Hasselblad has released a new version of Phocus beta software for the Mac.(v1.0b20). This software is available for download on the Hasselblad website at the link below.

Phocus Beta Software Link

Following are the release notes for this software release:

Highlights include Live Video!

This beta version is considered function complete except for Ixpress hardware connectivity. This feature will be included in the final version of Phocus 1.0, expected to be ready by the end of May.

Please note that a software beta version may contain bugs and that this should be taken into account if you are using it for actual production work. We therefore recommend making backup copies of your 3F files.

Adobe System Incorporated has recently sent an email to the users of Adobe GoLive web authoring software.

Dear Adobe software owner:

Please take note that Adobe has discontinued development and sales of Adobe® GoLive® web authoring software. This decision — effective April 28, 2008 — was made so we can focus our development efforts and sales resources on Adobe Dreamweaver® software, our  web design and development application.

Dreamweaver plays a pivotal role in the web and cross-media workflows supported by Adobe Creative Suite®, as well as in Adobe’s platform for Rich Internet Applications, including Adobe Flex® and Adobe AIR™.  Concentrating on Dreamweaver will enable us to better serve the needs of customers who want to create engaging websites and applications.

Thank you.
Adobe Systems Incorporate

Dreamweaver is included as part of the Adobe Creative Suite CS3.  You can learn more about Adobe Dreamweaver web authoring software at Adobe.com.

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., April 29, 2008 – Canon U.S.A., Inc. is proud to announce that Canon Inc. has achieved a new lens-manufacturing milestone as production of the Company’s EF lenses passed the 40-million mark.

Production of interchangeable EF lenses for Canon EOS-series AF (autofocus) single-lens reflex cameras began in 1987 at the Company’s Utsunomiya Plant. Canon commemorated the production of its 10 millionth EF lens in August 1995, its 20 millionth in February 2001, its 30 millionth in January 2006 and, a mere two years and three months later, has now surpassed the 40-million-unit mark. This achievement reflects users’ high level of satisfaction with the innovative technology and quality offered by EF lenses, as well as with Canon’s marketing operations and service.

Canon’s proprietary EF lens, born in March 1987 along with the EOS SLR camera system, marked a new direction in the future of AF systems and soon garnered attention for it use of a large-diameter fully electronic lens mount and an internal autofocus motor. In November of the same year, Canon introduced the industry’s firsti Ultrasonic Motor-powered lens: the EF300mm f/2.8L USM. In September 1989, the EF50mm f/1.0L USM, featuring the world’s largest apertureii of f/1.0, was launched, and in September 1995 the EF75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM, equipped with the world’s firstiii Image Stabilizer to compensate for the effects of camera shake, made its debut. Further, in December 2001, Canon introduced the world’s first super telephoto lens to employ a diffractive optical element for camera lensesiv: the EF400mm f/4 DO IS USM. Canon’s EF lens lineup, through the incorporation of innovative technologies, has consistently led the industry.

In conjunction with the launch in September 2003 of the highly acclaimed EOS Digital Rebel SLR camera, Canon expanded its EF lens lineup with the introduction of the EF-S series of lenses, optimized for use with digital SLR cameras that incorporate APS-C size image sensors.

Canon’s current EF lens lineup comprises 64v models, the most extensive selectionvi in the industry. The Company’s diverse range of EF lenses include standard and super-telephoto zoom lenses, Image Stabilizer-equipped lenses, large-aperture lenses, macro lenses, and TS-E lenses, which include a special tilt-shift mechanism that permits the manipulation of image perspective and distortion. The comprehensive product lineup effectively caters to the wide-ranging needs of a broad user base, from novice photo enthusiasts to advanced amateur and professional photographers.

Looking to the future of the total EOS system, including EF lenses, Canon will continue to promote technical innovation, from optical design to electronics and production engineering, with the aim of contributing to the creation of a new photo culture through attractive products to satisfy the needs of all users.

Apple has once again updated the iMac to be a more powerful all-in-one machine.

The all-new, all-in-one iMac packs a complete, high-performance computer into a beautifully thin design. The new iMac packs in professional performance with the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors at up to 3.06GHz.

iMac also offers ATI Radeon HD graphics, hard drive capacity up to 1 terabyte, and up to 2GB memory standard (with a CTO option of 4GB) with fast 800MHz main memory.

New COOLPIX Digital Cameras!
Nikon’s award-winning and trend-setting COOLPIX digital cameras feature world-renowned quality, design and features. Nikon is excited to introduce 3 new COOLPIX cameras that will once again offer outstanding image quality, high-performance, style, ease-of-use and more!
Close Encounters
The new COOLPIX P80 combines 10.1 megapixels and an incredible 18x (27mm-486mm) optical Zoom-NIKKOR lens for exceptional image quality and stunning prints as large as 20 x 30 inches. Optical VR Image Stabilization minimizes the effect of camera shake, for sharper images. The incredible, bright 2.7-inch high-resolution LCD and electronic viewfinder make composing and sharing pictures easier than ever. Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and Manual Exposure Modes give you personal control over camera operation. The COOLPIX P80 is priced at $399.95 MSRP.

Versatility reaches new heights
The new COOLPIX S52 captures exceptional images with 9.0 megapixels and a 3x optical
Zoom-NIKKOR lens. Optical VR Image Stabilization minimizes the effect of camera shake, while the huge, bright 3.0-inch LCD makes it easy to share pictures with friends and family, even in bright sunlight. Auto ISO adjusts up to ISO 3200, allowing for easy shooting in low light. The COOLPIX S52 is priced at $249.95 MSRP.

Incredible Pictures. No strings attached.
The new COOLPIX S52c features 9.0 megapixels and a 3x optical Zoom-NIKKOR lens for stunning images as large as 16 x 20 inches. Optical VR Image Stabilization minimizes the effect of camera shake, while the huge, bright 3.0-inch LCD makes it easy to share pictures with friends and family, even in bright sunlight. The Wi-Fi capabilities and my Picturetown allow you to view your pictures anytime, anywhere.
The COOLPIX S52c is priced at $279.95 MSRP.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — March 27 , 2008 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced Adobe® Photoshop® Express public beta, a free Rich Internet Application (RIA) available to anyone who wants to store, sort and show off digital photos with eye-catching effects. During the public beta period, Adobe will solicit Photoshop Express user feedback on product features and functionality, which will continue to evolve over time. As the newest addition to the Photoshop family line, Photoshop Express has taken much of Adobe’s best image editing technology and made it simple and accessible to a new online audience. Photoshop Express allows users to store up to 2 gigabytes of images online for free, make edits to their photos, and share them online in creative ways, including downloading and uploading photos from popular social networking sites like Facebook.

“Photoshop is trusted technology that has changed the visual landscape of our world. Now, Photoshop Express allows anyone who snaps a digital photo to easily achieve the high-impact results for which Adobe is known,” said Doug Mack, vice president of Consumer and Hosted Solutions at Adobe. “Photoshop Express is a convenient, single destination where you can store, edit and share photos whether you’re at home, school or on the road.”

Simple, Fun and Accessible
With Photoshop Express, digital photos can be uploaded and sorted anytime, edited non-destructively to always preserve the original image, and shared from anywhere, on any Web browser. In a few easy clicks, Photoshop Express empowers anyone to make standard edits, such as removing blemishes and red-eye, converting to black and white, cropping and resizing, and much more.

No experience is required to add special effects that will impress friends and family. In keeping with its one-click approach, Photoshop Express offers tricks like Pop Color which selects an object in an image, mutes the background color of the photo and allows the user to swap the object’s color so it jumps off the page. Sketch effects help photos look like drawings and the Distort feature allows you to distort facial features or objects within the images for a comical or artistic effect. Even users with limited photo editing knowledge can simply select what looks best from a line-up of sample photos with visual hints showing different variations of the added effect.

Photoshop Express offers a variety of creative sharing options, including uploading and showing off photos and slideshows in your own online “Gallery” hosted by Adobe, or conveniently embedding or linking photos to social networking sites and personal blogs without having to leave the application. Slideshows never looked better with animation that makes photos float and fly across the screen, allowing for viewer interactivity and unique presentation styles.

Free and Available Now
Adobe Photoshop Express beta is available now for free via any Web browser at http://www.photoshop.com/express . Photoshop Express was created with Flex, Adobe’s free, open source framework for building RIAs. Flex applications provide a consistent, rich user experience across operating systems and all major browsers, including Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari and others. An Internet connection and an up-to-date Flash® Player 9 are all that are required to experience Adobe Photoshop Express. In its early phases, Photoshop Express is available to US residents-only in English. Users may experience slow performance if accessed outside of the US. Future plans include availability in other languages and countries.

CUPERTINO, California—March 28, 2008— Apple® today released Aperture™ 2.1, which introduces an open plug-in architecture that makes it easy for photographers to use specialized third party imaging software right from within Aperture. Available today as a free software update, Aperture 2.1 includes the Apple-developed plug-in, Dodge & Burn, which adds brush-based tools for dodge (lighten), burn (darken), contrast, saturation, sharpen and blur. Over the coming months, third party software developers will deliver image editing plug-ins for localized editing, filters and effects, noise analysis and reduction, fisheye lens correction and more.

“The image quality in Aperture 2 has won over the most demanding photographers,” said Rob Schoeben, Apple’s vice president of Applications Product Marketing. “Now, thanks to our open plug-in architecture, users can access an entire industry’s worth of imaging expertise without ever leaving Aperture.”

“To date, maybe two percent of my photographs needed to be touched up outside Aperture,” said John Stanmeyer, founding member of the VII Photo Agency and contributing photographer for Time and National Geographic magazines. “Now that I can dodge and burn right within Aperture’s new plug-in, I can’t imagine when I’ll have to open any other application to tone my images.”

By clicking on one or more images within Aperture, users can choose from a menu of installed plug-ins and apply specialized imaging operations to either TIFF or RAW images. Apple is working closely with key developers to bring the most requested plug-ins to Aperture such as:

Nik Software’s Viveza plug-in, powered by U Point technology, which provides a powerful, precise and easy way for photographers to selectively control and adjust color and light in their digital images; PictureCode’s Noise Ninja plug-in that delivers advanced high ISO noise analysis and reduction; Digital Film Tools’ Power Stroke plug-in that features a simple, stroke-based interface to quickly mask and intuitively perform targeted adjustments; The Tiffen Company’s Dfx plug-in that provides an expansive suite of creative filters and effects; dvGarage’s dpMatte plug-in, which is a high performance chroma key tool for creating seamless composites, and the HDRtoner plug-in that enables the selection of multiple photos to create a single high dynamic range (HDR) image; and Image Trends’ plug-ins that include Fisheye-Hemi to quickly and effortlessly correct fisheye lens distortion, ShineOff which automatically removes shine from faces and PearlyWhites that automatically whitens and brightens teeth.
Pricing & Availability
Aperture 2.1 is available immediately as a free software update to current Aperture 2.0 users. Full system requirements and more information on Aperture can be found at www.apple.com/aperture. Information and availability for third party imaging plug-ins can be found on www.apple.com/aperture/resources, www.apple.com/downloads and at the Aperture community site www.aperturepluggedin.com.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

Aperture 2 and iPhoto ’08 customers using a variety of new Hasselblad, Leaf Aptus, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, and Sony digital cameras and camera backs will enjoy RAW file compatibility following download and installation of Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 2.0. Released today, it’s available via Software Update or from the support site.

This update extends RAW file compatibility for Aperture 2 and iPhoto ’08 for the following cameras:

Hasselblad CFV-16
Hasselblad H3D-31
Hasselblad H3D-31II
Leaf Aptus 54S
Leaf Aptus 65S
Nikon D60
Olympus E-3
Pentax *ist DL2
Pentax *ist DS2
Pentax K100D Super
Sony DSLR-A200
Sony DSLR-A350

For detailed information on the security content of this update, please visit this website: http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n61798.

Apple introduced Safari 3.1, the world’s fastest web browser for Mac¨ and Windows PCs. Safari loads web pages 1.9 times faster than IE 7 and 1.7 times faster than Firefox 2. Safari also runs JavaScript up to six times faster than other browsers, and is the first browser to support the latest innovative web standards needed to deliver the next generation of highly interactive Web 2.0 experiences. Safari 3.1 is available immediately as a free download at http://www.apple.com/safari/ for both Mac OS X and Windows.  You can also update to Safari 3.1 using the Software Update program in Mac OS X (System Preferences).

Now featuring support for the faster 802.11n Wi-Fi specification, the new AirPort Express Base Station delivers up to five times the performance and twice the range of the previous model. The world’s smallest 802.11n-based mobile base station, the new AirPort Express offers a great option for anyone who wants to set up a high-speed wireless network, share a printer wirelessly, or stream iTunes music wirelessly from a Mac or PC with AirTunes. And because its so compact, you can take AirPort Express with you and set up an ad hoc wireless network in your hotel room. Available immediately for Mac and Windows, AirPort Express sells for just $99.00.