Adobe News (Page 2) Report News & Deals

Adobe Photoshop CS6 13.0.1.1 Update is available for download. From Adobe:
 
Adobe Photoshop 13.0.1.1 update for Adobe Photoshop CS6
 
For convenience and reliability, we highly recommend that you apply this update directly from within Photoshop. To do so, choose Help > Updates in Photoshop CS6 and apply all of the updates listed under Adobe Photoshop CS6 in the Adobe Application Manager.
 
This update applies to all languages of Adobe Photoshop CS6.
 
The Adobe Photoshop 13.0.1.1 update includes many critical fixes improving security, stability and performance while also addressing a number of high priority bugs with 3D, Crop, Type, Painting, Paths, and Shapes.
 
Multiple Languages: Windows

From the Adobe Blog:
 
We love hearing from Photoshop users, and one fan’s story in particular really stood out when she told us about her forearm-long tattoo. Megan Orsi, now known across the web as “the girl with the Photoshop tattoo,” is a Sr. Lead Web Designer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Megan discovered her passion for arts as a sixth grader, attended the Pittsburg High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, and later graduated from college with a degree in Specialized Technology. She’s also a wife and mother to an 18-month-old son.
 
Read entire article...

From Adobe:
 
Revamped User Interfaces and Innovative Features Make Photo and Video Editing, Organizing and Sharing Easier
 
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Sept. 25, 2012 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 11 and Adobe® Premiere® Elements 11, newly designed versions of its No. 1 selling consumer photo- and video-editing software*. Photoshop Elements 11 offers a complete solution for editing, organizing and sharing photo creations while Premiere Elements 11 offers easy creation of engaging home movies with professional flair. Available as stand-alone products, Photoshop Elements 11 and Premiere Elements 11 can also be purchased together in a low-priced bundle, providing powerful, easy-to-use tools that simplify editing and turn everyday snapshots and videos into sensational photos and home movies, creating memories that can instantly be shared with friends and family. Both solutions are available for Windows® and Mac.
 
“Photos and videos allow us to capture and share moments in time,” said Lea Hickman, vice president products, Creative Consumer Business, Adobe. “Powerful – yet friendly and easy to use – Photoshop Elements 11 and Premiere Elements 11 inspire creativity and help consumers make the most of remembering and sharing these personal memories.”
 
Create Great Photos with Powerful, Intuitive Tools in Photoshop Elements 11
Make photos look their best with editing options that offer virtually everything from quick fixes to a number of creative possibilities:

• A completely refreshed, user-friendly interface featuring the same engine as Adobe Photoshop - the industry standard for digital imaging - includes easily-navigated Quick, Guided and Expert editing modes; one-click options; a helpful Action bar; and big, bold icons to help users get the most from their shots
• Organize photos based on people, places (via Google maps geo-tagging) or events easily and intuitively
• New Guided Edits make pro-level effects like tilt-shift, vignettes and high and low-key easy to create
• New filters – Comic, Graphic Novel and Pen & Ink – inspire creativity by turning photos into stunning illustrations
• Intelligent Photoshop technology makes it easy to extract objects from different photos
• Easily share photos via email, Facebook, YouTube™, Vimeo® and more†

Pro-quality Videos Made Easy with Premiere Elements 11
Create attractive, pro-level videos with automated moviemaking options to take the work out of editing:

• An entirely new and improved user interface including many of the same updates found in Photoshop Elements 11
• Add polish with a wide range of great-looking effects, transitions, themes, titles, disc menus and professional-level effects and sound
• Give videos Hollywood movie styles with FilmLooks; easily apply slow and fast motion effects; dial-in colors with slider controls; effortlessly integrate blends for seamless transitions; and make adjustments with Quick Presets
• Show off finished creations with integrated video sharing on Vimeo†

Pricing and Availability
Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 and Adobe Premiere Elements 11 software for Windows and Mac is available now at www.adobe.com, and will soon be available at retail outlets such as Amazon.com, B and H Photo and Video, Best Buy, Costco, New Egg, Office Depot and Staples. The Photoshop Elements 11 & Premiere Elements 11 bundle is available now for a suggested retail price of US$149.99, with upgrade pricing of US$119.99. Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 and Adobe Premiere Elements 11 are available individually for a suggested retail price of US$99.99, with upgrade pricing of US$79.99.
 
Information about other language versions, as well as pricing, upgrade and support policies is available at Adobe.com. For free training videos, visit Adobe TV.
 
Education pricing for students, faculty and staff in K-12 and higher education is available from Adobe Authorized Education Resellers and the Adobe Education Store. Visit www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/volumelicensing/education for more information about education volume licensing for higher education and K-12 institutions.
 
B&H has the new Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 and Premiere Elements 11 available for order.

In a blog post, the Adobe Photoshop team noted that Microsoft Windows XP will not be supported in future versions of Adobe Photoshop.

From Adobe:
 
Adobe Photoshop 13.0.1 update for Adobe Photoshop CS6
 
For convenience and reliability, we highly recommend that you apply this update directly from within Photoshop. To do so, choose Help > Updates in Photoshop CS6 and apply all of the updates listed under Adobe Photoshop CS6 in the Adobe Application Manager.
 
This update applies to all languages of Adobe Photoshop CS6.
 
The Adobe Photoshop 13.0.1 update includes many critical fixes improving security, stability and performance while also addressing a number of high priority bugs with 3D, Crop, Type, Painting, Paths, and Shapes.
 
Multiple Languages: Windows | Macintosh

Adobe has made release candidates available for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4.2 and Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw 7.2.
 
New cameras supported:

• Canon EOS 650D / Rebel T4i
• Canon EOS M
• Fuji FinePix F800EXR
• Leaf Credo 40
• Leaf Credo 60
• Nikon 1 J2
• Panasonic DMC-FZ200
• Panasonic DMC-G5
• Panasonic DMC-LX7
• Pentax K-30
• Sony DSC-RX100

New lenses supported include:

• Canon EF 24mm f/2.8 IS USM
• Canon EF 28mm f/2.8 IS USM
• Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM
• Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM
• Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR
• Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G ED VR
• Sigma 18-250mm F3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM
• Tamron SP 24-70mm F/2.8 Di VC USD A007N
• Zeiss Distagon T* 1,4/35 ZE
• Zeiss Distagon T* 2/25 ZE

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Fixed Issues:

• Folder stacks with virtual copies get unstacked when moving to another folder.
• Stacked photos get hidden in both the Grid view and Filmstrip. This occurs when photos get unstacked as a result of enabling auto-stacking.
• Errors encountered when publishing videos to Facebook through the Facebook Publish Service.
• Users may have occurred problems when trying to enter the Web Module from Library.
• Unable to edit JPEG photos in Photoshop Elements.
• Unable to upload files to Flickr if there is a carriage return in either the Title or Caption fields (Win only).
• Background graphics that are applied to a Book globally may not appear as expected in a Saved PDF.
• Certain book covers had spine text positioned in a Horizontal manner, not Vertical.
• Double byte characters are not being exported to PDF in Books.
• Photos were exported with original GPS coordinates recorded by the camera, not with the GPS coordinates updated in Lightroom.
• Keyboard shortcuts in the Develop module sometimes do not work when editing an image in Process Version PV2010.
• Parents and synonyms of "do not export" keywords also do not export.
• Audio does not play in video files after creating a slideshow containing music (win7 only).
• Tether support not working for Nikon D4, D800 , and D800E (win only).

Adobe Camera Raw Fixed Issues:

• Cannot change “Erase” size, feather and flow settings while utilizing the Option key.
• Cannot write metadata to images previously opened in some 3rd party software.
• Luminance Noise slider is unresponsive when Clarity is greater than 0.
• In certain cases, the new Defringe controls can cause vertical streaks to appear.
• Some images from Canon 5D Mark II exhibited pattern noise in the form of maze/green split artifacts.
• Adjusting the Blue channel does not affect monochrome images.
• Certain TIFF files can cause Bridge to become unstable.
• Defringe settings are not retained when editing the file in Photoshop as a Smart Object and then returning to ACR.

From Adobe:
 
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Now Available in Creative Cloud
 
Photography Workflow Software Joins Other Leading Tools as Part of Adobe Creative Cloud Membership
 
SAN JOSE, Calif. — June 26, 2012 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® 4 software is now available as part of Adobe Creative Cloud™ membership. Lightroom is the essential digital photography workflow solution helping amateur and professional photographers quickly import, manage, enhance and showcase images. A new membership-based offering centered around the company’s design, Web, video and digital imaging tools, Adobe Creative Cloud is a hub for making, sharing and delivering creative work.*
 
“The addition of Lightroom to Creative Cloud delivers on our promise to bring the best in Adobe innovation to Creative Cloud members,” said Winston Hendrickson, vice president products, Creative Media Solutions, Adobe. “Over the next few months we’ll continue to add new products and services, keeping Creative Cloud members up to date with the latest advancements in Adobe software and services.”
 
With a paid membership, Adobe Creative Cloud can give members everything they need to create, publish and share their work virtually anywhere with anyone, including:

• Access to download and install any of the new Adobe Creative Suite® 6 applications including, Photoshop CS6 Extended and Adobe Premiere® Pro CS6, plus a host of additional tools and services including Adobe Acrobat® and Adobe Muse™
• Integration with Adobe Touch Apps, headlined by Photoshop Touch, that allow users to create on a variety of tablets and further refine on the desktop**
• 20GB of space and the ability to store and share content across desktop, mobile devices and the cloud
• Create stunning websites without writing code using Adobe Muse software and the option to host and manage up to five sites using Adobe Business Catalyst®
• Use Digital Publishing Suite, Single Edition (coming soon) to deliver stunning digital publications to the iPad
• Access to application upgrades before they are launched as part of a major update, as well as new products and services, as they emerge

Pricing and Availability
 
Adobe Creative Cloud membership for individuals is US$49.99 per month based on annual membership and US$74.99 per month for month-to-month membership. A special introductory offer of US$29.99 per month for existing customers who own a qualifying version of CS3, CS4, CS5 and CS5.5 is also available. To learn more, visit the Adobe Special Offers page. Education pricing is also US$29.99 per month.
 
B&H carries Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.

Camera Raw 7.1 Update
 
This new version of the Camera Raw plug-in replaces the original one that was installed with Adobe Photoshop CS6. Visit the Camera Raw page for a complete list of supported cameras.
 
English: Windows | Macintosh
 
Lightroom 4.1 update
 
The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4.1 update includes these enhancements:

• The ability to process HDR TIFF files. (16, 24 or 32-bit TIFF files)
• Additional Color Fringing corrections to help address chromatic aberration.
• Save photobooks created in the Book Module to JPEG.
• Publishing photos to Adobe Revel is now accessible via a Publish plugin.
• Additional camera support for several new cameras including the Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Fujifilm X-Pro1, Nikon D800, and Olympus OM-D E-M5.
• Corrections for issues introduced in previous versions of Lightroom.

English: Windows | Macintosh
 
Lightroom Journal has more information.

If you purchased Adobe CS5.5 during the CS6 upgrade promotion between March 25th and May 6th, you are now eligible to receive your free upgrade to CS6.
 
You should have received a one-time use code that allows redemption for your free CS6 upgrade in an Adobe email newsletter sent to qualifying customers on May 15th. If you qualify for the free upgrade and have not received your coupon code, contact Adobe (or check your spam folder).

Adobe has announced that Creative Cloud is now live. Sign up by August 31st and get introductory pricing of $29.99 per month for the first year.

Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw 7.1 Release Candidate is now available for download.
 
Camera support in Camera Raw 7.1 RC includes:

• Canon EOS 1D X
• Canon EOS 5D Mark III
• Canon EOS 60Da
• Canon PowerShot G1 X
• Nikon D4
• Nikon D800

Lightroom Journal has more information.

The following information was provided by Adobe:
 
Adobe CS6 Launch

• Upgrade versions will only be available on Adobe.com for US, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, and Australia!
• Design Premium and Web Premium is becoming a single product for CS6 "Design and Web Premium"
• CS6 Ship Date (English, Americas, and European versions): May 7, 2012
• CS6 Ship Date (Rest of the world): May 10, 2012

The following products are now available in version CS6 with pre-orders beginning today:

• CS6 Design & Web Premium
• CS6 Design Standard
• CS6 Master Collection
• CS6 Production Premium
• After Effects CS6
• Adobe Audition CS6
• Dreamweaver CS6
• Fireworks CS6
• Flash Professional CS6
• Illustrator CS6
• InCopy CS6
• InDesign CS6
• Photoshop CS6
• Photoshop CS6 Extended
• Adobe Premiere Pro CS6
• SpeedGrade CS6
• Creative Cloud Membership
• Adobe Muse
• Adobe Story Plus -- Not available for pre-order

Order your CS6 upgrade at Adobe.com

Adobe Camera Raw 6.7 (full release version) is now available for download. (thanks Will)
 
Lightroom Journal has the full details on this update.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4.1 Release Candidate 2 is now available for download.
 
The following issues have been fixed in the Lightroom 4.1 release candidate 2 (April 26, 2012):

• Estimated price does not update when switching between books in the Collection panel.
• Postscript Type 1 Fonts do not appear in the Font menu within the Book module.
• Filenames can be used as auto text captions within the Book module.
• Fonts such as Courier New and Times were not displaying properly on books exported as PDF files.
• The Adjustment Brush pin would not properly accept negative values.
• Clarity adds grey tinting to 100% white tones.
• Creating a soft proof does not add a line item to the History Panel.
• Photos with GPS Altitude data will now properly display Altitude within Lightroom.
• Unable to import RAW+ JPEG files directly from Canon 5D, Canon 5D Mark II, Nikon D700, Nikon D90, and Sony NEX5 cameras when connected through USB.
• Unable to import RAW + JPEG files when using the built-in SD card reader on Macbook laptops in some scenarios.
• Lightroom 4 and ACR 6.7 render files differently.

Learn more at Lightroom Journal.

Adobe has made 28 short Photoshop CS6 Videos available on YouTube.
 
Again, CS6 preorders are being taken at the Adobe Store.

Adobe has shared some big announcements this morning - here are the press releases:
 
Adobe Creative Suite CS6
 
Adobe Photoshop CS6 and Photoshop CS6 Extended
 
Adobe CS6 Student and Teacher Edition
 
Adobe Launches Creative Cloud
 
Preorder Adobe CS6 Applications at B&H.
 
Preorder Adobe Photoshop CS6 and Photoshop Extended CS6 at B&H.

From Adobe:
 
Adobe Transforms Video Workflows with Upcoming Creative Suite 6 Production Premium Release to Be Previewed at the 2012 NAB Show
 
Company Showcases Upcoming Video Suite; Celebrates Storytelling and Film at Post|Production World Keynote with Academy-Award Winner Rob Legato and Steve Wozniak
 
SAN JOSE, Calif.— April 12, 2012 — At the annual National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show, Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) will showcase new software and innovations that improve how broadcasters, filmmakers and video professionals create, deliver and monetize high-quality productions across multiple screens. Highlights of the show will include the first public demonstrations of Adobe® Creative Suite® 6 Production Premium – including major updates for Adobe Premiere® Pro CS6 and Adobe After Effects® CS6 – before its official release, showcasing the software’s blazingly fast performance and tight integration that enables video professionals to work efficiently and streamline workflows. Adobe will demonstrate its new solutions along with key customer and partner-focused initiatives during the 2012 NAB Show at its booth #SL2624 in the Las Vegas Convention Center, April 16 – 19. Creative Suite 6 Production Premium will also be presented in more than 60 partner booths throughout the NAB exhibition.
 
“With the upcoming release of Creative Suite 6 Production Premium, which we are revealing at NAB, Adobe is redefining the content creation workflow,” said Jim Guerard, vice president and general manager, Video Solutions, Adobe. ”This is a perfect opportunity to show off the new and breakthrough performance innovations in Creative Suite 6 Production Premium and demonstrate how it’s possible to work at the speed of your imagination, making workflows more efficient and audience experiences more compelling. From planning to playback, Adobe and its broadcast and media customers are leading the industry and reshaping how the digital video industry creates and consumes rich media.”
 
Creative Suite 6 Production Premium Takes the Stage
 
Creative Suite 6 Production Premium, the complete solution at the heart of any production workflow for video professionals, is packed with major updates to help bring high-quality productions to any screen. The suite features significant updates to familiar tools including powerful new versions of Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Audition®, Adobe Story, Adobe Media Encoder and Adobe Photoshop®, along with two new tools, Adobe SpeedGrade™ CS6 for professional color grading, and Adobe Prelude™ CS6, an elegant solution for the process of ingest, logging and transcoding, essential tasks in a modern file-based workflow. For advanced video editing, Premiere Pro CS6 incorporates a new user interface, trimming and OpenCL support in the new turbo-charged Mercury Playback Engine. After Effects CS6 is the biggest release in a decade, with huge performance gains and powerful 3D features.
 
Throughout the show, Adobe will be providing attendees with an exclusive first look at Creative Suite 6 Production Premium. This upcoming release, expected in the first half of 2012, will feature across-the-board performance and workflow enhancements that broadcasters, filmmakers and corporate video professionals worldwide need to stay at the forefront of the explosion of multiple screens, file-based workflows and new distribution models.
 
Changing Today’s Broadcast Landscape
 
Adobe is dedicated to boosting video professionals’ productivity, giving them a dependable and seamless solution to plan, produce and deliver engaging content despite shrinking timelines and budgets. Broadcasters are completely redesigning and streamlining their workflows to meet today’s demands for delivering content to multiple screens. Top global broadcasters including BBC, CBS Sports Network, CNN, Hearst, Media General and NRK are turning to Adobe Creative Suite Production Premium for a more complete plan-to-playback, file-based solution.
 
"Our video editors need to work with a large variety of digital assets and the Adobe Creative Suite Production Premium, including Adobe Premiere Pro, allows them to handle instant turnaround news edits as well as long-form feature edits without compromising speed or creativity," said Moritz Gimbel, head of production at Bloomberg TV International. "Its latest software release, the Adobe Creative Suite 6 Production Premium, helps make our workflow more efficient with support for more video formats and codecs, accelerating content delivery with the ability to export sequences into two different formats at the same time."
 
Discussing the Future of Film and Video
 
On Sunday, April 15 at 10:30 a.m. PT in room N249, Adobe will participate in the Post|Production World keynote titled, “How Creativity and Technology Merge to Influence Storytelling and Film.” Steve Wozniak, Fusion-io chief scientist, along with Vincent Brisebois, visual computing industry manager at Fusion-io, and Rob Legato, two-time Academy Award-winning visual effects supervisor, will join Steve Forde, Adobe After Effects product manager, on stage to discuss how creativity and advances in digital technology can work together to develop engaging storytelling.
 
On Tuesday, April 17 at 9 a.m. PT in room N249, Jeremy Helfand, vice president of monetization from Adobe will join Joe Alicata of ESPN Digital Media, Bismarck Lepe of Ooyala and Steve Raymond of Big Frame to discuss the changing landscape for delivering online media and the various ways media companies can monetize their content across multiple platforms. The session, “Monetizing Viewership in a Multiplatform Environment,” will address social media, games and Web video and the impact they’ve had on how advertising dollars are spent.
 
Availability
 
Adobe CS6 Production Premium is expected in the first half of 2012. For more detailed information about the suite, please visit http://success.adobe.com/en/na/programs/events/1203_16108_nab.html.
 
Forward-Looking Statements Disclosure
 
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including those related to Adobes future product plans, which involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. For a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, individuals should refer to Adobe’s SEC filings. Adobe does not undertake an obligation to update forward-looking statements.
 
Get your Adobe products at B&H.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4.1 Release Candidate is now available for download.
 
New Camera Support

• Canon EOS 5D Mark III

Fixed Issues

• Lightroom 4 did not properly open external applications when using the “Edit In” functionality.
• Point Curve adjustments made in Lightroom 3 have been restored.
• Addressed performance issues in Lightroom 4, particularly when loading GPS track logs, using a secondary monitor, and the controls within the Develop module.
• Ability to update DNG previews and metadata for more than 100 photos has been restored.
• This update allows for improved viewing of subfolders and stacks in folders with a large number of photos.
• It was possible that a layout of a saved book could be lost after quitting Lightroom 4.

The last two posts at Lightroom Journal are worth reading.

Tom Hogarty, Lightroom Product Manager, has announced in a blog post that an update to Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 is expected to be released as early as this week.
 
Especially good news is that, along with many bug fixes, this update will add support for Canon EOS 5D Mark III RAW files.

From Adobe: Beginning today, "customers who purchase Creative Suite 5.5 (CS5.5) software will receive a complimentary upgrade to CS6 when it becomes available. No coupon code necessary, offer valid in North America and the European country stores listed below."
 
North America Store: Buy CS5.5 now and get CS6 at no additional cost. Offer ends May 6, 2012.
 
European Store: Buy CS5.5 now and get CS6 at no additional cost. Offer ends 6 May, 2012.
 
(Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, North America, Norway, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and The UK.)

Adobe Photoshop CS6 Beta is now available for download.
 
From Adobe:
 
First Major Release since April 2010 Packed with New Features and Huge Performance Enhancements
 
SAN JOSE, Calif. — March 22, 2012 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced Adobe® Photoshop® CS6 beta, a preview of what’s to come in the next release of the industry standard in digital imaging, is available as a free download from Adobe Labs. Customers can download the beta, try out the experience and provide feedback to the product team. Packed with groundbreaking new innovations,featuresand incredible performance enhancements, Photoshop CS6 beta is available for the Mac OS and Microsoft® Windows® platforms. The final release is expected in the first half of 2012.
 
“Photoshop CS6 will be a milestone release that pushes the boundaries of imaging innovation with incredible speed and performance,” said Winston Hendrickson, vice president products, Creative Media Solutions, Adobe. “We couldn’t wait to share this beta of Photoshop CS6 with our customers and are looking forward to hearing from them and seeing the ways they are incorporating the beta into their daily creative workflows.”
 
New Features in Photoshop CS6 Beta
 
Photoshop CS6 beta demonstrates Adobe’s focus on huge performance enhancements, imaging magic and creativity tools that offer customers a new experience in digital imaging. Key features include new additions to the Content-Aware tools: Content-Aware Patch allows greater control by letting users select and duplicate an area of an image to fill in or “patch” another, and Content-Aware Move lets users select and magically move an object to a new place in the image.
 
In addition, the Photoshop CS6 beta offers all the features of Adobe Photoshop CS6 and Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended, such as new 3D editing features and quantitative imaging analysis capabilities. These features will be included in the shipping version of Photoshop CS6 Extended when it becomes available.
 
Pricing and Availability
 
The Photoshop CS6 beta is available immediately as a free download in English and Japanese. At installation, users will be required to provide an Adobe ID to complete a one-time login and online product activation. For information on how to install Photoshop CS6 beta, visit www.adobe.com/go/photoshopcs6. Customers can submit feedback via the Photoshop CS6 beta forum. Users can also connect with the Photoshop team via the community-powered site; on Facebook; YouTube; Photoshop.com blog; or via Twitter.
 
More information and resources are available on Adobe's site.
 
B&H carries Adobe products.

If you purchased Adobe Lightroom 3 recently (many of you took advantage of the great Lightroom 3 deals), you may qualify for a free upgrade to Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4.
 
I went in circles with Adobe customer support a few times to find out what the cutoff date was - and Feb 5th, 2012 was the answer. I'm not 100% confident in this date, but it is likely correct.
 
To get your free upgrade, follow the steps outlined on Adobe's Upgrade policy after product announcement page.

Lightroom Journal has posted a list of Lightroom 4 Hot Issues.
 
B&H has Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 in stock ($149.00 shipped) and is taking preorders for the upgrade version (only $79.00 shipped).

Lightroom Journal has posted a list of additional Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 resources.

According to Adobe, the top new Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 features are:

• Highlight and shadow recovery - Bring out all the detail that your camera captures in dark shadows and bright highlights. Now you have more power than ever before to make great images under challenging lighting conditions.
• Photo book creation - Create beautiful photo books from your images with a variety of easy-to-use templates included in Lightroom, and then upload your book for printing with just a few clicks.
• Location-based photo organization - Find and group images by location, easily assign locations to images, or plot a photo journey. Automatically display location data from GPS-enabled cameras and camera phones.
• Extended video support - Organize, view, and make adjustments and edits to video clips. Play and trim clips, extract still images from them, or adjust clips with the Quick Develop tool.
• White balance brush - Get more consistent color across your image in scenes with mixed lighting sources. A flexible brush lets you refine and adjust white balance in targeted areas of your shot.
• Additional editing brushes - Expand your creative control by targeting particular areas of your images using new local editing brushes for noise reduction and moire removal.
• Video publishing - Easily share video clips in HD format on Facebook and Flickr. Or save HD clips formatted for phones, tablets, TV, and more.
• Soft proofing - Save time and ink and help ensure your prints meet your expectations. Soft proofing lets you preview how an image will look when printed with color-managed printers.
• Enhanced online sharing integration - Easily post images to more social media and photo sharing sites like Facebook and Flickr. With selected sites, online comments about your images are visible within Lightroom.
• Emailing from Lightroom - Email images directly from Lightroom using the email account of your choice.
• Importing libraries from other software - Bring the power and elegance of Lightroom to all your images, new and old. Easily import photos from other applications.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 is available for immediate download from Adobe.com.