diff --git a/ANNOUNCE b/ANNOUNCE
index 886e55978..318c3142a 100644
--- a/ANNOUNCE
+++ b/ANNOUNCE
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 
-Libpng 1.6.0alpha01 - November 23, 2011
+Libpng 1.6.0alpha01 - November 24, 2011
 
 This is not intended to be a public release.  It will be replaced
 within a few weeks by a public version or by another test version.
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ Version 1.5.7beta04 [November 17, 2011]
     Also removed a duplicate setting of this flag.
   Added files that were omitted from the libpng-1.5.7beta03 zip distribution.
 
-Version 1.5.7beta05 [November 23, 2011]
+Version 1.5.7beta05 [(PENDING RELEASE)]
   Removed "zTXt" from warning in generic chunk decompression function.
   Validate time settings passed to pngset() and png_convert_to_rfc1123()
     (Frank Busse).
@@ -107,7 +107,8 @@ Version 1.5.7beta05 [November 23, 2011]
   Added MINGW support to CMakeLists.txt
   Reject invalid compression flag or method when reading the iTXt chunk.
 
-Version 1.6.0alpha01 [November 23, 2011]
+Version 1.6.0alpha01 [November 24, 2011]
+  Added example programs for the new 'simplified' API.
 
 Send comments/corrections/commendations to png-mng-implement at lists.sf.net:
 (subscription required; visit
diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index b55ab26c0..5cf177fac 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -3744,7 +3744,7 @@ Version 1.5.7beta04 [November 17, 2011]
     Also removed a duplicate setting of this flag.
   Added files that were omitted from the libpng-1.5.7beta03 zip distribution.
 
-Version 1.5.7beta05 [November 23, 2011]
+Version 1.5.7beta05 [(PENDING RELEASE)]
   Removed "zTXt" from warning in generic chunk decompression function.
   Validate time settings passed to pngset() and png_convert_to_rfc1123()
     (Frank Busse).
@@ -3752,7 +3752,8 @@ Version 1.5.7beta05 [November 23, 2011]
   Added MINGW support to CMakeLists.txt
   Reject invalid compression flag or method when reading the iTXt chunk.
 
-Version 1.6.0alpha01 [November 23, 2011]
+Version 1.6.0alpha01 [November 24, 2011]
+  Added example programs for the new 'simplified' API.
 
 Send comments/corrections/commendations to png-mng-implement at lists.sf.net
 (subscription required; visit
diff --git a/contrib/examples/README.txt b/contrib/examples/README.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9320cbad3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/examples/README.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+This directory contains examples of libpng usage.
+
+NO COPYRIGHT IS CLAIMED TO ANY OF THE FILES IN THIS DIRECTORY.
+They have been placed in the public domain by the authors.
+
+The files may be used freely in any way.  The intention is that appropriate
+parts of the files be used in other libpng-using programs without any need for
+the authors of the using code to seek copyright or license from the original
+authors.
+
+The source code and comments in this directory are the original work of the
+people named below.  No other person or organization has made contributions to
+the work in this directory.
+
+ORIGINAL AUTHORS
+    The following people have contributed to the code in this directory.  None
+    of the people below claim any rights with regard to the contents of this
+    directory.
+
+    John Bowler <jbowler@acm.org>
diff --git a/contrib/examples/iccfrompng.c b/contrib/examples/iccfrompng.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a9b47136e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/examples/iccfrompng.c
@@ -0,0 +1,178 @@
+/*- iccfrompng
+ *
+ * COPYRIGHT: please read the file "README.txt" from the containing directory..
+ * This file has been placed in the public domain by the authors.
+ *
+ * Extract any icc profiles found in the given PNG files.  This is a simple
+ * example of a program which extracts information from the header of a PNG file
+ * without processing the image.  Notice that some header information may occur
+ * after the image data, textual data and comments are an example; the approach
+ * in this file won't work reliably for such data because it only looks for the
+ * information in the section of the file that preceeds the image data.
+ *
+ * Compile and link against libpng and zlib, plus anything else required on the
+ * system you use.
+ *
+ * To use supply a list of PNG files containing iCCP chunks, the chunks will be
+ * extracted to a similarly named file with the extension replaced by 'icc',
+ * which will be overwritten without warning.
+ */
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <setjmp.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+
+#include <png.h>
+
+static int verbose = 1;
+static png_byte no_profile[] = "no profile";
+
+static png_bytep
+extract(FILE *fp, png_uint_32 *proflen)
+{
+   png_structp png_ptr = png_create_read_struct(PNG_LIBPNG_VER_STRING,0,0,0);
+   png_infop info_ptr = NULL;
+   png_bytep result = NULL;
+
+   /* Initialize for error or no profile: */
+   *proflen = 0;
+
+   if (png_ptr == NULL)
+   {
+      fprintf(stderr, "iccfrompng: version library mismatch?\n");
+      return 0;
+   }
+
+   if (setjmp(png_jmpbuf(png_ptr)))
+   {
+      png_destroy_read_struct(&png_ptr, &info_ptr, NULL);
+      return 0;
+   }
+
+   png_init_io(png_ptr, fp);
+
+   info_ptr = png_create_info_struct(png_ptr);
+   if (info_ptr == NULL)
+      png_error(png_ptr, "OOM allocating info structure");
+
+   png_read_info(png_ptr, info_ptr);
+
+   {
+      png_charp name;
+      int compression_type;
+      png_bytep profile;
+
+      if (png_get_iCCP(png_ptr, info_ptr, &name, &compression_type, &profile,
+         proflen) & PNG_INFO_iCCP)
+      {
+         result = malloc(*proflen);
+         if (result != NULL)
+            memcpy(result, profile, *proflen);
+
+         else
+            png_error(png_ptr, "OOM allocating profile buffer");
+      }
+
+      else
+	result = no_profile;
+   }
+
+   png_destroy_read_struct(&png_ptr, &info_ptr, NULL);
+   return result;
+}
+
+static int
+extract_one_file(const char *filename)
+{
+   int result = 0;
+   FILE *fp = fopen(filename, "rb");
+
+   if (fp != NULL)
+   {
+      png_uint_32 proflen = 0;
+      png_bytep profile = extract(fp, &proflen);
+
+      if (profile != NULL && profile != no_profile)
+      {
+         size_t len;
+         char *output;
+
+         {
+            const char *ep = strrchr(filename, '.');
+
+            if (ep != NULL)
+               len = ep-filename;
+
+            else
+               len = strlen(filename);
+         }
+
+         output = malloc(len + 5);
+         if (output != NULL)
+         {
+            FILE *of;
+
+            memcpy(output, filename, len);
+            strcpy(output+len, ".icc");
+
+            of = fopen(output, "wb");
+            if (of != NULL)
+            {
+               if (fwrite(profile, proflen, 1, of) == 1 &&
+                  fflush(of) == 0 &&
+                  fclose(of) == 0)
+               {
+                  if (verbose)
+                     printf("%s -> %s\n", filename, output);
+                  /* Success return */
+                  result = 1;
+               }
+
+               else
+               {
+                  fprintf(stderr, "%s: error writing profile\n", output);
+                  if (remove(output))
+                     fprintf(stderr, "%s: could not remove file\n", output);
+               }
+            }
+
+            else
+               fprintf(stderr, "%s: failed to open output file\n", output);
+
+            free(output);
+         }
+
+         else
+            fprintf(stderr, "%s: OOM allocating string!\n", filename);
+
+         free(profile);
+      }
+
+      else if (verbose && profile == no_profile)
+	printf("%s has no profile\n", filename);
+   }
+
+   else
+      fprintf(stderr, "%s: could not open file\n", filename);
+
+   return result;
+}
+
+int
+main(int argc, char **argv)
+{
+   int i;
+   int extracted = 0;
+
+   for (i=1; i<argc; ++i)
+   {
+      if (strcmp(argv[i], "-q") == 0)
+         verbose = 0;
+
+      else if (extract_one_file(argv[i]))
+         extracted = 1;
+   }
+
+   /* Exit code is true if any extract succeeds */
+   return extracted == 0;
+}
diff --git a/contrib/examples/pngpixel.c b/contrib/examples/pngpixel.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2310183c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/examples/pngpixel.c
@@ -0,0 +1,365 @@
+/*- pngpixel
+ *
+ * COPYRIGHT: please read the file "README.txt" from the containing directory.
+ * This file has been placed in the public domain by the authors.
+ *
+ * Read a single pixel value from a PNG file.
+ *
+ * This code illustrates basic 'by-row' reading of a PNG file using libpng.
+ * Rows are read until a particular pixel is found, the value of this pixel is
+ * then printed on stdou.
+ *
+ * The code illustrates how to do this on interlaced as well as non-interlaced
+ * images.  Normally you would call png_set_interlace_handling() to have libpng
+ * deal with the interlace for you, but that obliges you to buffer half of the
+ * image to assemble the interlaced rows.  In this code
+ * png_set_interlace_handling() is not called and, instead, the code handles the
+ * interlace passes directly looking for the required pixel.
+ */
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <setjmp.h> /* required for error handling */
+
+/* Normally use <png.h> here to get the installed libpng, but this is done to
+ * ensure the code picks up the local libpng implementation:
+ */
+#include "../../png.h"
+
+/* Return component 'c' of pixel 'x' from the given row. */
+static unsigned int
+component(png_const_bytep row, png_uint_32 x, unsigned int c,
+   unsigned int bit_depth, unsigned int channels)
+{
+   /* PNG images can be up to 2^31 pixels wide, but this means they can be up to
+    * 2^37 bits wide (for a 64-bit pixel - the largest possible) and hence 2^34
+    * bytes wide.  Since the row fitted into memory, however, the following must
+    * work:
+    */
+   png_uint_32 bit_offset_hi = bit_depth * ((x >> 6) * channels + c);
+   png_uint_32 bit_offset_lo = bit_depth * ((x & 0x3f) * channels + c);
+
+   row = (png_const_bytep)(((PNG_CONST png_byte (*)[8])row) + bit_offset_hi);
+   row += bit_offset_lo >> 3;
+   bit_offset_lo &= 0x07;
+
+   /* PNG pixels are packed into bytes to put the first pixel in the highest
+    * bits of the byte and into two bytes for 16-bit values with the high 8 bits
+    * first, so:
+    */
+   switch (bit_depth)
+   {
+      case 1: return (row[0] >> (7-bit_offset_lo)) & 0x01;
+      case 2: return (row[0] >> (6-bit_offset_lo)) & 0x03;
+      case 4: return (row[0] >> (4-bit_offset_lo)) & 0x0f;
+      case 8: return row[0];
+      case 16: return (row[0] << 8) + row[1];
+      default:
+         /* This should never happen, it indicates a bug in this program or in
+          * libpng itself:
+          */
+         fprintf(stderr, "pngpixel: invalid bit depth %u\n", bit_depth);
+         exit(1);
+   }
+}
+
+/* Print a pixel from a row returned by libpng; determine the row format, find
+ * the pixel, and print the relevant information to stdout.
+ */
+static void
+print_pixel(png_structp png_ptr, png_infop info_ptr, png_const_bytep row,
+   png_uint_32 x)
+{
+   PNG_CONST unsigned int bit_depth = png_get_bit_depth(png_ptr, info_ptr);
+
+   switch (png_get_color_type(png_ptr, info_ptr))
+   {
+      case PNG_COLOR_TYPE_GRAY:
+         printf("GRAY %u\n", component(row, x, 0, bit_depth, 1));
+         return;
+
+      /* The palette case is slightly more difficult - the palette and, if
+       * present, the tRNS ('transparency', though the values are really
+       * opacity) data must be read to give the full picture:
+       */
+      case PNG_COLOR_TYPE_PALETTE:
+         {
+            PNG_CONST unsigned int index = component(row, x, 0, bit_depth, 1);
+            png_colorp palette = NULL;
+            int num_palette = 0;
+
+            if ((png_get_PLTE(png_ptr, info_ptr, &palette, &num_palette) &
+               PNG_INFO_PLTE) && num_palette > 0 && palette != NULL)
+            {
+               png_bytep trans_alpha = NULL;
+               int num_trans = 0;
+               if ((png_get_tRNS(png_ptr, info_ptr, &trans_alpha, &num_trans,
+                  NULL) & PNG_INFO_tRNS) && num_trans > 0 &&
+                  trans_alpha != NULL)
+                  printf("INDEXED %u = %d %d %d %d\n", index,
+                     palette[index].red, palette[index].green,
+                     palette[index].blue,
+                     index < num_trans ? trans_alpha[index] : 255);
+
+               else /* no transparency */
+                  printf("INDEXED %u = %d %d %d\n", index, 
+                     palette[index].red, palette[index].green,
+                     palette[index].blue);
+            }
+
+            else
+               printf("INDEXED %u = invalid index\n", index);
+         }
+         return;
+
+      case PNG_COLOR_TYPE_RGB:
+         printf("RGB %u %u %u\n", component(row, x, 0, bit_depth, 3),
+            component(row, x, 1, bit_depth, 3),
+            component(row, x, 2, bit_depth, 3));
+         return;
+
+      case PNG_COLOR_TYPE_GRAY_ALPHA:
+         printf("GRAY+ALPHA %u %u\n", component(row, x, 0, bit_depth, 2),
+            component(row, x, 1, bit_depth, 2));
+         return;
+
+      case PNG_COLOR_TYPE_RGB_ALPHA:
+         printf("RGBA %u %u %u %u\n", component(row, x, 0, bit_depth, 4),
+            component(row, x, 1, bit_depth, 4),
+            component(row, x, 2, bit_depth, 4),
+            component(row, x, 3, bit_depth, 4));
+         return;
+
+      default:
+         png_error(png_ptr, "invalid color type");
+   }
+}
+
+int main(int argc, const char **argv)
+{
+   /* This program uses the default, <setjmp.h> based, libpng error handling
+    * mechanism, therefore any local variable that exists before the call to
+    * setjmp and is changed after the call to setjmp returns successfully must
+    * be declared with 'volatile' to ensure that their values don't get
+    * destroyed by longjmp:
+    */
+   volatile int result = 1/*fail*/;
+
+   if (argc == 4)
+   {
+      long x = atol(argv[1]);
+      long y = atol(argv[2]);
+      FILE *f = fopen(argv[3], "rb");
+      volatile png_bytep row = NULL;
+
+      if (f != NULL)
+      {
+         /* libpng requires a callback function for handling errors; this
+          * callback must not return.  The default callback function uses a
+          * stored <setjmp.h> style jmp_buf which is held in a png_struct and
+          * writes error messages to stderr.  Creating the png_struct is a
+          * little tricky; just copy the following code.
+          */
+         png_structp png_ptr = png_create_read_struct(PNG_LIBPNG_VER_STRING,
+            NULL, NULL, NULL);
+
+         if (png_ptr != NULL)
+         {
+            png_infop info_ptr = png_create_info_struct(png_ptr);
+
+            if (info_ptr != NULL)
+            {
+               /* Declare stack variables to hold pointers to locally allocated
+                * data.
+                */
+
+               /* Initialize the error control buffer: */
+               if (setjmp(png_jmpbuf(png_ptr)) == 0)
+               {
+                  png_uint_32 width, height;
+                  int bit_depth, color_type, interlace_method,
+                     compression_method, filter_method;
+                  png_bytep row_tmp;
+
+                  /* Now associate the recently opened (FILE*) with the default
+                   * libpng initialization functions.  Sometimes libpng is
+                   * compiled without stdio support (it can be difficult to do
+                   * in some environments); in that case you will have to write
+                   * your own read callback to read data from the (FILE*).
+                   */
+                  png_init_io(png_ptr, f);
+
+                  /* And read the first part of the PNG file - the header and
+                   * all the information up to the first pixel.
+                   */
+                  png_read_info(png_ptr, info_ptr);
+
+                  /* This fills in enough information to tell us the width of
+                   * each row in bytes, allocate the appropriate amount of
+                   * space.  In this case png_malloc is used - it will not
+                   * return if memory isn't available.
+                   */
+                  row = png_malloc(png_ptr, png_get_rowbytes(png_ptr,
+                     info_ptr));
+
+                  /* To avoid the overhead of using a volatile auto copy row_tmp
+                   * to a local here - just use row for the png_free below.
+                   */
+                  row_tmp = row;
+
+                  /* All the information we need is in the header is returned by
+                   * png_get_IHDR, if this fails we can now use 'png_error' to
+                   * signal the error and return control to the setjmp above.
+                   */
+                  if (png_get_IHDR(png_ptr, info_ptr, &width, &height,
+                     &bit_depth, &color_type, &interlace_method,
+                     &compression_method, &filter_method))
+                  {
+                     int passes, pass;
+
+                     /* png_set_interlace_handling returns the number of
+                      * passes required as well as turning on libpng's
+                      * handling, but since we do it ourselves this is
+                      * necessary:
+                      */
+                     switch (interlace_method)
+                     {
+                        case PNG_INTERLACE_NONE:
+                           passes = 1;
+                           break;
+
+                        case PNG_INTERLACE_ADAM7:
+                           passes = PNG_INTERLACE_ADAM7_PASSES;
+                           break;
+
+                        default:
+                           png_error(png_ptr, "pngpixel: unknown interlace");
+                     }
+
+                     /* Now read the pixels, pass-by-pass, row-by-row: */
+                     png_start_read_image(png_ptr);
+
+                     for (pass=0; pass<passes; ++pass)
+                     {
+                        png_uint_32 ystart, xstart, ystep, xstep;
+                        png_uint_32 py;
+
+                        if (interlace_method == PNG_INTERLACE_ADAM7)
+                        {
+                           /* Sometimes the whole pass is empty because the
+                            * image is too narrow or too short.  libpng
+                            * expects to be called for each row that is
+                            * present in the pass, so it may be necessary to
+                            * skip the loop below (over py) if the image is
+                            * too narrow.
+                            */
+                           if (PNG_PASS_COLS(width, pass) == 0)
+                              continue;
+
+                           /* We need the starting pixel and the offset
+                            * between each pixel in this pass; use the macros
+                            * in png.h:
+                            */
+                           xstart = PNG_PASS_START_COL(pass);
+                           ystart = PNG_PASS_START_ROW(pass);
+                           xstep = PNG_PASS_COL_OFFSET(pass);
+                           ystep = PNG_PASS_ROW_OFFSET(pass);
+                        }
+
+                        else
+                        {
+                           ystart = xstart = 0;
+                           ystep = xstep = 1;
+                        }
+
+                        /* To find the pixel loop over 'py' for each pass
+                         * reading a row and then checking to see if it
+                         * contains the pixel.
+                         */
+                        for (py = ystart; py < height; py += ystep)
+                        {
+                           png_uint_32 px, ppx;
+
+                           /* png_read_row takes two pointers.  When libpng
+                            * handles the interlace the first is filled in
+                            * pixel-by-pixel, the second receives the same
+                            * pixels but they are replicated across the
+                            * unwritten pixels so far for each pass.  When we
+                            * do the interlace, however, they just contain
+                            * the pixels from the interlace pass - giving
+                            * both is wasteful and pointless.
+                            */
+                           png_read_row(png_ptr, row_tmp, NULL);
+
+                           /* Now find the pixel if it is in this row; there
+                            * are, of course, much better ways of doing this
+                            * than using a for loop:
+                            */
+                           if (y == py) for (px = xstart, ppx = 0;
+                              px < width; px += xstep, ++ppx) if (x == px)
+                           {
+                              /* 'ppx' is the index of the pixel in the row
+                               * buffer.
+                               */
+                              print_pixel(png_ptr, info_ptr, row_tmp, ppx);
+
+                              /* Now terminate the loops early - we have
+                               * found and handled the required data.
+                               */
+                              goto pass_loop_end;
+                           } /* x loop */
+                        } /* y loop */
+                     } /* pass loop */
+
+                     /* Finally free the temporary buffer: */
+                  pass_loop_end:
+                     row = NULL;
+                     png_free(png_ptr, row_tmp);
+                  }
+
+                  else
+                     png_error(png_ptr, "pngpixel: png_get_IHDR failed");
+
+               }
+
+               else
+               {
+                  /* Else libpng has raised an error.  An error message has
+                   * already been output, it is only necessary to clean up
+                   * locally allocated data:
+                   */
+                  if (row != NULL)
+                  {
+                     /* The default implementation of png_free never errors out
+                      * (it just crashes if something goes wrong), but the safe
+                      * way of using it is still to clear 'row' before calling
+                      * png_free:
+                      */
+                     png_bytep row_tmp = row;
+                     row = NULL;
+                     png_free(png_ptr, row_tmp);
+                  }
+               }
+
+               png_destroy_info_struct(png_ptr, &info_ptr);
+            }
+
+            else
+               fprintf(stderr, "pngpixel: out of memory allocating png_info\n");
+
+            png_destroy_read_struct(&png_ptr, NULL, NULL);
+         }
+
+         else
+            fprintf(stderr, "pngpixel: out of memory allocating png_struct\n");
+      }
+
+      else
+         fprintf(stderr, "pngpixel: %s: could not open file\n", argv[3]);
+   }
+
+   else
+      /* Wrong number of arguments */
+      fprintf(stderr, "pngpixel: usage: pngpixel x y png-file\n");
+
+   return result;
+}
diff --git a/contrib/examples/pngtopng.c b/contrib/examples/pngtopng.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1d303dbfd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/examples/pngtopng.c
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+/*- pngtopng
+ *
+ * COPYRIGHT: please read the file "README.txt" from the containing directory.
+ * This file has been placed in the public domain by the authors.
+ *
+ * Read a PNG and write it out in a fixed format
+ *
+ * This sample code is just the code from the top of 'example.c' with some error
+ * handling added.  See example.c for more comments.
+ */
+#include <stddef.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+
+/* Normally use <png.h> here to get the installed libpng, but this is done to
+ * ensure the code picks up the local libpng implementation:
+ */
+#include "../../png.h"
+
+int main(int argc, const char **argv)
+{
+   int result = 1;
+
+   if (argc == 3)
+   {
+      png_image image;
+
+      memset(&image, 0, sizeof image);
+
+      if (png_image_begin_read_from_file(&image, argv[1]))
+      {
+         png_bytep buffer;
+         
+         /* Change this to try different formats! */
+         image.format = PNG_FORMAT_RGBA;
+
+         buffer = malloc(PNG_IMAGE_SIZE(image));
+
+         if (buffer != NULL)
+         {
+            if (png_image_finish_read(&image, NULL/*background*/, buffer,
+               0/*row_stride*/))
+            {
+               if (png_image_write_to_file(&image, argv[2],
+                  0/*convert_to_8bit*/, buffer, 0/*row_stride*/))
+                  result = 0;
+
+               else
+                  fprintf(stderr, "pngtopng: write %s: %s\n", argv[2],
+                     image.message);
+            }
+
+            else
+               fprintf(stderr, "pngtopng: read %s: %s\n", argv[1], image.message);
+         }
+
+         else
+            fprintf(stderr, "pngtopng: out of memory: %lu bytes\n",
+               (unsigned long)PNG_IMAGE_SIZE(image));
+      }
+
+      else
+         /* Failed to read the first argument: */
+         fprintf(stderr, "pngtopng: %s: %s\n", argv[1], image.message);
+   }
+
+   else
+      /* Wrong number of arguments */
+      fprintf(stderr, "pngtopng: usage: pngtopng input-file output-file\n");
+
+   return result;
+}