Acronis True Image Home 2009 is a new disk imaging and backup software application for home users. True Image protects users’ PCs and allows them to recover quickly from the impact of threats such as viruses, unstable software downloads and failed hard drives. New features in the 2009 edition include a Vista-like user interface, one-step protection and powerful search tools. Acronis True Image Home provides both full image and file-based backups. Acronis Tue Image Home 2009 is available now for £39.95.

Around 13,000 new and boxed Vivitar cameras are being sold at auction, after Vivitar UK went into administration last month. The sale starts on 14th October and ends on the 16th, with 990 lots up for grabs, so if you’ve ever wanted to buy more than 10 cameras at once for a song, now is your chance. The Vivitar worldwide brand name was recently purchased by Sakar International, who intend to continue selling Vivitar-branded digital cameras in the US.

Website: Vivitar Camera Auction

O’Reilly author Harold Davis is running a free webinar about night photography. Davis will demystify exposure techniques at night, and explain how he post-processes night photos. The night photography webinar will take place on October 17 at 10am PDT. Attendance is limited, so register now.

The new Kenro Light Box includes a built-in daylight balanced flat-panel top light. Billed as the ideal studio accessory for small product shots, the Light Box uses a daylight 144W fluorescent lamp and can be adjusted either forwards or backwards, in addition to also having a tilting feature. Paul Kench, Kenro’s managing director: says “Now anyone can shoot professionally-lit products with ease. This light table has all you need to produce very professional-looking images on a pure white background. The Kenro Light Box is available now for £640.38.

The UK price of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 has now been confirmed. At the UK press launch held at Wembley stadium yesterday, Panasonic revealed that the World’s first Micro Four Thirds camera will cost £599 when it launches on 1st November. Various deals will be available to retailers, including a £50 cash-back, free 3 year warranty and a 1/2 price second lens, so the street price of the G1 may well fall to £499 before too long. The 45-200mm telephoto lens will cost £329.99 and also be available on 1st November. In the US, the price has been confirmed as $699 (both quoted prices are for the G1 with the 14-45mm kit lens).

The Shape Shifter backpack from Think Tank Photo is the first backpack specifically designed to expand and contract to fit your equipment. It can be compressed to just 3 inches in width once your equipment is removed, but can still pack in 2 pro size DSLR’s, 70-200 2.8, 24-70 2.8, wide angle 2.8 lenses, strobes and up to a 17” laptop. After your main gear is removed, you can continue to carry your laptop and accessories, but in a much smaller package. The Shape Shifter is scheduled for release in December.

Kingston Technology have announced the DataTraveler 150, a new high capacity 32GB USB drive.  The DataTraveler 150 (DT150) USB Flash drive allows users to conveniently combine work-related content and personal digital content on the same drive with plenty of room to spare.  Users can now transport and share entire libraries of music, photos, large business documents, and even video without ever having to change USB drives or search other portable storage devices containing specific content. “As file sizes increase especially with content such as music and photos, the need for small form factor storage drives with high capacities will continue to go up. The DT 150 certainly addresses those needs today.” said Mark Akoubian, Flash business manager, Kingston. The Kingston 32GB DataTraveler 150 costs $139.

You can take part in the Body Worlds exhibition in London by submitting photos of yourself showing how you have aged. Opening at The O2 on October 24th, Gunther von Hagens’ Body Worlds are the only public anatomical exhibitions that stem from an established body donation program and use donated bodies. Images for the ‘My Life in Pictures’ part of the exhibition can be of an individual or a family at various stages of life. The submissions that best chronicle and represent a life from childhood to current age, or show multi-generational family members over a lifetime will be chosen for the display. A special preview event will be held for those whose photos become part of the montage.

National Geographic is releasing a new photography book, Visions of Paradise, answering the question what is “Heaven on Earth.” Visions of Paradise is a collection of 82 world-renowned photographers of National Geographic and features 155 images divided into three themes-land, water and air. Along with this book, National Geographic is inviting the public to submit images that best represent their unique vision of heaven on earth to the Visions of Paradise Photography Contest, starting October 21 and lasting until December 21, 2008.

FotoViewr is a new 3D photo gallery site for displaying photos from Flickr, SmugMug, Facebook, and other social networking websites. FotoViewr was born out of someone’s frustration with browsing photos on the web through static web pages that offered a meager user experience at best. FotoViewr aims to change that by providing an amazing experience for viewing photos on the Internet via a highly interactive and engaging 3D interface. Best of all, FotoViewr is completely free of charge.

Website: FotoViewr

Online printing company MOO have just launched an original and creative DIY photo frame. The new MOO Mosaic Photo Frame is essentially a collage made from your own MOO MiniCards, which you can print and order online using your favourite pictures. You arrange your MiniCards behind an acrylic/perspex frame to create a customised frame. The MOO Mosaic Photo Frame costs £19.99 and the size is 42cmx 27cm wide. The frame can be hung vertically or horizontally.

Website: MOO Mosaic Photo Frame

Inkubook is currently offering free photo albums to Flickr Pro users to celebrate its launch. Inkubook is a collaborative Web site that allows you to create professionally bound, printed photo albums, printed using a high quality HP Indigo printer. To get your free album, you need to sign up for a free Inkubook account by October 15th. You can select any size hardcover or softcover book, and you’re only responsible for paying for shipping.

Photoshop Elements 7: The Missing Manual provides reader-friendly guidance on how to get the most out of Adobe’s latest consumer imaging application. With the new edition of this bestselling book, you’ll learn everything from the basics of loading photos into Elements to the new online photo-sharing and storage service that Adobe’s offering at Photoshop.com. Author Barbara Brundage explains, “The biggest [change] is Photoshop.com, which lets you upload your photos right from the organizer, create really swell web slideshows with them, back them up online, and even synchronize your albums between your home computer and your Photoshop.com account.” Photoshop Elements 7: The Missing Manual is available now for $44.99 / £27.99.

The Fujifilm Student Awards 2009 is now open for entries. The Awards, now in its 24th year, is the longest running and most prestigious student photography awards in the UK. The winner will see their image on the cover of the next edition of Rachel Carson’s revolutionary book Silent Spring, published by Penguin Books. They will also receive £200 worth of Fujifilm Professional film and 25 Penguin Classics titles of their choice.

The BenQ DC C1060 is a new 10 megapixel camera. The C1060 features a leather hand-grip, 3x optical zoom lens, 2.7 inch LCD screen, anti-shake mode with high ISO of 3200, Smile Catch mode, P/Av/Tv/M modes and video recording with optical zoom. Price and availability of the BenQ DC C1060 to be announced.

AKVIS Sketch 8 converts photos to realistic pencil and watercolor drawings. Version 8 offers includes a Quick Preview window that saves you time when fine-tuning the settings, and adds Exif and IPTC data support. AKVIS Sketch 8 is available as a stand-alone application, as well as a plugin to a photo editor. AKVIS Sketch 8 Home License costs $72 USD / 55 Euros.

Casio have released a new firmware update, version 1.01, for the EX-FH20 camera, which has a continuous shooting rate of up to 40fps and records movies at 1000fps. Firmware 1.01 offers improved performance for memory card storage when shooting movies (Class 6 equivalent transfer speed memory card recommended.)

Website: Casio EX-FH20 Firmware Update 1.01

We’ve just published sample photos and videos taken with the brand new Nikon D90 DSLR camera. The Nikon D90 is the world’s first DSLR camera that can also shoot High Definition video. There are 30 full-sized JPEGs, 6 RAWs and 2 videos for you to download. Our full Nikon D90 review is also now available.

Website: Nikon D90 Photos

XDepth Raw is a new file format that functions as both a JPEG and a RAW image. XDepth Raw images are recognized as JPEGs by any software application, but when they’re opened with XDepth-enabled software, the same files are opened as RAW images instead. XDepth Raw claims a 7:1 compression ratio compared to the uncompressed Raw file, which translates into 200Kb for each megapixel of resolution. This new file format can also store up to 72bits/pixel at full high dynamic range. XDepth Raw will make its official debut at the PDN PhotoPlus expo at the end of October.

Olympus are offering up to £100 off a selection of Four Thirds digital SLR lenses. Ten lenses and a teleconverter are included in this cash back offer, which runs from 1 October 2008 until 31 January 2009. You have to register and send a copy of the purchase receipt and original box barcode to Olympus by 28 February 2009 to receive the cash back via bank transfer.