Adobe have released Adobe Camera Raw 7.2 and Lightroom 4.2 that add more camera and lens support as well general bug fixes. The DNG 1.4 spec has also been updated. Adobe DNG is designed as a safer alternative to preserving camera raw files as it’s documented and can be licensed by third party vendors much like the Adobe PDF format. DNG holds all the data from a proprietary camera raw format.
DNG 1.4 allows future options to combine images (HDR, panorama stitching, etc) and more controversially: creation of lossy DNGs. The reasons behind offering a lossy format include an option to save outtakes in a ‘raw’ format at a third the file size using JPEG type compression. Another option is to reduce the pixel size of a DNG but it’s not for archiving. A smaller raw file can be easier edited and shared in a workflow that doesn’t require full resolution.
via DPreview and Lightroom Journal