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Olympus has launched a consumer-level wide angle lens for the Four Thirds system: the Zuiko Digital 9-18mm f/4-5.6. The lens, that offers fields of view equivalent to 18 - 36mm in 35mm terms, makes extreme wide-angle zoom more accessible to users of the Olympus E-System, Panasonic DSLRs and selected Leica Digilux cameras.

Olympus has launched the E-520, an update of its E-510 DSLR. The E-520 represents continuity, rather than revolution within the E-System camp. This process of orderly transistion sees the arrival of contrast detection AF at the E-5XX level of camera. This feature does not represent all the camera's new talents, however, with a larger LCD and Face Detection doing their utmost to add buyer appeal.

AP - Personal computer and printer maker Hewlett-Packard reportedly is nearing a deal to buy information technology services provider Electronic Data Systems for between $12 billion and $13 billion.

TechWeb - InformationWeek - A burglary victim helped police catch suspected thieves by logging on to her Mac remotely and snapping photos with its Webcam.

TechWeb - InformationWeek - Following MySpace's lead, Facebook's upcoming service includes user-maintained controls for basic profile information, photos, personal videos, and friend lists.

Adobe has delayed an update that will add support for Flickr users to its Photoshop Express online image editing and storage service. The service, currently at the Beta stage, allows images to be stored or pulled from the users' other websites and edited without over-writing the original. The latest update, which also adds a 'Save As...' feature and the ability to embed slideshows in other websites, has been postponed to allow bugs found late in the development process to be fixed.

FujiFilm has released a firmware update for its F100fd compact camera. The update is a response the 'pink banding' issue that has been the subject of heated discussion on the FujiFilm Talk forum. FujiFilm says the modification will "reduce" the pinkish colored banding reported by some users.

USATODAY.com - Jonathan Racasa of West Covina, Calif., used to share his photos online on Shutterfly, but he wasn't sure anyone was really seeing them. He switched to Yahoo's Flickr and hasn't looked back.

Just posted! Our new lens review of Nikon's top-end fast telezoom, the AF-S VR-Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8G ED-IF. This is the first in a series of reviews in which we'll be comparing it with similar lenses from Canon, Sigma and Tamron, using both APS-C and 35mm full frame cameras. The 70-200mm F2.8 VR has long been a favourite of Nikon DX format shooters, but how well does it stand up on the new full-frame D3? Read on to find out.

Canon has released firmware updates for its range-topping EOS 1D Mark III and 1Ds Mark III cameras. The updates, to versions 1.2.3 and 1.1.2 respectively, provide new custom functions to provide direct access to autofocus points and additional ways to apply exposure compensation. They also promise to: "improve the stability of AF accuracy in AI servo AF mode when shooting extremely low-contrast subjects."

Reuters - Eastman Kodak Co posted a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss on Thursday as higher silver and aluminum costs and increased spending on its inkjet printer business weighed on margins.

AP - Eastman Kodak Co. said Thursday its first-quarter loss narrowed to $115 million as it battles for a bigger slice of digital photography. Its stock fell more than 5 percent.

USATODAY.com - Tot toy marketing giants from Disney to Fisher-Price are nudging preschoolers as young as 3 years old to put down their sippy cups and pick up digital cameras that can cost as much as $60.

Reuters - Photography company Eastman Kodak Co on Thursday said its quarterly loss narrowed as improved digital cameras sales helped offset higher costs for raw materials and the roll-out of it printer strategy.