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Rob Galbraith DPI

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iMovie '09 Missing Manual tentatively planned for March release The Missing Manual for iMovie '09 and iDVD is tentatively scheduled for release in March 2009, says its author David Pogue. Pogue's similar tome on iMovie '08 was one of the most useful books we've read on using Apple's consumer video editing application in both light pro and non-pro workflows, and so we're looking forward to the release of the new edition. Canon posts firmware update for EOS 5D Mark II Firmware v1.0.7 for the Canon EOS 5D Mark II, released today, addresses two image quality shortcomings: the "black dots" phenomenon widely discussed on Internet forums, plus a more rare instance of vertical banding when the camera is set to sRAW1. The new firmware "improves and mitigates" these problems. Canon has also announced Digital Photo Professional 3.5.2 and Picture Style Editor 1.4.2, updates to each application that correct a magenta shift brought on when firmware v1.0.7 sRAW1 or sRAW2 photos are viewed in previous versions. Apple releases downloadable trial version of iWork '09 for Mac While this year's release of Apple's iWork productivity suite for Mac won't be available for purchase for several weeks, a 30 day trial version of iWork '09 can be downloaded now from Apple's website. The suite is comprised of Pages (word processing and page layouts), Numbers (spreadsheets) and Keynote (presentations, including photo slide shows with slick transitions), and is US$79 for a single license, US$99 for a five-license Family Pack or US$49 when purchased with a new Mac (all prices for the U.S. market). SDXC, follow-on to the SDHC memory card format, announced The SD Association, an industry working group that manages the Secure Digital (SD) memory card specification, has announced a new variant of SD called SDXC. With a roadmap to achieve speeds of up to 300MB/s and capacities of up to 2TB, it's designed to eliminate the bottlenecks of the current SDHC specification, which already limits transfer rates for this memory card type. Post galleries feature photos of the year Canada's National Post features five fine galleries on photos of the year: The Extraordinary; Crisis and conflict; Political figures; Faith; and Mirth and Joy. Reuters gallery explores photo technique Reuters has posted images featuring repetition and patterns in a gallery called Photo technique: repeat after me. New Apple 17 inch MacBook Pro offers anti-glare display option Apple today has announced the latest iteration of its 17 inch MacBook Pro. It features a 1920 x 1280 pixel, LED-backlit display that comes in both standard glossy and optional, extra-cost anti-glare versions. The new laptop's enclosure uses the same extruded aluminum design as the 15 inch MacBook Pro and MacBook released in the fall, includes a non-removable battery with a charge life specified to be up to eight hours, plus three USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port (the FireWire 400 port of the previous generation is gone), Mini DisplayPort, ExpressCard 34 slot and CD/DVD-writing SuperDrive. The new 17 inch MacBook Pro will accept and recognize up to 8GB of RAM. Apple unveils iLife '09 During this morning's keynote presentation at Macworld Conference and Expo in San Francisco, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, Phil Schiller, unveiled a new release of the company's iLife suite, iLife '09. Among the changes he highlighted were much-improved handling of audio, finer video editing controls and software image stabilization in iMovie '09 plus face detection and geotagging features in iPhoto '09. Version 4.6 of SeeFile digital asset management software announced SeeFile Software today is rolling out v4.6 of its namesake digital asset management product for Mac, as well as taking the wraps off a new web-hosted version. Version 4.6 of SeeFile incorporates several changes, including a user interface that's promised to be both more intuitive and more compatible with current web browsers, an automated notifications feature, improved administrative controls and broadened file type support. Canon marks 50 years since the introduction of its first SLR camera It has been 50 years since Canon introduced its first single-lens reflex (SLR) camera, and in that time it has shipped over 53 million units, says a Canon USA press release. The first SLR model from Canon, the Canonflex, was launched in May 1959. ThinkPad W700ds now available for ordering from Lenovo website The ThinkPad W700ds, a dual-screen version of Lenovo's performance laptop that was officially announced yesterday, is now available for ordering on the Lenovo website. The secondary 10.6 inch, 768 x 1280 pixel screen, adds US$420 to the price of the machine. Gallery shows the beauty of ice and snow The Boston Globe's feature gallery The Big Picture has tackled the ice and snow theme with a very nice gallery of images called Icy days and nights. Nature Photographers pick 2008 awards The 2008 Editor's Pick Awards have been posted on Nature Photographers Online Magazine. Every year members of Nature Photographers recommend a fellow photographer's work and this year's honour goes to Marsel van Oosten whose site features some outstanding image galleries. Phase One releases Capture One 4.6 in basic, PRO and DB versions Phase One has released Capture One 4.6 in basic, PRO and DB versions. The latest release of the RAW converter and pro workflow application adds the ability to convert NEFs captured with the Nikon D3X, expands Canon EOS 5D Mark II CR2 support to include the sRaw1 and sRaw2 formats and adds several feature improvements including expanded camera remote control capabilities. Reuters posts December's best Reuters offers an image gallery of Pictures of the Month: December from its photographers from around the world. The Big Picture offers a pair of strong image galleries The Big Picture from The Boston Globe features a fine gallery on the sport of ski jumping and another gallery on the stark reality of war in Israel and Gaza. Lenovo poised to update ThinkPad W700 with dual screen, 8GB RAM and new processor options Next week, Lenovo will officially take the wraps off the first significant update of the ThinkPad W700 laptop since it was introduced in the fall of 2008. Leading the list of what's new is an optional slide-out second screen in a variant called the W700ds, but there are other noteworthy changes in both the single and dual screen versions of the company's photographer-friendly desktop replacement. These include a more affordable quad core processor option, the ability to order the machine with as much as 8GB of RAM (up from a maximum of 4GB previously) and the correcting of a problem that rendered the optional built-in CompactFlash slot unusably slow. Galleries bring in the New Year Starting with Reuters' Welcome to 2009, there are several image galleries celebrating the New Year, including The Frame from the Sacramento Bee with a nice selection of New Year's images and The New York Times with a slideshow called New Year's Eve Around the World. The Bee picks the best of 2008 The Sacramento Bee's big-picture gallery called The Frame hosts three galleries of the best pictures from 2008 in feature, news, sports and U.S. election. The Frame also offers a strong gallery on the conflict in the Gaza. Nikon D3X added to CF/SD Performance Database The latest addition to this site's CF/SD Performance Database is the D3X. Over 110 memory cards from 22 different makers have been put through Nikon's highest-resolution digital SLR, to give you an idea of which CompactFlash (and SD/SDHC, in an adapter) can write this camera's large JPEG and even larger NEF files quickly enough to suit your needs. Bush photographer describes eight-year journey Eric Draper describes his job as White House photographer covering the George Bush presidency for the past eight years in this Fox News video. Times presents the year in pictures The New York Times presents 2008 - The Year in Pictures in a 160-image slideshow containing eight categories: The Election; The Nation; Iraq and Afghanistan; Sports; The Economy; The World; The Region; and Arts and Entertainment. Reuters posts images from the Crisis in Gaza Reuters has posted an image gallery from its photographers covering the Crisis in Gaza. Tribune photo essay touches on joy and sorrow of 2008 The Chicago Tribune takes a slightly different look than most "best of" image galleries of 2008 with a multimedia presentation called Joy and sorrow in 2008. Weather's on everyone's mind The weather often headlines the news these days and a pair of image galleries from Reuters called Cold front and Frigid Weather Continues from The New York Times reflect this trend.