As expected, Adobe Systems did indeed release a new Lightroom beta on Monday, but there are a few extra tibits beyond what we suspected.

First and most important, there’s now a Lightroom 3 beta 2 download site so you can actually try it. Second, there’s a helpful video guide to new features, forum discussion on the new beta, and release notes (PDF).

Also worth a look are a blog post by Lightroom product manager Tom Hogarty and a detailed, annotated list of changes from “Lightroom Queen” Victoria Bampton.

Regarding features, we knew about a few big ones: support for ingestion and management of video, support for “tethered” shooting so a computer controls the camera and automatically ingests photos as they’re taken, a revamped import dialog box, faster image loading, and more noise reduction improvements.

Now we know some more.

First off, we have a list of the initially supported cameras for tethered shooting. They’re only from Canon and Nikon, the two dominant powers of SLR photography, but Adobe “look[s] forward to adding additional Nikon and Canon camera models going forward,” Hogarty said. The cameras are as follows.

Canon: EOS-1Ds Mark II, EOS-1D Mark III, EOS-1Ds Mark III, EOS-1D Mark IV, EOS 5D, EOS 5D Mark II, EOS 40D, EOS 450D (Digital Rebel XSi/EOS Kiss X2), EOS 500D (Digital Rebel T1i/EOS Kiss X3 Digital), EOS 7D, EOS 1000D (Digital Rebel XS/EOS Kiss F). Nikon: D3, D3X, D3s, D300, D300s, D5000, D700, D90.

Also new is the resurrection of Lightroom 2’s vignetting approach as an option, details on video and video metadata handling, better image watermarking, point controls in the tone curve, and user interface changes. Stay tuned for a hands-on look at the new beta.

Lightroom, which can be used to edit, catalog, and print photos, is geared for enthusiasts and professionals. It’s particularly suited to handling raw images taken directly from a camera’s image sensor with no in-camera processing, a technology that offers higher flexibility and quality than JPEG but less convenience. Processing raw photos can bring a computer to its knees, though, especially with high-resolution images, so performance is key in raw-processing software.

With literally hundreds of millions of mobile phones piling up in U.S. homes, how to profitably recycle these devices is a pressing question.

Start-up e-RecyclingCorps on Tuesday is scheduled to announce that its customer Sprint is offering a phone buyback program in which consumers can get money for older phones when they upgrade to a newer model.

eRecycling Corp has developed an in-store application and a Web service, offered from Sprint’s site. The application lets a person see how much an older phone is worth and get a credit for its residual value when buying a new one. A consumer can also use a Web site from home, mail a phone in, and get a credit for the returned product.

There are existing take-back services, which will pay for an older device and then refurbish them for resale later. Rather than rely on consumers to mail back goods or go to drop-off points, eRecycling designed its system around carrier retail outlets in the U.S. where between 50 percent and 60 percent of sales happen, said eRecyclingCorps CEO David Edmonson, the former CEO of Radio Shack.

“You can play around with independent dealers and online programs, but you are not going to make a quantum leap in the process until carriers are engaged in low-cost and safe process that doesn’t interfere with their core processes,” he said.

According to eRecyclingCorps, the recycling rates of cell phones is about 10 percent and about 130 million new devices will be sold in the U.S. this year, which means there are tens of millions of phones available for refurbishing. The company estimates that phones that will be upgraded this year are worth $3.3 billion and older devices are worth $2.5 billion.

The company’s business model is to collect turned-in phones and have the data cleaned off. Right now it plans to resell those phones for the domestic market in which people are seeking replacements for lost or stolen goods. But the company is seeking to establish relationships with carriers in India, China, and other countries outside the U.S.

Sprint rolled out the program in 2,500 stores and dealerships so far and has seen its recycling rates shoot up far above the industry average. The company has set recycling rate goal of 90 percent.

About 70 percent of consumers show preference to returning old cell phones at the point of sale, according to eRecyclingCorps’ estimates. The company is also working on an online application that will let people transfer contacts from an old phone to a new one, Edmonson said.