We’ve told you about Boinx Software’s PhotoBox before and it has been updated for your pleasure just in time for Christmas. PhotoBox allows photographers to hook up their iPad to a projector or monitor for instant big screen visuals. On the screen or the iPad, photographers will be able to instantly pan and zoom images as well as analyze each shot for exposure, focus, color, and overall look and composition. No more leaving a photo shoot thinking you have the perfect shot only to find a blurry subject with poor saturation.

What’s new in PhotoBox 1.1?

• PhotoBox 1.1 only works on iPad with iOS 4.2 or higher installed!
• Greatly improved workflow: PhotoBox can now directly access your photo library. Just select an album from the library and all photos are loaded and processed immediately.
• The price has also changed to $4.99.

Verizon Wireless, the nation’s largest and most reliable wireless voice and 3G data network, and Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile), the number one mobile phone provider in the United States(1), today announced the upcoming availability of the Samsung Continuum™, a Galaxy S™ smartphone. The Continuum is the world’s first smartphone designed with a dedicated ticker display, which provides users with up-to-the-minute news, sports, finance and social networking updates for maximized multitasking.

The Continuum features two separate but integrated displays: a 3.4-inch touch screen Super AMOLED™ main display and a customizable 1.8-inch Super AMOLED dedicated ticker display that streams customized information in real time. Additionally, the Continuum is powered by Android™ 2.1, with support for Google Mobile Services, including Gmail™, YouTube™, Android Market™ and more. The Continuum also includes a 1GHz Hummingbird Application Processor, 5-megapixel camera, and multiple entertainment and social networking features.

Color: Mirror Black

Key features and specifications:
· 3.4-inch Super AMOLED Main Touch Screen Display – Main display provides user-customizable homescreens and widgets in a brilliant screen display
· 1.8-inch Interactive Super AMOLED Ticker Display – Dedicated ticker display enables zero-click access to news, social networking, sports and entertainment feeds; users can select what content they want on the ticker by selecting from menu on display
· Grip Sensor – By touching the bottom sides of the device, the ticker display lights up to give users real-time weather, social networking services (SNS), message, IM and e-mail notification updates
· Super AMOLED Screen Technology – Brilliant screen makes watching movies, viewing videos and playing games come to life like never before, even in bright light and outdoor environments
· Android 2.1 platform – With support for Google Mobile Services, including Gmail, YouTube, Google Talk and Android Market
· Preloaded with Bing Maps and Bing Search
· Full HTML Web browsing capabilities
· 3G Mobile HotSpot capabilities – Allows customers to transform their phone into a wireless modem for up to five compatible Wi-Fi-enabled devices
· Advanced touchscreen gestures capabilities, including multi-touch pinch to zoom, double tap to zoom and horizontal swiping, which provides easier and quicker access to many applications, including location-based services, Web browsing and digital photos or videos
· Multiple file formats supported, including DivX and Xvid support
· Samsung 1GHz Cortex A8 Hummingbird Application Processor – Produces amazing graphics, faster upload and download times, and HD-like multimedia content
· Six-axis sensor that works with the smartphone’s accelerometer to provide a smooth, fluid gaming experience when the user is tilting the device up or down or panning the phone to the left or right
· Virtual QWERTY Keyboard Featuring Swype Technology – Input text faster and in a more intuitive way with one continuous finger motion across the screen keyboard
· Full suite of messaging options – Text, picture, video and voice messaging; corporate and personal e-mail accounts supported
· 5.0-megapixel camera/camcorder – Auto-focus and LED flash with HD video recording and playback capabilities to capture photos and videos for playback on your HD television; playback (720p) on the screen display
· Wi-Fi Connectivity (802.11 b/g/n)
· Stereo Bluetooth® Technology – Support for headset, hands-free, stereo, phonebook access, and object push for vCard and vCalendar
· Corporate Email – Supports Android Éclair Exchange ActiveSync e-mail to synchronize corporate e-mail, contacts and calendars from office e-mail accounts
· Music player features lock screen, ticker display and quick side panel controls and 3.5-millimeter headphone jack
· 8 GB microSD™ card preinstalled expandable up to 32 GB

Lifestyle features:
· V CAST Music with Rhapsody®, V CAST Video on Demand, V CAST Song ID, Visual Voice Mail, V CAST Tones, VZ Navigator®, Mobile IM, City ID, Bing Search and Maps, and Blockbuster Application
· Dedicated ticker displays up-to-the minute news, weather and SNS updates, as well as music player controls and incoming e-mail, IM, and text messages without interrupting the activity on the main display
· Samsung’s Social Hub – Built around messaging, contacts and calendar sync, which allows users to send and receive information, whether it is e-mail, social network updates or SMS messages
o Integrated Calendar information from portal calendars, on Exchange, Google Calendar™ and SNS, including Facebook®
o Integrated Contacts syncs with Exchange, Google, Twitter and Facebook – Facebook contacts display in four categories, including Info, History (previous calls and messages), Activities (status updates and notifications on social networking sites), and Media (Facebook profile photos and photo gallery)
· AllShare™ – Enables inter-device connectivity through Digital Living Network Alliance® (DLNA®), so users can send multimedia content wirelessly to other DLNA Certified®-enabled devices such as TVs and laptops
· Daily Briefing – Instant access to weather, news, stocks and schedules
· Write and Go – Quickly jot down an idea and later decide on a format, such as SMS/ MMS, e-mail, calendar or memo, to send or post to popular SNS sites such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace
· Smart Alarm – Natural alarm sound and display automatically illuminates
· Weather Clock – Displays current time and weather of the selected city (ability to add and select other cities)

Pricing and availability:
· The Samsung Continuum will be available for order starting Nov. 11 in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement and data package. Customers will receive the rebate in the form of a debit card; upon receipt, customers may use the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted. The device will be available for purchase in stores beginning Nov. 18.
· For additional information on Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com.

Boinx Software, a multi-award winning developer of cool software for the Mac and iOS devices including the iPhone®, iPad™ and iPod®, is pleased to introduce its latest creation for digital photographers and photo enthusiasts – the PhotoBox iPad application. Designed as a tool for photographers on-the-go, PhotoBox analyzes the technical quality of photos imported from camera to iPad via the iPad Camera Connection Kit. The first of its kind, this breakthrough app provides photographers with an on-the-spot analysis of images in terms of exposure, focus, color, and overall look and composition. Post-shoot, photographers can connect their iPads to a VGA projector to show their photos on the big screen for a deeper analysis and critique. With a long history of developing image applications the Boinx team is taking a different path by offering its users the first version FREE. Working closely with early adopters on evolving its functionality, Boinx is developing PhotoBox into a photo app unlike any other.

“It is our goal that Boinx users will come to think of PhotoBox as their own personal photography assistant,” comments Oliver Breidenbach, CEO, Boinx Software. “We have an exciting vision for PhotoBox and view the initial release as a springboard for early adopters to help define the tool. The feedback we can receive from professional photographers in the field will be invaluable – helping not only our team produce a higher-quality product, but also in the end helping photographers produce that perfect image. Our team is equipped with extensive experience in producing fantastic image applications, thus we have an arsenal of ideas up our sleeves to make PhotoBox truly shine. We look forward to working with our customers to turn PhotoBox into the ultimate photographer’s assistant.”

Early Adopters: Help Mold PhotoBox into a Picture-Perfect App
The initial, free download provides photographers with an in-depth and invaluable on-the-spot analysis of each captured photograph, ensuring they leave their assignments or shoots satisfied with their images. PhotoBox serves as a guide to help adjust photographic elements on location, such as lighting, exposure and focus, while histograms show the tonal distribution across your image. The app will not only save photographers hours of precious time sifting through images in the studio post-shoot, but also the cost of repeated setup and travel to attain usable images. Breidenbach further comments, “Professional photographers, to photo enthusiasts, and everyone in between, will benefit from PhotoBox’s extraordinary ability to produce an on-the-spot analysis of each and every captured photograph, ensuring they have captured the perfect shot.”

Analyze Your Shots on the Big Screen
PhotoBox comes complete with the capability to connect a VGA projector to your iPad for deeper analysis of image quality on the big screen. Different from a slideshow presentation of your images, where you have to wait for the image to appear and are only granted sequential access, PhotoBox allows you to simply tap on the image you’d like to view and it will appear instantly on the screen. The pan and zoom feature also translates to the big screen, in order for photographers to focus in on and dissect very specific image details. With PhotoBox and a VGA projector, your photos can truly be “larger than life.”

PhotoBox Tips and Tricks:
- Enable masks for an in-depth view of dark and light areas.
- Tap to select an image and get the color and luminance histogram.
- Double tap to zoom in on an image.
- Use the buttons in the button bar to turn on the over and under exposure detection tool.
- PhotoBox allows users to view images in any orientation; in landscape mode, the RGB channel histograms can be combined and expanded into one with a simple two-finger pinch/zoom.
- While in View mode, a double finger tap and hold will zoom to 100%, giving users the ability to glance around the photo and immediately zoom out again after releasing both fingers.
- Attach a VGA projector using the VGA out cable to show your photos on the big screen. Pan and zoom while connected to the projector for an “in your face” view of image details.

To learn more about PhotoBox please visit www.boinx.com/photobox/.

Availability and Pricing:
PhotoBox is available today as a FREE download at http://itunes.com/apps/photobox.

From CTIA Enterprise & Applications™ 2010, Verizon Wireless, the company with the nation’s largest and most reliable wireless 3G network, and Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) today unveiled DROID PRO, a new, powerful, stronger and faster solution designed to meet both business and personal needs. The first Android™-based smartphone optimized for business use, DROID PRO is also a global-ready Android smartphone from Verizon Wireless, allowing customers to enjoy wireless voice service in more than 220 countries and data coverage in more than 200 countries.

DROID PRO meets employers’ and employees’ needs by addressing the productivity tools businesses require, including corporate connectivity and security; full push corporate e-mail with corporate level security; unified calendar with additional work features; pre-loaded Quickoffice Mobile Suite, a powerful 1 GHz processor; 4 GB of memory (2 GB internal; and 2 GB removable) and a QWERTY keyboard designed for speed and convenience.

“DROID PRO combines the feature-packed, high-level user experience that customers look for in an Android smartphone plus the security that enterprises require, all with the reliability of Verizon Wireless’ 3G network,” said Mike Lanman, president – Enterprise and Government Markets for Verizon Wireless. “DROID PRO builds on our commitment to deliver the best Android experience to the marketplace as well as to our enterprise customers.”

“The DROID PRO is an advanced business-ready solution that provides users with the full smartphone experience, redefined by delivering the power of a DROID,” said Sanjay Jha, chief executive officer of Motorola Mobility. “The DROID PRO consolidates users’ work and personal needs. This is just another reason the DROID PRO is setting a new standard for enterprise, allowing users to enjoy all the benefits of a smartphone with full push delivery of corporate e-mail and corporate level security.”

Key features and specifications:
· Support for both Exchange e-mail and Gmail™ for business
· Corporate directory look-up, unified calendar for Enterprise and sync with Google Calendar™
· PC-like browsing with Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1 on a full, multi-touch, 3.1-inch brilliant display built on Android 2.2
· View, edit and share documents, including Microsoft Excel® spreadsheets, PowerPoint® presentations and Word® documents
· Built-in security features, including AuthenTec IPSec multi-headed VPN integration, remote wipe of device and SD card, and complex password support. Device and SD card encryption will be available in early 2011
· 3G Mobile HotSpot capabilities – Allows customers to connect up to five other Wi-Fi®-enabled devices and laptops
· Live widgets that stream e-mail messages to the home screen; customers can filter the widgets to separate work and home e-mail
· 5-megapixel camera with auto focus and dual LED flash as well as DVD-quality video
· 3G diversity antennae provides customers with enhanced data speeds and range
· Wi-Fi®-enabled DNLA® connectivity
· Android Market™ – Provides customers with access to more than 80,000 applications
· My Verizon and Backup AssistantSM support – Allows customers to manage their wireless accounts or their contacts from their phones

Pricing and availability:
· DROID PRO will be available at www.verizonwireless.com and in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores in the coming weeks. Pricing will be announced closer to launch.
· For more information about Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com.

From CTIA Enterprise & Applications™ 2010, Verizon Wireless, the company with the nation’s largest and most reliable wireless 3G network, and Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) today unveiled Motorola CITRUS™. Powered by Android™ 2.1, Motorola CITRUS delivers an affordable, entry-level, customizable smartphone experience in a compact design that is easy on both the eyes and the earth.

Key features and specifications:
· Curved design
· Easy-to-use, on-screen QWERTY keyboard (available in landscape and portrait modes) for quick messaging
· Full HTML Web browser – Preloaded with Bing Search and Bing Maps and delivers a PC-like Web browsing experience with quick access to Web apps and services such as Facebook®; Google services such as Gmail™, Google Talk™ and YouTube™
· Equipped with BACKTRACK™, a touch panel located on the back of the device that enables users to navigate and scroll through websites, home screens, e-mails, music and more without obstructing the display
· Full capacitive touch screen display delivers fluid flick, swipe and pinch-to-zoom navigation
· Seven home screen panels that can be tailored with an array of available shortcuts; applications; and pre-loaded widgets such as sticky notes, weather, messages and calendar
· Android Market™ – Choose from thousands of downloadable apps, many of which are free
· CITRUS has a housing made from 25 percent post-consumer recycled plastic, is certified CarbonFree® through an alliance with Carbonfund.org, and is PVC and BFR free. The packaging is made from 80 percent post-consumer recycled paper, and the user manual is made using 100 percent recycled paper and soy-based ink.

Pricing and availability:
· Motorola CITRUS will be available at www.verizonwireless.com and in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores in Q4 2010.
· For more information about Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com.

Elements 9 offers much of Photoshop’s power without the huge price tag. It’s an ideal tool for most image-editing buffs—including scrapbookers, photographers, and aspiring graphic artists. But Elements still doesn’t come with a decent manual. Photoshop Elements 9: The Missing Manual (O’Reilly Media, $44.99 USD), will help you get the most out of the program, from the basics to advanced tips for both Windows and Mac.

“Elements 9 has some major new features, like Layer Masks, and the??Organizer for Mac, that are very powerful but not easy to figure out, as well as some fun new features that you may well overlook if you don’t know where to find them,” says expert author Barbara Brundage. “I hope that the book will help my readers understand how to get the most from all of them.”

• Quickly learn your way around. Customize Elements to suit your working style.
• Get to work right away. Import, organize, and make quick image fixes with ease.
• Retouch any image. Learn how to repair and restore your old and damaged photos.
• Add some pizzazz. Give images more zip with dozens of filters, frames, and special effects.
• Find your creative flair. Create scrapbooks, greeting cards, photo books, and more.
• Use advanced techniques. Work with layers, blend modes, and other tools.
• Try out your new skills. Download practice images and try new tricks as you learn.

About the Author
Barbara Brundage is the author of Photoshop Elements 6: The Missing Manual, an Adobe Community Expert, and a member of Adobe’s prerelease groups for Elements 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. She’s been teaching people how to use Photoshop Elements since it first came out in 2001. Barbara first started using Elements to create graphics for use in her day job as a harpist, music publisher, and arranger. Along the way, she joined the large group of people finding a renewed interest in photography thanks to digital cameras. If she can learn to use Elements, you can, too!

View Barbara Brundage’s full profile page.

If you’re looking for a case for your iPad or those cool, thin, protective films for it…or for the iPhone, then take a look at our reviews section. We just posted three reviews on a case and film protection for the iPad as well as a protective coating for the iPhone 3GS. Also, if you’re looking for a new and beautiful way to discover day-to-day news, you will want to read our review on Blancspot. Incredible stuff to be read!

CoreMelt, the leading provider of advanced video plug-in effects for the editorial, composting, design and visual effects communities, today announced the release of Lock & Load Express, a powerful addition to its line of intuitive video effects software tools.

Lock & Load Express is based on CoreMelt’s popular image stabilization and rolling shutter reduction software application — Lock & Load X — considered one of the fastest video stabilizers available on the Mac platform, offering advanced tracking features and CMOS rolling shutter reduction for compositors and editors working in Final Cut Pro, After Effects and Motion. Lock & Load Express harnesses much of the key functionality found in Lock & Load X, including rolling shutter reduction, but in a simplified version that caters primarily to videographers and prosumers using DSLR cameras and working on Apple’s entry level Final Cut Express editing software.

Bolton notes that while Lock & Load X has gained considerable praise as a tool to improve video quality for users on higher end editing software applications, there are videographers utilizing DSLR and CMOS sensor based cameras running on Final Cut Express, which does not have a built-in image stabilizer (Lock & Load Express is currently the only stabilizer designed for Final Cut Express), who do not need access to every control in processing their footage, but need a reliable tool to stabilize footage featuring rolling shutter artifacts at a lower price point.

“CoreMelt is excited to introduce Lock & Load Express, a trimmed down version of our blazingly fast Lock & Load X tracking stabilizer software developed specifically to tackle real world production problems that videographers encounter when shooting on DSLR cameras inside Final Cut Pro Express; itself a powerful application,” says Bolton. “With today’s addition to our software plug-in lineup, editors and compositors at every professional level will have increased freedom to work on their editing platform of choice to tackle stabilization and rolling shutter issues for virtually any workflow and unleash their personal creativity.”

Bolton adds, “Lock & Load Express addresses the everyday challenges facing videographers — especially event videographers that shoot on DSLR cameras — to give hand held footage a professionally shot Steady Cam quality instantly without the need to set tracking points. Using the rolling shutter reduction functionality in our Lock & Load Express software helps lessen image distortions and lets digital content creators get on with business of creating and meeting tight deadlines.”

Key Highlights of Lock & Load Express

Lock & Load Express enables customers to achieve the highest-quality image stabilization and rolling shutter reduction features working on Final Cut Express including:
• Speed — Lock & Load Express tracks up to 12 times faster than Final Cut Pro’s built in stabilizer.
• Background Tracking — Allows users to work on the rest of a project while tracking for improved productivity and greater precision.
• Streamlined workflow — Features like in/out point analysis, and rotation and zoom smoothing help simplify workflow and keep projects on deadline.
• Intuitive — Lock & Load Express is based on the powerful Lock & Load X software architecture known for its ease-of-use and simplified interface for better quality results. Running inside Final Cut Express the software offers editors and compositors a proven solution for limiting rolling shutter artifacts and image distortion even on shots with complex rotation or poorly defined background.

What Customers Are Saying
“Even though I do not use Final Cut Express, after looking at and frequently using all the features and speed of Lock & Load X for Final Cut Pro, Lock & Load Express should prove to be a welcome stabilizer and rolling shutter reduction product for all Final Cut Express users out there, often left out when it comes to the availability of professional, high quality plug-ins,” Steve Douglas, renowned underwater videographer and technology critic says.

System Requirements
Recommended system requirements for Lock & Load Express include an Apple computer running Mac OS X 10.5.4, or later with Intel processor; Final Cut Express 4.0, or later.

Pricing and Availability:
Lock & Load Express is available now for $79.00 USD from CoreMelt and its authorized dealers. For additional pricing information, please visit, http://www.lockandloadexpress.com.