Nik software have provided creatives with more significant software updates with Color Efex Pro 3.

Press release below:

http://www.niksoftware.com/welcome/_news/cep3_update/index_en.html?utm_campaign=CEP&utm_source=Aug08-30003&utm_medium=EN&utm_content=HTM

It’s official, Photoshop have provided the creative community with more improved software advancements, namely the latest Elements 7 series.

This includes Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Premier Elements 7. These can be purchased individually or as a pair. Individual packages are available for pre-order for $139.99 (approx £76.33). Upgrades cost $119.99 (approx £65.43).

Each package includes numerous enhanced options and new functionality. For more information log on to: http://www.adobe.com/digitalimag/consumer/

iStockphoto Gives $40,000 in Cash and Prizes to International Winners from Seven Countries in Punctum Day Awards and Inducts Three Members to Hall of Fame

20^th August 2008 – iStockphoto, the world’s royalty-free multimedia sales leader, has announced the ten winners in its second annual Punctum Day awards. ‘Punctum’ refers to a profound reaction an excellent image creates. The finalists were shortlisted by the three and a half million-strong iStock community, and a panel of guest judges selected the winners, who hail from seven different countries. The Photo of the Year, “Late Trash,” is a creation by Trent Bell (TrentBell) of Biddeford, Maine, and showcases the innovation and vision of iStockphoto’s contributors.The 50 finalists for five of the categories were selected from over one million photos, vectors, videos, Flash files, and design submissions newly uploaded in the last year. The judging panel selecting the winners included Warren Cook, creative director with Jamison Advertising Group based in San Diego, California, Sandra Castanha, creative director at Ferrier Pearce, a creative design agency based in Surrey, United Kingdom, and Brad Hochberg, co-director and president of award winning The Refinery, based in Burbank, California.The winning contributors were:Photo of the Year: Trent Bell (TrentBell) of the US with Late Trashhttp://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup?id=6494568Vector of the Year: Bekir Gürgen (begur) of Turkey with cat and childhttp://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup?id=4410077Video of the Year: Tomasz Dega (creativeballs) of Poland with party teddyshttp://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup?id=5839426Flash File of the Year: Alexandra Mikhnevich (Mahno) of Russia with Miracle of makeuphttp://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup?id=6187201Design of the Year: Anthony McGovern (Atomic77) of Australia with Adobe Online eSeminarshttp://www.istockphoto.com/design_spotlight_details.php?ID=17964Most Deserving of a New Camera: Danish Khan (danishkhan) of Pakistan:http://www.istockphoto.com/danishkhanMost Improved Contributor of the Year – Ronnie Sampson (viridian1) of US: http://www.istockphoto.com/viridian1Hall of Fame:Hall of Fame inductees are members who have left an indelible stamp on the history of iStock.Jester—Aaron Springer, Chief Technical Officer, iStockphotoThe designers at Evolvs.com were still tossing around the idea of giving away free stock photographs on the Internet when they brought in Bruce’s old pre-press mentor to be the first employee of iStockphoto. Jester was a recent graduate of the University of Calgary fine art department. He’d taught himself computer programming. And then, over the ensuing years, he built iStockphoto. Aaron has sunk more time and grief into the back end and architecture of iStock than anyone else: late nights, long hours, all with an unparalleled rigor and dedication. Now he leads a whole team of highly skilled developers and expert programmers. He’s guided iStock from a small experiment to an inspirational online world and international business success story.Hidesy—Amanda Rohde, Australia, Black Diamond ContributorThe reason Hidesy is in the iStock Hall of Fame is all around you. No matter what city or country you live in: it’s on your dinner menu and the billboard in your bus shelter and probably every other ad in your telephone directory. It’s that Australian sunshine that Amanda Rohde captures so perfectly. Hidesy is the blueprint of iStock success: a self-taught photographer who, through trial and error and a lot of rejected pictures at the beginning, changed the way the world looks. She made it brighter, crisper, and sexier. She’s an inspiration to tens of thousands of photographers.Intransfer— Brianna Wettlaufer, former V.P., Content DevelopmentIntransfer wasn’t satisfied with bell peppers and USB plugs. She wanted style, grace, sensuality, and beauty. Rather than just wait around, she made it happen herself. She took the iStock inspection team from a small, diffuse bunch to a well-trained, well-organized machine. She created and codified the quality standards that set iStock apart from the rest of the field. She demanded the best from us. She brought art direction and international flair to our photographer get-togethers, enough so that ‘get-together’ just didn’t fit anymore and ‘iStockalypse’ became the name the world associates with first-rate training of developing stock photographers.The Punctum Day awards category winners will each receive $5,000 USD, with the exception of the winner of “Most Deserving of a New Camera” award, who receives a Canon EOS 5D with lenses valued at $5,000.About iStockphotoiStockphoto, www.istockphoto.com, is the world’s leading royalty-free stock destination, with an image downloaded every 1.3 seconds. iStock pioneered the micropayment phenomenon in this industry, enabling buyers to license images for as little as a dollar. iStockphoto entered the stock video market with similarly enticing price points in September of 2006. In partnership with its members, iStockphoto has turned community into commerce, transforming the digital imagery market by encouraging passionate dialogue and education, while making imagery affordable to businesses that may not have licensed imagery otherwise. iStockphoto is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Getty Images. 

Epson has announced the launch of four new printers to suit every budget and need.

First up is the  Stylus SX100 Series, a cost-effective solution with individual inks priced at £5.99 per colou so you can just replace the ones you need to. It offers up to 26 pages a minute printing time and is designed to work with photos thanks to its built-in PhotoEnhance technology. Available from 1 September, the printer/scanner/copier will be priced at just £59.99.

If it’s a business solution that you’re after, then the Stylus Office B40W, priced at £85 and available from 1 September, could be the one for you. It has the same individual ink cartridges to save you money in the long run, as well as fast print speeds of 38 pages per minute. It also boasts wi-fi and Ethernet connectivity, which is great if you work on a network, and it will print all document types, including photos.

Another office solution is the Stylus Office BX300F 4-in-1 designed for printing, copying, scanning and faxing, making it great if you work from home. It’s low-power so it is better for the environment and has a small footprint to maximise your workspace. Again, most media type are accepted, including glossy photo paper. The model will be priced at £79.99 and available from 1 September.

Finally, the Stylus SX600FW is a printer, scanner and copier with built-in wi-fi. There is a large 6.3cm LCD screen for previewing your imags before printing. It has a memory card reader and PictBridge compatibility to make it easy to get shots off your camera. Again available from 1 September, it is priced at £149.99.

Find out more about all these products at www.epson.co.uk.

Today sees the start of an exciting new promotion on Web Designer magazine’s website. Over the next four weeks the UK’s premiere web design magazine will be updating its site daily, with features covering all aspects of web design as well as in-depth interviews with leading names from the cutting edge of the industry. Visitors will also find articles and features on eCommerce that cover the business end of creating professional web content.So make sure you visit www.webdesignermag.co.uk every day for the next four weeks and find out what’s on offer. 

Linx series audio frames proudly present the new Linx Memoire range, expanding its popularity with three stylish, cutting edge, high definition frames all including Life transition mode. Each product box also contains a FREE family portrait voucher, redeemable at hundreds of photographic outlets nationwide. Press release below:

Linx Announce Memoire Digital Photo Frame Range including FREE Family Portrait Voucher

Three stylish, cutting edge, high definition frames all including Life transition mode

Further building on the success of the current Linx series digital audio frames, Linx has now further expanded its popular audio digital frame series by introducing the new Linx Memoire range.  Three stylish cutting edge, high definition models (7”, 8” and 10.2”) have been added now offering even more style and functionality from as little as £49.99 including VAT.  But the digital dazzle doesn’t stop there; Linx is also including a FREE family portrait voucher in each box, redeemable at hundreds of photographic outlets nationwide.

The Memoire range of photo frames are packed with the latest technology delivering a range of slideshow modes including the new Life transition mode.  This function allows you to literally ‘bring your old photo’s and memories back to Life’ by using a variety of pan and zoom transitions between images.
Relive your old memories with Linx!

The Linx Memoire series ups the ante in the style stakes and offers dramatic image and movie playback in any stylish home or office location.  You can even customise your frame courtesy of Linx Skins – a simple press on - peel off frame surround in wide a variety of colours and designs. www.linxskins.com

The frames display pictures, videos and broadcast audio and come complete with a remote control handset to enable ease of use and up to the minute image management, at the touch of a button*.

The remote control receiver is located in the front panel of the screen.  An in-built rechargeable battery enables the frames to be placed anywhere in the home or office without the need for power sockets.

All frames include a 4 in 1 card reader to enable the data to be viewed quickly and without hassle.  Users can choose to only feature one image at a time or they have the facility to run the frame in a looped sequence, offering hours and hours of fun and enjoyment, time and time again.  An integrated calendar and clock further add to the functionality of each frame*.

Users can enjoy superior stereo sound on the 8” and 10.2” models thanks to two built in speakers encased within the frames and witness crisp movie playback courtesy of MPEG1, MPEG2 and MPEG4 and MP3 file support.

For ultimate convenience, the 8” and 10.2” frames can be powered by the built in battery or powered through an AC cable, included as standard.  The sleek, streamlined design along with the amazing quality, technology and excellent price make it a must have for any stylish home or office location.

XChange International, supplier of software including a wide range of Photoshop plug-ins, is offering a massive 10% discount on all its products until the end of August. To view the full range of included products, simply visit its website. You can find out more in the press release below.

Press release

XChange International announce 10th anniversary
offering users a discount across their entire product range

XChange International, the source for extended technology worldwide are
pleased to announce the celebration of their 10th anniversary. In
conjunction with the marked occasion, XChange are offering 10% discount
across their entire product range until 31st August 2008. The 10% discount
is applied automatically to any purchase on the company’s web site at
www.xchangeuk.com and is also available on all products ordered by
telephone, fax or email.

XChange are a leading supplier of desktop graphic and publishing
applications, QuarkXTensions® technology; Adobe InDesign®, Acrobat® and
Photoshop® Plug-ins® and other design and publishing utilities. XChange
offer extended technology products from across the world specific to the
graphic design, print and publishing industries and make them available to
an extensive user base via their printed catalogue or online at their web
site. The company are headquartered in Central London and also offer
specialist training on many of the solutions they sell.

XChange International were founded in 1998 with the concept of offering
customers within the graphic design and electronic publishing markets a
single source for extended technology solutions to QuarkXPress, a leading
page layout application worldwide. In 1999, XChange began promoting new
products that were targeted at their core audience including new
applications and plug-ins to the well-known Adobe Creative Suite of products
including Acrobat, Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. Sales of the new
product ranges grew exponentially as they introduced those products to their
existing customer base of QuarkXPress users.

“The XChange International brand is well known and respected within the
publishing, print and design sectors. We represent more than a hundred
extended technology developers from around the world,” offers Greg
Stodghill, Support Services Manager for XChange. “We provide first line
pre-sales and technical support on the products we distribute, and have
implemented a web-based support infrastructure to ensure support services
are handled consistently and efficiently. Customers turn to XChange
International’s experience in the market to help them make sense of the many
extended technology options now available.”

The emergence of PDF (Adobe’s Portable Document Format) as an industry
standard for document delivery offered XChange International a dynamic new
market segment and they have aggressively promoted PDF software solutions.
In 2002 XChange International published an extremely popular guide to PDF
technology, following it up with a version for Acrobat 8 compatible products
in 2007.

Over the past 10 years XChange International have built a totally customised
website allowing customers to search product information and buy online.
Four years ago the company implemented the ability for software to be
delivered immediately via secure download permitting customers to buy online
from the web store 24 hours a day, 7 days a week so that deadlines are never
missed should they need a product to help them streamline and automate their
workflows.

XChange offer software developers worldwide a proven business model for
supplying appropriate products to potential customers globally as well. “The
developers of the software we offer sales and support for vary from large
organisations to small, one-man companies,” states Greg Stodghill. “We are
able to get news of their products and specific feature sets out to their
target audiences in multiple time zones and to make it affordable for them
to sell their products no matter what their company size.”

XChange International have always offered specialist training and
consultancy services and from 2000 the company have seen the demand for
tailored training increase exponentially. Users can purchase solutions as
well as attend bespoke or general training courses for the more advanced
products so users are up and running and enjoying immediate return on their
investments.

To order, or for more information regarding their anniversary promotion,
users can visit www.xchangeuk.com, or call on +44(0)20 7490 4455 during UK
business hours. Email address is info@xchangeuk.com.

Press release: Park Cameras new retail premises in Burgess Hill will see the company provide a comprehensive range of workshops, seminars and training courses across a vast range of photographic genres under the banner of the ‘Park Cameras School of Photography’.Held on a regular basis, seminars, workshops and courses will be part of a three-tier approach adopted by Park Cameras. This will see the company utilise their own inhouse trainer as well as provide courses run by product specialists from leading brands such as Canon, Nikon, Olympus and Sony and also experts from across the photographic industry eager to impart their knowledge to the photographic benefit of others.The very first of these workshops - Fashion and Beauty Lighting with Jon Gray - is already on sale with places going fast. The day, based around Jon’s insights into how to enhance fashion and beauty subjects through the utilisation of lighting equipment, is highly hands on with Jon guiding the group through the various techniques before inviting delegates to put what they have heard into practice, with the opportunity to shoot a professional model in Park Cameras dedicated studio. Designed to be very much hands on, the latest Bowens lighting equipment will be on hand to provide a truly memorable and informative day to those that attend.In addition, Park Cameras’ own inhouse seminars, workshops and course are also now on sale, offering consumers a wide range of opportunities to develop their skills, regardless of their level of ability or photographic interest. Ultimately it is hoped that Park Cameras will offer one of the widest and diverse number of courses in the country, continuing to ensure that it offers unrivalled levels of service to its customers.For more information please visit www.parkcameras.com/training and find out how you can benefit from one of Park Cameras new photographic courses.About Park Cameras LtdPark Cameras Ltd was founded over 37 years ago by Managing Director Reg Atkins. Over these years the company has come to be recognised as one of the UK’s leading independent photographic retailers, catering for the needs of amateur and professional photographers alike. As one of leading stockists of brands such as Canon, Nikon, Olympus and Sony as well as vast range of associated photographic brands, Park Cameras continues to offer one of the widest range of photographic products in the country, both instore and online.The company currently operates with two stores in Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath and is currently finalising a move to an all-new purpose built retail outlet in Burgess Hill that will greatly increase the level of products and services that the company is able to offer to its consumers. For more information on the diverse nature of Park Cameras business please visit www.parkcameras.com or call us on 08450 50 22 66.

Press release:

A team of design students from the University of Dundee will take their
latest project - a unique storytelling/storymaking machine - to
Microsoft’s world HQ next week.

The Dundee students - drawn from the University’s unique
interdisciplinary courses in Innovative Product Design & Interactive
Media Design - are the UK’s sole representatives in the Microsoft
Design Expo 2008, being held in Redmond, just outside Seattle.

They are participating alongside designs schools from the US, China,
India, Mexico, and the Netherlands in the annual challenge set by the
computing giant. This is the first time that the University of Dundee
has been invited to participate in the Expo.

The brief set by Microsoft this year was in the area of learning and
education, encouraging design solutions that improve the daily life of a
wide variety of users, from promoting creativity and curiosity in new
topics, to demonstrating novel ways of providing instruction, to
rethinking education systems and tools.

The Dundee team of Natalie Montgomery (20), Lee Murray (19), Neil
Dawson (19) and Joanna Montgomery (20) have responded to the challenge
by developing their `Storymaker/Storyteller’ machine, which enables
users to combine pictures and commentary to create stories.

“The thinking behind the machine was inspired by my grandfather,
Donald Aitken, who was a former head of the British School in Tehran,”
explained Neil. “He has a vast library of pictures held on slides, and
there are some great stories behind them.

“We thought, why not create a machine that makes it easy to tie those
pictures and stories together and we came up with the
Storymaker/Storyteller device.”

The students have designed and built a working prototype which they
will take to the USA this weekend.

“Microsoft’s brief focused on the idea of networked objects,
machines which can effectively speak to each other,” said Natalie.
“Ours is aimed to encouraging communication between older people
and younger generations, relaying the stories they can pass down. This
works by using two machines - one to put the stories together and at the
other end a receiver which can project them.”

Mr Aitken has worked closely with the students, providing detailed
voiceovers linking some of his thousands of slides.

“This has been a great project to work on and the fact that it is
Microsoft has given everyone a real buzz,” said Lee.

“We are only in our second year at the University, so this is a great
way to mark the halfway point of our degree,” said Joanna.

The project builds on previous links built between the University and
Microsoft, which has in the past taken IPD graduates on much-prized
summer internships.

“Our courses in Innovative Product Design and Interactive Media
Design - and the close relationship they enjoy - put the University of
Dundee in a unique position within the United Kingdom to tackle
challenges such as those set by the Microsoft Design Expo,” said Polly
Duplock, programme leader for the IPD course.

“Getting to work with companies of the standing of Microsoft adds
extra excitement for the students and they have responded really
well.”

The students leave for the United States on Friday and will present
their project to Microsoft during the Expo on Monday and Tuesday of next
week.

Lili Cheng, Group Manager at Microsoft Research, said, “Microsoft
Research is delighted to provide a forum where young designers, from top
schools around the world, prototype solutions addressing real-life
opportunities.

“This year’s topic is learning and education, and students explore
areas such as managing time and money, learning through play, and
learning for all life stages.  It is energi
sing and wonderful to
showcase high quality, deep ideas from so many different
perspectives.”

One for the American readers! NVISION 08 is a three-day event bringing together “engineers, designers, developers, researchers, artists, enthusiasts, gamers, film makers, business professionals and consumers from every field of the visual computing universe”. With exciting special guests and speakers, this is a great event for anyone in the San Jose area. It takes place 25-27 August. Find out more on the NVISION 08 website.