Walt Disney announced Tuesday that it’s paying $7.4 billion in stock to acquire Pixar Animation Studios–a deal that puts Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs on Disney’s board of directors.

Source: ZDNet
By Ina Fried, and John Borland, CNET News.com

For the venerable animation giant, the move is a significant bet on Pixar’s digital approach as the successor to the pen-and-ink industry popularized by Walt Disney. The purchase is also the latest indication of a tectonic collision between technology and Hollywood.

At Macworld, Apple announced that a Universal Binary version of Aperture would be made available at the end of March, 2006 for a charge of $49.00.

Aperture owners have balked at having to pay to get a UB build of Aperture and apparently Apple has reversed the decision to charge customers for the upgrade.

PMDA ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF VISIONARY AWARD: GRAHAM NASH AND MAC HOLBERT. Graham Nash from Rock Group Crosby, Stills, & Nash and Partner Mac Holbert Win Award for Inventing Digital Fine Art Printing

Press Release: NY, NY, January 23, 2006—The PhotoImaging Manufacturers & Distributors Association (PMDA) https://www.pmda.com announced today that Graham Nash, award-winning photographer and legendary member of the rock group Crosby, Stills, & Nash and his partner, master printmaker Mac Holbert of Nash Editions, are winners of the prestigious PMDA “Visionary Award” for inventing digital fine art printing. The prestigious Visionary Award will be presented during the annual PMDA Awards Dinner, held the night before PMA on Saturday, February 25, 2006 at the Caribe Royal Hotel in Orlando, Florida.

Newspaper Says Iger To Propose Buyout To Jobs
Source: SiliconValley.com
Written by John Boudreau–Mercury News

A marriage between Steve Jobs and Disney, a relationship sure to hasten Hollywood’s embrace of the digital world, could be announced as early as this morning.

Soucre: The New York Times
Written by Nicholas Wade

Among the many temptations of the digital age, photo-manipulation has proved particularly troublesome for science, and scientific journals are beginning to respond.

Press Release: RALEIGH, N.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jan. 24, 2006–Alien Skin Software today released Exposure, an all-new plug-in for Adobe® Photoshop® and other compatible host programs. Exposure brings the look and feel of film to digital photography. Digital photographers can now simulate current and discontinued film stocks, as well as recreate their signature look as a one-click effect. Exposure also simulates darkroom and studio effects such as push and cross processing. Moreover, saturation, light temperature, dynamic range, softness, sharpness, and the addition of realistic grain can be managed in one place.

Source: ZDNetWritten by Martin LaMonica

Microsoft on Tuesday released early versions of a new line of tools meant to lure illustrators and designers closer to Redmond’s world.