During a special event scheduled at the eve of Photokina, Apple has released a new version of its digital photo retouch software Aperture.

Aperture 1.5:

The new version, numbered 1.5, includes many new features. Among them are: improved library management, integration with iLife and iWork '06, automatic meta-data exporting and input, improved color controls, improved filters and loupe and sync.

This update is available for free to current Aperture users in a few days while the retail price for new buyers remains at $299. More information about Aperture 1.5 is available on Apple's web site.

What? version 1.5?

What's quite surprising is that the version number didn't go 2.0, although this new version brings several new features and can technically be seen as a major release. Maybe Apple wanted to keep the upgrade commercially minor (so... free), so as to bring back the smile to many early adopters who struggled with the first release's bugs.

Where is the Merom MacBook Pro?

The answer is maybe : somewhere near a laptop production plant.

We're quite disappointed that the the very anticipated Merom update for the MacBook Pro line-up didn't come out. But as we said in our earlier report, we can still expect them to be released in a matter of weeks.

We'll keep you informed if any new information arrives.