one photo essay, 4-10 photos per essay, per person). You may only enter one category. The top three winners in each category will receive Olympus cameras. Once again, and as with every competition, we encourage you to read the rules before entering.

Website: Picture This: Caring for the Earth

The National Geographic Museum is hosting a new exhibition of photographs taken in the 1950s and 1960s by American photographers in Europe. Culled from the National Geographic archives, the images showcase the work of more than 35 legendary photographers — including Luis Marden, Volkmar Wentzel, Thomas Abercrombie, James Blair and Winfield Parks — and revisit a photographic medium that changed the way we document the world, says National Geographic. The photographs will be on display until 7 September 2009. The National Geographic Museum, 1145 17th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C., is open Mondays through Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free.

Website: National Geographic Museum

Photographer and Podcast Producer, David E. Warner, recently launched LensFlare35 to link the community of Canon professional photographers. Warner’s initial concept of a simple networking community quickly evolved into an all-out quest to interview today’s top Canon photographers. Their unique stories, tips and techniques are shared with other photographers through his LensFlare35’s weekly podcast episodes. For a list of upcoming episodes, visit LensFlare35.

Website: LensFlare35

Photographer Daniel Bayer, who had started his now-famous Kodachrome Project back in 2004, recently issued a statement saying he would “continue gathering images through The Kodachrome Project until its end date”. The statement comes after Kodak’s announcement of retiring the iconic film after 74 years of production. Daniel Bayer started his project five years ago, being fully aware that “it was only a matter of time before Kodak would discontinue producing this film”. He has travelled far and wide throughout the United States to capture “the best images possible” before it becomes too late, and now hopes to produce a book and exhibit next year to “visually celebrate the 75th anniversary of Kodachrome Film”.

Website: The Kodachrome Project

Microsoft has announced its new Bing Photo Contest. The competition kicks off on 29 June and runs until late July. The winning photo will be featured on the home page of Microsoft’s new search engine, Bing, in early August. The contest will be implemented through the Bing Photo Sharing Facebook application. As always, make sure to read the rules before you enter.

Website: Photo Contest Details