Olympus Europe has again prolonged its offer of a free HLD-4 grip to existing E-System users purchasing a new E-3. Originally scheduled to end on Dec 31st 2007, the promotion was first extended to Jan 31st and the folks at Olympus now say customers have until the end of March to get their claims in - most generous. Full details on how to ‘get a grip’ coming up after the jump.

Nikon is expected to be Japan’s DSLR market leader for 2007 says a leading Japanese market research company. But Canon’s compact sales ensure it retains the top-spot for overall digital camera sales in the country. DSLR sales are expected to continue to grow as more manufacturers join the fray.

Panasonic is to expand its semiconductor plant in Tonami, Japan in a move to boost image sensor production. The ¥94 Billion (US $860 million) investment will allow the 48,000 sqM plant to process up to 30,000 8" silicon wafers per month, meaning total device production is likely to be in the millions. construction begins in September 2008 and the facility is expected to be fully operational by August 2009.

Olympus has released updated firmware for the Zuiko Digital ED 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 SWD lens, announced in October 2007. The update offers improved focusing precision on distant subjects when using continuous autofocus mode. Firmware updates are downloaded through Olympus Master software.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. has today announced its decision to adopt the Panasonic name across the entire company. The firm, founded by Konosuke Matsushita in 1918 as ‘Matsushita Electric Housewares Manufacturing Works’, has used its current moniker since 1935. Brands affected by the change include National, the name used for household goods in Japan and Technics, producer of Hi-Fi equipment and turntables beloved of DJs the world over. The changeover is scheduled to begin October 1st with rebranding of National to be completed by March 31st 2010.

Adobe has made the latest release of Photoshop Elements available for pre-order with release scheduled for early Q2 2008 priced at $89.99. Version 6, which was released for Windows users back in September, is compatible with Mac OS X 10.4.8 and higher including 10.5 aka Leopard. The software is to be demonstrated at next week’s Macworld Expo.

Just Posted! Our review of latest in Canon’s popular A Series range of affordable feature-rich compact digital cameras. The A720 IS represents a fairly minor upgrade to the A710 IS, upping the resolution by a megapixel and throwing in a couple of new features, but retaining the useful 6x zoom range and full range of photographic controls. Find out if it’s a worthwhile upgrade in our concise review, after the link…

CES 2008: Ortery Technologies has announced the world’s first first example what it describes as an "Office Photography Machine" and designed to make product photography - in particular 360-degree product animations - as painless as using a photocopier. The system consists of an illuminated box housing a turntable and curved rail which allow the camera (included) to be positioned within a hemispherical area around the object to be photographed. The really clever bit is that both box and camera may be controlled remotely from an attached PC, live view and all. This means that it is possible to simply place an object in the box and - without touching either it or the camera - create a full 3D view. More after the jump.

CES 2008: Swift shooters supported with superior speed SDHC. Lexar has launched 8GB SDHC cards in all its products lines, including Professional 133X cards with their category defying 20MB/sec minimum sustained write performance.

CES 2008: Egg consolidation fans will delight at the launch of the World’s first ‘class 6′ 32GB SDHC memory card. Panasonic unveiled a prototype of the capacious card, capable of sustained write speeds of at least 6MB/sec and maximum data speeds of up to 20MB/sec.