Picaboo now allows you to create photo books with “lay flat” pages, which lay flat no matter how many pages there are. These photo books are made with a special post binding system and hinged paper. Picaboo 2.5, a new version of its free downloadable software, provides five new book styles, custom cover stamping, and black and white or sepia photos. Picaboo is currently offering a promotion until March 31th, 2009 (CODE: PCBBGF)* where customers who purchase certain photo books can receive an additional copy for free. Photo book pricing starts at just $9.99 and shipping is additional.

Geo-tagging community website locr has released a plug-in for Aperture. The new plug-in simplifies uploading several photos or complete albums to locr. Photos can be placed into existing locr albums or put into a new album. Keywords and descriptions as well as previously added geo tags will be transferred directly to locr along with the photos. Locr for Aperture 1.0 is available for free download now.

Nikon have released a new firmware update for the Coolpix S60 camera. The following improvements have been made in version 1.1:

- The speed at which the displayed image changes with dragging in full-frame playback mode has been increased.
- The method used to enable playback zoom (enlarge image display) in full-frame playback mode has been modified.
- After using the HD Pictmotion function, sound did not begin immediately with playback of a movie. This issue has been resolved.

Website: Nikon Coolpix S60 Firmware Update 1.1 (Windows)
Website: Nikon Coolpix S60 Firmware Update 1.1 (Mac)

Hoya is to reduce its Japanese digital camera division from 800 to less than 400 employees. Hoya’s sales, production management and development departments will be affected, as the company who merged with Pentax last year tries to halt nine consecutive months of losses. Hoya also intends to cut its international digital camera workforce later this year.

Website: Reuters

The Nature Conservancy’s website, nature.org, has launched a new bi-monthly audio slideshow from their director of photography, Mark Godfrey. Mark walks you through some of The Nature Conservancy’s most captivating nature photography images and explains the story behind the shot. Join Mark and learn more about the craft and technique that go into great nature photography.

Website: Nature Conservancy

OnAsia has launched a new environmental photo exhibition illustrating key environmental issues such as air and water pollution, deforestation and global warming. The images are by OnAsia photographers working in different parts of Asia and constitute an eye-opening visual account of the environmental destruction being wrought throughout the region. The exhibition opens at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club of Thailand in Bangkok on March 20th, and will run until April 10th.

Bulldog have just launched a new UK competition to find the best photograph of their male grooming products. These can be photographs of the products against a beautiful background, lifestyle shots or even pictures of your products on holiday with you! The final result is in your hands and will be based on the number of votes the picture receives. The winner will receive £100 worth of Bulldog products and the runner-up will receive £50 worth. The closing date for the competition is noon on 30th April 2009. Each entrant must submit one photograph in jpeg format with an explanation detailing when, where and why the photograph was taken in no more than 50 words.

Website: Bulldog Photography Competition

Albelli is a new UK photo book print service. Launched by Albumprinter, Europe’s leading photo book provider, Albelli enables UK residents to create high quality photo books, calendars and diaries, with delivery within eight working days. Albelli offers thick 200g inside paper, strong cover material and an attractive range of product features including the ability to create a personal photo cover, the option to add a title on the spine and, unique in the UK, printing pages in high gloss.

We’ve been burning the midnight oil to bring you the completely new and revamped Photography Blog website! Our in-depth Camera Reviews  are now bigger and better than ever before, the brand new Techniques section will help you get more out of your photography, and our comprehensive News coverage has been improved too. So have a look around, and let us know what you think by leaving a comment here.

Pixel Sunscreen 2.0 from Think Tank Photo is a collapsible sun shade for laptop computers that completely blocks peripheral light. This portable spring loaded sunscreen instantly pops open for quick access, with an overhead cover that extends beyond the top of the sunscreen. Pixel Sunscreen 2.0 folds down into a small, round portable package that is easy to transport and deploy quickly. The Think Tank Photo Pixel Sunscreen is available now for $69.

FotoInsight Designer 4.5 is a new photo book application that integrates with Flickr, Facebook, Picasa and geotagging site “locr”. Users can complement their photo albums with additional pictures from photo sharing sites, straight from within the FotoInsight Designer software. This latest release also features new photo book formats and new features like fading frames and festive templates. Compatible with Windows XP, Linux and Mac OS 10.5 Leopard and above, version 4.5 of the FotoInsight Designer software is now available to download.

Transcend’s new SDHC HD Video memory cards are designed specifically for recording, storing, and playing back high definition video content. A 16GB Transcend SDHC HD Video Card can store 2 hours and 40 minutes of video content when recording high quality 1920x1080 AVCHD footage at 13Mbps. If slightly lower quality settings are used, the same 16GB card can record up to six full hours of high definition video. Transcend’s SDHC HD Video Cards are also fully Class 6 compliant, providing fast data transfer speeds (guaranteed minimum write speed of 6MB/s), and are backed by a Lifetime Warranty.

Nikon’s EDG fieldscopes are a new Nikon Sport Optics brand that can be used with Nikon’s DSLR and compact cameras. The Nikon EDG 85/85-A and EDG 65/65-A models offer unparalleled optical and mechanical performance and a compact, stylish and waterproof design. A combination of a Nikon DSLR, Digital Camera Zoom Attachment FSA-L2 and an EDG Fieldscope enables super-telephoto photography or digiscoping. Seven new compatible eyepieces have also been introduced making it possible to use the fieldscopes in a variety of applications under various climatic conditions. Nikon EDG Fieldscopes will be available in Summer 2009, prices to be announced.

Blurb are running a free webinar tutorial that will take your bookmaking skills to the next level. Taking place at 6pm PDT on Wednesday 18th March, this intermediate webinar explores several design ideas you can use in your books, providing you with some great tips straight from Blurb’s designers. There will also be time for questions at the end of the webinar.

The 44 winners of the 2009 Sony World Photography Awards have been announced. Each of the photographers on the list will be exhibited and honoured at the Sony World Photography Awards ceremony at the prestigious Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France, on Thursday 16 April. Of the 12 professional category winners, one photographer will be the recipient of the L’Iris D’Or, the Sony World Photography Awards Photographer of the Year. On the night they will be awarded $25,000 along with Sony camera equipment. The winning amateur photographer, selected from the eight category finalists, will receive a $5,000 cash prize and Sony camera equipment.

You could win $20,000 in Microsoft’s Future Pro Photographers student photo contest. Returning for its second year, the Microsoft Future Pro Photographers Photography Contest provides a unique opportunity for college and university student photographers from around the world to showcase their artistic talent and photographic style. A Grand Prize of US$20,000 cash and a digital workflow prize package is on offer, plus three First Place winners in the following categories: Nature & Landscape; People & Portraits; and Sports & Photojournalism who will each win US$3000 cash and a digital workflow prize package. The submission period is from March 1st until April 30th, 2009.

Website: Microsoft Future Pro Photographer 2009

OmniVision’s OV9810 image sensor combines 9 megapixel photography with 1080p HD video on a single chip.  The new 9 megapixel sensor is designed specifically to address the ‘sweet spot’ of both digital still camera and high-definition camcorder market segments. Featuring OmniVision’s high-sensitivity 1.75 micron, the OmniVision OV9810 delivers best-in-class low-light sensitivity. The 1/2.3-inch OV9810 is capable of operating at 8.9 fps in full 9 megapixel resolution, and offers true HD quality (1080p) video at 30 fps. The OV9810 is immediately available for customer sampling with volume production slated for the second half of 2009.