iLounge

C2 Enterprises has released Photosmith 2.0, a major update to its advanced photographic workflow app for iPad and Lightroom users. Redesigned from the ground up the new version boasts significant improvements in speed, flexibility and memory usage and adds a plethora of the most-requested features by users of the original version.

Photosmith 2.0 now supports wireless two-way synchronization with Adobe Lightroom via a free Lightroom plugin and can also directly receive photos wirelessly from Eye-Fi cards. Users can sort and filter photos, organize them into collections, and apply star ratings and colour labels, all of which can be synchronized with the photos in the user’s Lightroom library. Keywords and IPTC metadata can be applied to photos individually or in batches and users can define presets to quickly apply and reuse the same settings. Users can also share photos to Facebook and Flickr or send them out via e-mail and the app includes native support for Adobe Lightroom’s Export and Publish Services. RAW, JPG, RAW+JPG and DNG formats are fully supported along with advanced file formats from many popular cameras including Canon CR2, Nikon NEF, Pentax PEF, Sony ARW. Photosmith 2.0 requires an iPad running iOS 5.1 or later and is available from the App Store for $20 or as a free update for Photosmith 1.x users.

Adobe has updated Photoshop Touch for the iPad increasing the maximum supported resolution and adding new synchronization and export features. Adobe Photoshop Touch 1.2 now allows users to work with 2048x2048 resolution photos with up to 10 layers, although the default remains at 1600x1600 with 16 layers; users can choose the higher resolution in the application’s Preferences. In addition, Photoshop Touch can now automatically synchronize with Adobe’s Creative Cloud and users can export images to PSD or PNG via the iOS Camera Roll, e-mail and iTunes File Sharing. The updated version also improves workflows for rotating and flipping images, adds two new tutorials and four new effects and is now available in English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish and Italian. Adobe Photoshop Touch requires an iPad 2 or third-generation iPad with iOS 5.0 or later and is available from the App Store for $10.

Facebook has announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire the popular photo-sharing app Instagram. According to the company, Facebook will pay roughly $1 billion in cash and shares of Facebook for San Francisco-based Instagram, with the transaction expected to close later this quarter, subject to customary closing conditions. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has issued a statement on the matter, which appears below.

“I’m excited to share the news that we’ve agreed to acquire Instagram and that their talented team will be joining Facebook.

For years, we’ve focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family. Now, we’ll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests.

We believe these are different experiences that complement each other. But in order to do this well, we need to be mindful about keeping and building on Instagram’s strengths and features rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook.

That’s why we’re committed to building and growing Instagram independently. Millions of people around the world love the Instagram app and the brand associated with it, and our goal is to help spread this app and brand to even more people.

We think the fact that Instagram is connected to other services beyond Facebook is an important part of the experience. We plan on keeping features like the ability to post to other social networks, the ability to not share your Instagrams on Facebook if you want, and the ability to have followers and follow people separately from your friends on Facebook.

These and many other features are important parts of the Instagram experience and we understand that. We will try to learn from Instagram’s experience to build similar features into our other products. At the same time, we will try to help Instagram continue to grow by using Facebook’s strong engineering team and infrastructure.

This is an important milestone for Facebook because it’s the first time we’ve ever acquired a product and company with so many users. We don’t plan on doing many more of these, if any at all. But providing the best photo sharing experience is one reason why so many people love Facebook and we knew it would be worth bringing these two companies together.

We’re looking forward to working with the Instagram team and to all of the great new experiences we’re going to be able to build together.”

58 North has released Pholium, it’s latest app for the iPad. Pholium allows users to create high-quality, customizable digital photo books, offering the ability to import, edit, and position photos, customize the cover, fonts, and colors, store completed books in the on-device library, and share books with other iPad users, as well as realistic page turning animations and full-sized image viewing with zoom features. Pholium requires iOS 5.0 or later and sells for $9.99.

Tap tap tap has released a major update to Camera+ adding a host of new features including improvements to sharing and photo import, workflows and more. Camera+ 3 now allows users to share a photo to multiple online services or even multiple accounts on an online service at the same time; performance has also been improved when sharing. The latest version also now provides the ability to select multiple photos during import and adds features such as larger thumbnails and zooming to the import panel to help users more easily identify the correct photos.

Version 3 introduces a new Workflows feature that allows users to more effectively adjust the app to their usage style, allowing for workflows such as shooting several photos in sequence and editing later or editing and sharing each photo as it’s taken. Focus and exposure can also now be locked independently when taking photos and a VolumeSnap setting can now be found in the options menu. The update also sports an improved user interface for the Lightbox with increased usability along with a persistent iOS status bar when working in the Lightbox view. New APIs have also been added allowing third-party apps such as Tweetbot, Twitterrific, WordPress, Foodspotting and Twittelator Neue to integrate with Camera+ for various functions such as capturing, editing and sharing photos. The new version also makes a number of smaller improvements including tuned clarity for photos particularly for iPhone 4S users, performance improvements, opt-in notifications for news and updates, and numerous bug fixes. Camera+ 3.0 requires iOS 4.0 or later and is available from the App Store for $1.

Apple updated a handful of its iOS apps today alongside the introduction of the new iPad. The iWork suite—Pages, Numbers, and Keynote—have received unspecified updates while GarageBand now features Smart Strings, Note Editor, iCloud syncing, and sharing over multiple devices. The new iMovie adds outlining and storyboarding features, along with the ability to record video with the new iPad’s 1080p rear camera. All of the updates are free, and available today.

Popular online photo service SmugMug has released Camera Awesome a free advanced camera app for the iPhone. Designed to provide fast shooting and sharper, better-exposed pictures, the app provides unique features such as composition presets, the ability to select independent auto-focus and auto-exposure areas and a level for the horizon. A single-tap “Awesomize” feature provides quick and easy photo enhancement and users can choose from a set of professionally designed special effects, textures, filters and frames from renowned photographer Kevin Kubota. A prerecording feature for video also automatically captures and saves the five seconds prior to beginning recording. Photos and videos can be shared to Facebook, YouTube, SmugMug and Flickr either manually with a single tap or automatically as they’re taken and saved. Camera Awesome requires iOS 4.3 or later and is available from the App Store as a free download.

Adobe has launched Photoshop Touch for the iPad, the first in its series of “Touch Apps” for the iOS platform first announced last fall. Adobe Photoshop Touch provides a core set of features from the full desktop version of Photoshop in an iPad optimized app, including support for working with multiple layers and advanced selection tools along with a number of professional effects and filters. Intuitive touch gestures allow users to access Photoshop tools, zoom and pan within an image and precisely select and refine parts of an image. Images can be opened from the iPad photo library or users can take advantage of an integrated Google Image search to acquire images from various online sources.

Finished results can be shared via Facebook or e-mail, printed via AirPrint or uploaded as projects to Adobe Creative Cloud and opened in Photoshop CS5 or Photoshop Touch on another iPad or tablet device.  Advanced Facebook integration also allows users to view comments on their shared photos directly within the app. Photoshop Touch also provides a collection of 13 step-by-step tutorials covering professional techniques as well as a gallery view to allow users to easily choose the styles and results they’re looking for. Adobe Photoshop Touch requires an iPad 2 with iOS 5.0 or later and is available from the App Store for $10.

Adobe has released an update to Photoshop Express for iOS adding a new optional Border Pack and sharing enhancements. With Photoshop Express 2.1 users can now purchase an optional Border Pack via in-app purchase providing 22 new borders and frames that can be added to photos; the app also allows users to preview the new borders on their photos prior to actually purchasing the Border Pack. The new version also adds support for sharing on Flickr, allowing users to upload full-sized photos from Photoshop Express directly to their Flickr account and also enhances e-mail sharing with fun, pre-populated subject lines and image options. Photoshop Express 2.1 is a universal app requiring iOS 4.2 and is available from the App Store as a free download. The new Border Pack is available via in-app purchase for $2.

Pro media production software developer Avid has released Avid Studio, an advanced multimedia editing suite for the iPad. Avid Studio incorporates leading film-editing technology into an intuitive iOS app that allows users to quickly and easily edit video, audio and photos directly on their iPad. Users arrange their clips in the Storyboard view and can then move over to the Timeline view for making precision edits and adding professional transitions effects and a soundtrack. Video, audio and photos can be imported directly from the iOS media library or users can import content from external devices using the iPad Camera Connection Kit. Built-in tutorials are included to get users started quickly and a number of advanced features are available for enhancing video content such as multi-layer 3D animations, transitions and titles, layered composite video tracks, picture-in-picture effects and high-quality motion titles and graphics with full presentation and animation controls. The resulting movie can be uploaded directly to services such as YouTube and Facebook for sharing or can be exported to Avid Studio for the PC to continue with more advanced editing tools. Avid Studio requires an iPad running iOS 5.0 or later and is available from the App Store for $5.

Omer Shoor has updated Photogene² for iPhone and Photogene for iPad adding the ability to order print products directly from within the app, support for inter-device photo transfers and several new editing features. With the latest version, users can now order physical photo products such as greeting cards and magnets via tap2print and take advantage of new editing tools such as a clarity slider and clone tool. The update also allows users to create their own presets and copy-and-paste edits between multiple photos.

Both the iPad and iPhone versions also now have the ability to transfer photos directly between the Photogene apps running on two different iOS devices and upload photos directly to Evernote and Tumblr. iOS 5 users can also now preserve original file names when uploading photos to Dropbox, FTP or sending via e-mail and add date-stamps to exported photos. Photogene for iPad also gains the ability to copy and paste IPTC data between photos and set star ratings in full-size view for users who have purchased the Pro upgrade pack. Photogene² for iPhone ($1) and Photogene for iPad ($3) are both available from the App Store.

Path has released a major update to its social photo sharing app for the iPhone and iPod touch expanding the app and online service beyond mere photo sharing into a Smart Journal for sharing various types of life moments. Initially released in November 2010, Path’s goal was to create a more personal social network for sharing photos online by deliberately limiting the number of friends that a user can have and thereby focusing on sharing personal moments with close friends and family. The app later expanded into limited video support and social network integration, but remained primarily about sharing and tagging photos.

Path 2.0 brings a completely new interface design and expands the sharing model to become a life journal rather than merely another photo sharing service. Users can now share more types of information in their “Path” such as music they’re listening to and places they visit and can even record automatic path entries when the app recognizes that the user is spending time in a different neighbourhood or visiting a new city. Additional features include the ability to record sleeping hours to a user’s Path along with moon phases, improved Push Notifications and integrated sharing with Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare from directly within the application. Path 2.0 requires an iPhone or fourth-generation iPod touch running iOS 4.2 or later and is available from the App Store as a free download.