If you're addicted to Adobe Photoshop Elements (like me!), this will make you sit up and take notice.  However, after reading CNET's review and Adobe's product description, I'm not sure this release will be anything noteworthy ... unless you've been anxiously waiting for automatic online backups to Photoshop.com (more on that in another post).  This looks more like a 6.5 release.

The most highly touted new feature is the Photomerge Scene Cleaner that allows you to blend two or more photos for the "perfect group shot".  While I make extensive use of the Panorama feature in version 6, I don't see the utility of this new feature ... at least, not for real estate photography.

Another new feature is the Smart Brush, which consolidates what used to be two or more steps into one.  This brush allows to you select an area, apply an effect and create a layer mask all in one stroke.  Sounds intriguing ...

The new Surface Blur filter is intended for use on portraits and softens the surface while keeping other details clear.  Again, not much utility for real estate photography except to enhance that business card photo!

Adobe has a complete list of all the features on their web site - you'll notice very few of them are marked "new" except those related to Photoshop.com.  I'll probably upgrade anyway since I always like to have to the newest version and the Premiere Elements upgrade looks like it has some interesting new features. 

Any thoughts?

Edit:  I found a couple of video tutorials on PhotoshopElementsUser.com that show how the Photomerge Scene Cleaner and the new Smart Brush work.  It actually looks pretty cool!