Adobe launches the public Lightroom 3 beta version. You can download the software for free!

Some of the new features included for you to play with in the Lightroom 3 beta are:

* Brand new performance architecture, building for the future of growing image libraries
* State-of-the-art noise reduction to help you perfect your high ISO shots
* Watermarking tool that helps you customize and protect your images with ease
* Portable sharable slideshows with audio—designed to give you more flexibility and impact on how you choose to share your images, you can now save and export your slideshows as videos and include audio
* Flexible customizable print package creation so your print package layouts are all your own
* Film grain simulation tool for enhancing your images to look as gritty as you want
* New import handling designed to make importing streamlined and easy
* More flexible online publishing options so you can post your images online to certain online photo sharing sites directly from inside Lightroom 3 beta (may require third-party plug-ins)

The official Adobe announcement: http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom3/?PID=3154956

A first look review from Terry White: http://terrywhite.com/techblog/archives/3747

And Adobe Lightroom 3 videos are available here: http://www.photoshopuser.com/lightroom3/