Software Synthesizers & Samplers

Intua has introduced BeatMaker, a new iPhone virtual studio spired by hardware beat boxes, loop samplers and software sequencers
Features list:

16 triggerable pads with polyphonic control
Automatic sample slicing on multiple pads
Edit pads individually
Duration and tonal controls
Reverse
Gain
Output selection (Dry, FX Bus1, FX Bus 2)
Graphical sample bounds editor
Instant muting
Muting individual pads makes your song breathing
Sample [...]

Musolomo is a free sampler instrument thatlets you capture sound interactively and play it back how you want it, looping, changing it’s melody, rhythm and organisation.
Key Features

It’s free.
Sample, copy, and erase without the need to look at a computer [...]

Heavyocity’s Evolve is a new Kontakt 2 virtual instrument offering “diverse percussion, massive stings/transitions, and evocative tonalities.
Features:

600+ beat-sliced loops strategically key-mapped into 7 genre-specific suites.
60 sequenced and arpeggiated percussive and tonal instruments.
75+ modern percussion kits and instruments.
45+ sting and transitional instruments.
250+ tonal instruments and FX.
3 custom scripted interfaces.
Nearly 6 gigabytes containing 3,900+ 24/16 bit samples.
Powerful [...]

Wusik has released Hybrid World Volume 01, a new sound set based on an Hybrid hardware box.
Hybrid World Volume 01 features:

10 multi-sampled sounds
sampled every white-key, longer-loops
419MB (296MB compressed)
24 Presets.

Hybrid World Volume 01 comes free with any Wusik Membership subscription.
Preview Hybrid World Volume 01 below.

Galbanum has introduced the Piscis Rapture Expansion for Cakewalk Rapture.
Galbanum’s Synth Expansion Line products are downloadable collections of professionally designed presets and resources for industry-leading virtual synths. Galbanum’s Piscis Rapture Expansion is the first of this series and focuses on lush ambient pads, evolving atmospheres, and novel textures developed for Cakewalk’s Rapture synthesizer.
Abstraction 02 content [...]

U-No-62 is free virtual Juno synth, available in AU and VST formats.
Features:

More accurate filter sound.
More overtones in the oscillators.
Faster LFO rate (0.1-30HZ).
A lot faster envelopes.
Audio Unit available

GlitchDS is a free cellular automaton music sequencer for the Nintendo DS that could be great for creating IDM and Glitch style loops. 
Features include:

Customizable Cellular Automaton sequencer
Create your own “trigger points”
Load in your own sounds
Save and load your work
BPM settings, or “strum mode” for controlling tempo
Up to 6 sounds can be loaded at once
Each sound [...]

Spectrasonics has released the latest of their Omnisphere videos. This episode takes a look at the browser and, in doing so, also takes a look at the history of synth browsers.
Kudos to Spectrasonics for making us drool over a software synthesizer six months before it’s going to be released. These are some of the best [...]

This video, from Ableton, is an intro to the new Orchestral Instrument Collection for Live.
It’s a little cheesy - but it’s also cool to see it working within Live.

TASCAM has released GigaStudio 4., its Windows sampling workstation.
New features include the QuickSound database tool, additions to the QuickEdit interface and user interface improvements.
GigaStudio 4 features:

Supports 64-bit operating systems like XP64 and Windows Vista 64 (32-bit version also available).
Unlimited polyphony.
96kHz/24-bit sample support.
128 MIDI channel playback.
embedded GigaPulse convolution reverb.
iMIDI rule programming includes legato mode, round-robin, alternation, [...]

Joining an rapidly growing number of iPhone music apps is the IR-909, a software version of the classic Roland TR-909 drum machine:
IR-909 is a drum machine for the iPhone inspired by the Roland TR-909. IR-909 features a 16-step sequencer, 4 patterns and 8 different drum sounds. To change the value of any property in IR-909, [...]

This video, via AcePinter, explains creating glitch drums with Reason. Included: RV7000 Gating, Automation, Matrix offsetting, Filtering by gate, and Distortion.

Ableton has released of Live 7 LE, a cheaper “lite” version of Ableton Live 7. Live LE is limited to two simultaneous stereo audio inputs and outputs, twelve built-in audio effects, eight built-in instruments, two AU/VST effects and two AU/VST instruments per project.
Live 7 LE Features:

Studio-quality recording up to 32-bit/192 kHz
Sixty-four audio tracks and unlimited [...]

Native Instruments has released KONTAKT RETRO MACHINES, the latest sound library for KORE 2 and the free KORE PLAYER.
The sounds in KONTAKT RETRO MACHINES originate from eleven analog synths, five vintage digital synthesizers and six classic drum machines, with a dedicated sample set for each of the over 130 included KoreSounds.
KONTAKT RETRO MACHINES makes extensive [...]

Humanoid Sound Systems has released Scanned Synth Pro 2, a synth designed to create rich complex digital tones and sound effects.
Changes in Scanned Synth Pro 2

New GUI design
New presets
An audio input that can be used to feed Scanned Synth Pro’s hammer and mass shapes making its sound even more dynamic
An envelope follower that follows the [...]