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Tuesday, April 21, 2009

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PMA News

PMA Marketing Moment podcast discusses new ideas

In the new PMA Marketing Moment podcast, Larry A. Anderson, owner of The Image Place, Weirton, W.V., discusses one of his lab's most effective marketing campaigns. He involves the photographers and helps them market their products to the end customers in their specific regions.

Marketing Moments are podcasts produced by PMA consisting of 60-second to 90-second audio files recorded by PMA speakers, consultants, and PMA members. This new "short version" format allows PMA members to hear quick tips and ideas to inspire creative marketing concepts. PMA, DIMA, PPFA, PSPA, SPAA, PSRO, and AIE members and speakers are encouraged to contribute marketing ideas to PMA Marketing Moments. Those interested in contributing should contact Stephanie Fisher at sfisher@pmai.org.

Retail Markets

Kodak Gallery to offer members high-res downloads, free shipping on orders of $4.99 or more

Kodak Gallery, Emeryville, Calif., announced two new service features: Kodak Gallery members will be able to download high-resolution versions of their pictures for free and there will be free shipping on all print purchases of $4.99 or more. Starting next week, all Kodak Gallery members will be able to access and download their photos in the same resolution in which they were captured, says Kodak. Free shipping is effective immediately.

"We are working to build a better Kodak Gallery that offers members more ways to manage, share and print their pictures and create one-of-a-kind photo gifts," says Victor Cho, general manager of Kodak Gallery. "These new benefits help our members unleash the power of their pictures and save money."

Last month, Kodak Gallery also announced changes in its terms of service, advising customers with less than 2GB of stored photos that they will be required to spend at least $4.99 a year on the site. For those with 2GB or more, the minimum purchase is $19.99.

The trend in photo sites offering storage for a minimal fee is expected to continue as more customers look to sites as a place to store their photos long term. Shutterfly is one holdout that doesn't have a minimum purchase option. Flickr has limited free access, but for full access, users can purchase a pro account for $24.95 a year, offering unlimited uploads and storage. Flickr members with free access and paid pro accounts both can download full-resolution files of any images uploaded to the site.

Best Buy lines up U.K. sites

Best Buy Co. Inc., Richfield, Minn., is looking at possible sites in southern England and Wales with a view to launch in the United Kingdom next spring, property industry sources told Reuters on Monday. Sources said the U.S. electronics giant and British joint venture partner Carphone Warehouse Group Plc were considering stores of 30,000 to 50,000 square feet in Southampton, Lakeside (Essex), Bristol, Cardiff, Swansea, Ipswich, and Crawley.

One property industry source said the joint venture was being offered rental deals which would see it pay £10 to £20 square foot in annual rents. It said incentive packages worth between £500,000 to £2 million were also being offered by landlords keen to lure the brand to their shopping centers and precincts, reports Reuters.

The Best Buy/Carphone joint venture had planned to open its first British store this summer, but last month delayed its entry until the first quarter of 2010. Best Buy paid £1.1 billion pounds (US$1.61 billion) for a 50 percent stake in the retail arm of Carphone Warehouse last May.

Earnings

Lexmark reports first-quarter revenue, earnings drop; will close Mexican plant

Lexmark International Inc., Lexington, Ky., announced first-quarter revenue was $944 million, down 20 percent compared to revenue of $1.18 billion last year, as weak global economic conditions negatively impacted demand for both hardware and supplies. First-quarter net earnings were $59 million compared to first quarter 2008 net earnings of $102 million.

"Market conditions continue to negatively impact both Lexmark and the overall distributed printing market," said Paul J. Curlander, Lexmark chairman and chief executive officer. "Despite this, we are continuing to execute well on our key strategic initiatives to reach higher page generating segments of the market and to strengthen the company during this economic downturn.

"During the quarter we made good progress on our cost and expense reduction initiatives. Key strategic milestones during the quarter include the significant expansion of our laser line, particularly in laser multifunction devices and color, the expansion of our U.S. retail distribution, achieving growth this quarter in our branded high end inkjet all-in-ones, and the continuing good growth of our laser multifunction devices," Curlander said.

First-quarter Printing Solutions and Services Division revenue of $599 million declined 19 percent year to year. Imaging Solutions Division revenue of $345 million declined 20 percent compared to a year ago.

In related news, Lexmark also announced additional restructuring actions, which includes the planned closure of its inkjet cartridge manufacturing facility in Juarez, Mexico, by the end of the first quarter of 2010. It also includes the continued restructuring of the company's worldwide workforce, expected to impact about 360 positions, with approximately 270 coming from the closure of the Juarez, Mexico, facility.

The company expects this restructuring plan to result in pretax charges of approximately $50 million with cash costs estimated at $10 million. Restructuring charges in the first quarter of 2009 related to the April plan were $2 million. Lexmark expects this action to be substantially completed by the end of the first quarter of 2010 and currently expects total 2010 savings of more than $20 million, with more than $5 million in savings in 2009.

Lexmark International Inc. and Subsidiaries
(In millions)

Three months ended
March 31, 2009 March 31, 2008
Revenue $944.1 $1,175.1
Net earnings $59.2 $101.7

Technology

CognoVision and BroadSign create analytics platform for digital signage

CognoVision Solutions Inc., Toronto, Ontario, Canada, a leading provider of automated audience measurement and targeted marketing solutions, and BroadSign, a Montreal, Quebec-based market leader in Software-as-a-Service solutions for managing digital signage networks, have integrated their reporting modules into CognoVision's Anonymous Impression Metric (AIM) Analytics system to offer a joint application measuring campaign effectiveness based on audience numbers, viewer behavior, and ad-triggered actions.

CognoVision's AIM system processes the data feed from the optical sensors embedded in the screens and generates anonymous viewership statistics. The aggregated data is then correlated with proof-of-play reports from the BroadSign network management software using CognoVision's web-based analytics tool. The reports generated in real time provide insights regarding what specific ads were seen, how long each ad was watched for, and viewer gender breakdown for each ad. The AIM Campaign Analytics service is now available to all marketers advertising on BroadSign-powered networks.

Light Crafts Introduces Aurora, the Powerfully Simple Photo Management Software

Light Crafts Inc., Palo Alto, Calif., introduced Aurora, a simple photo-editing, organizing, and sharing software. Aurora is intuitive to use, enabling anyone to go from download to expert in a matter of minutes, the company claims.

Aurora's visual photo editor is powered by sophisticated algorithms simplifying the complexities of advanced photo-editing by presenting suggested improvements to photos in an intuitive what-you-see-is-what-you-get fashion. A pop-up image selector lets users see a range of improvements and pick exactly how their edited photos might look simply by clicking on the desired improved image.

"We believe everyone's photos should look great, and we are proud to introduce Aurora as a powerfully simple solution to help photographers of all stripes achieve amazing results for their digital images," said Fabio Riccardi, founder and CEO of Light Crafts. "Aurora makes it possible, for the first time, to easily edit photos so that they reflect what you saw in real life when you captured the image. We spent years studying how the human eye processes images, and we built Aurora to mimic that ability so that edited photos reflect the actual memory you captured."

Aurora also has online back-up services and makes sharing photos easy with photo publishing tools and photo sharing capabilities with sites like Flickr and Facebook. Aurora is available for $19.95 and can be purchased for download for the Windows platform.

Imaging News

TIPA awards recognized best photo and imaging products of 2009

The Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) announces the winners of the 2009 TIPA Awards. The best imaging products of 2009 were voted on at the association's General Assembly in April and included editors of 25 member magazines from 11 European countries.

Taking into account innovation, ergonomics, design, ease of use, efficiency, price/performance ratio, as well as other guidelines, TIPA editors have been bestowing the TIPA Awards to imaging products in various categories since 1991 to help photo enthusiasts and professionals make purchasing choices. Since technology is constantly changing, the TIPA Awards categories also consequently change. The present categories vary from DSLR to compact cameras, from printers to software, and from scanners and photo kiosks to professional lighting systems.

The awards ceremony will be June 10, at the Grand Hotel Schloss Bensberg, near Cologne, Germany.

Winning products were:

Best Photo Software: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2

Best Studio Generator: Broncolor Scoro series

Best DSLR Expert: Canon EOS 5D Mark II

Best Expert HD Camcorder: Canon LEGRIA HF S10

Best Expert Photo Printer: Canon Pixma Pro9500 Mark II

Best Expert Compact: Canon PowerShot G10

Best Professional Lens: Canon TS-E 17mm f/4L

Best Storage Backup System: Data Robotics Drobo

Best Film: Kodak EKTAR 100

Best Photo Frame: Kodak OLED Wireless Frame

Best Photo Monitor: Eizo ColorEdge CG242W

Best Compact Digital Camera: Fujifilm FinePix F200EXR

Best Photo Service: Fujifilm Photobook Brilliant

Best Imaging Innovation: Fujifilm Super CCD EXR

Best Accessory: Vanguard Alta Pro series

Best Fine Art Inkjet Paper: Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Baryta, 315g

Best Medium-Format Digital System: Hasselblad H3DII-50

Best Mobile Flash Generator: Hensel Porty Lithium

Best Photo Kiosk: KIS Photobook Maker

Best Prestige Camera: Leica M8.2

Best Photo Bag: Lowepro Classified AW series

Best DSLR, Professional: Nikon D3x

Best DSLR, Advanced: Nikon D90

Best DSLR, Entry Level: Olympus E-620

Best Mobile Imaging Device: Nokia N86

Best Retail Finishing System: Noritsu D502

Best Rugged Digital Compact Camera: Olympus mju Tough 8000

Best Imaging Storage Media: Panasonic 32GB SDHC

Best Design Innovation: Panasonic Lumix G series

Best Best Compact Flash System: Profoto D1 series

Best Entry Level Camcorder: Samsung SMX-F34

Best Expert Photo Projector: Epson EH-TW5000

Best Pro Photo Projector: JVC DLA-HD750

Best Multifunction Photo Printer: Epson Stylus Photo PX800FW

Best Large-Format Printer: Epson Stylus Pro GS6000

Best Entry-Level Lens: Sigma 18-250mm F3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM

Best Expert Lens: Sony 70-400mm F4-5.6 G SSM

Best Super-Zoom Digital Camera: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX1

Best Photo Display: JVC LT-42WX70EU

Best Digital Accessory: Wacom Intuos4