Friday, September 05, 2008

Samsung Electronics Co., Seoul, South Korea, is looking at various ways of connecting with SanDisk Corp., including a possible acquisition of the world's largest flash memory card maker by revenue, reports The Wall Street Journal.

  Analysts said an acquisition, if it pushes through, could help Samsung cut the amount of royalties it pays to SanDisk, and could further tighten its control of the global flash memory market.

  "We're looking at various tie-up plans with SanDisk, including an acquisition, but nothing has been decided for now," Samsung said in a regulatory filing.

  "If Samsung succeeds in acquiring SanDisk at a reasonable price, this will be positive for both the overall memory market as well as for Samsung," said C.W. Chung, an analyst at Lehman Brothers, in The Wall Street Journal article.

  The global memory chip market is suffering oversupply amid the global economic slowdown, causing chip prices to fall below cost and hurting the profitability of most producers, says the article.

Xerox Corp., Norwalk, Conn., appointed James Firestone president, Corporate Operations. In this new position, he is responsible for research, strategy, information management, human resources and ethics, marketing and communications, Fuji Xerox relations, and Xerox's environmental sustainability initiatives. Prior to this role, Firestone was president, Xerox North America, responsible for the direct and indirect sales, service and marketing of Xerox systems and services in the United States and Canada.

  The company's North American operations will now be organized through these two groups:

• North American Solutions Group, led by Doug Lord, and including all direct sales and service in the United States and Canada. This change expands Lord's current role as head of Xerox's U.S. Solutions Group.
• North American Channels Group, led by Russell Peacock, and including Xerox's partnerships with agents, resellers, distributors, and its wholly owned subsidiary Global Imaging Systems. Peacock was previously president of the Xerox Office Group, a role now assumed by Rick Dastin.

  Firestone joined Xerox in 1998 from IBM. He has served as Xerox's chief strategist and, last year, led the company's acquisition of Global Imaging Systems, increasing Xerox's access to small and mid-size businesses in the United States. Firestone is an executive vice president of the corporation. In his new position, he'll report to Xerox President Ursula Burns.

  Lord joined Xerox in 1976 in Canada, and has experience not only in Xerox sales management but also in marketing, human resources, supply chain and customer service. He served as president of Xerox Canada from 2003-2007, and then assumed the role of head of the U.S. sales group. He is a vice president of the corporation and will now report to Xerox CEO Anne Mulcahy.

  Peacock joined Xerox in 1982 as a field sales representative in London. He has served as the managing director of Xerox United Kingdom and led the company's global office business. He is a vice president of the corporation and will also now report to Mulcahy.

  Dastin joined Xerox in 1981 and has held a variety of positions in advanced development and technology, product design, engineering, marketing, product launch, and customer support. In his new position, he reports directly to Burns.

Sony Corp., Tokyo, Japan, is recalling 440,000 Vaio laptop computers worldwide because of a wiring flaw that could cause overheating, reports The Associated Press.

  Sony said Thursday the recall involves 19 models in the Vaio TZ series manufactured between May 2007 and July 2008. The company said improperly placed wires near the hinge connecting the body of the laptop and its display could wear quickly, causing a short circuit and overheating. A flaw in a circuit board inside the display could also overheat its rim.

  Sony has received 209 reports of overheating worldwide, including seven cases in which people received minor burns.

Despite high fuel prices, increased inflation, and low consumer confidence, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. executives said Thursday the key for retailers is to look beyond the frustration to how families can have a good time even though their money isn't going as far, reports The Associated Press.

  Stephen Quinn, chief marketing officer, shared a stage with fellow Wal-Mart executives John Fleming, chief merchandising officer, and Bill Simon, chief operations officer, at a retail trends conference put on near company headquarters by the Sam Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas.

  Rather than assume shoppers will flock to the lowest price items, Quinn said Wal-Mart customers are using the broad range of items available at the store to sustain their standard of living while still cutting back. For instance, Ben & Jerry's ice cream sales are up, he said, as top-shelf ice cream turns out to be a bargain if it is replacing a trip to an ice cream parlor. The same goes for high-definition TVs, which consumers are buying with the thought of spending more evenings at home. Likewise for food items, with more people eating at home and cooking from scratch.

  Wal-Mart has streamlined its offerings in a way that emphasizes growth items, but lets customers find items the company must stock to remain a one-stop destination, calling it the "Win, Play, Show" strategy. That's a change from a few years ago, when Wal-Mart tried to keep a full range of products in all categories, says the AP.

  Quinn said the number of shopping trips consumers make has been declining for the past 10 years, and the current economic woes are "speeding consumers up to where they were going anyway."

  Separately, the executives discussed how Wal-Mart had spent the early part of the decade experimenting with ways to attract the "well-heeled shopper," a move the executives acknowledged lacked focus, says the AP.

  Today, the emphasis on moms, with women doing about two-thirds of the family shopping, is a focus in Wal-Mart advertising. Among the challenges for the future are marketing to other groups, such as customers 50 and older and doing a better job of targeting different cultures. But first, Quinn said he wants to succeed with women shoppers.

Digital Railroad (DRR), Seattle, Wash., is partnering with Qualex, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eastman Kodak Co., to provide end-to-end fulfillment of professional-quality products and services to DRR customers. DRR is an online archive platform and marketing services company for the professional photography community. Through Qualex order fulfillment and technology services, DRR photographer customers will be able to order custom personalized products directly from DRR's member archives and the DRR Marketplace. Available products will include framed prints, photo books, posters, calendars, CDs, DVDs, and more.

  The Qualex fulfillment service extends the DRR platform, providing member photographers the opportunity to generate additional revenue from each image they have stored there. For each product ordered through a DRR member's archive, the photographer will receive 90 percent of the gross sale price, less the product fee, says the company. For products ordered through Marketplace, the photographer will receive 70 percent of the gross sale price, less the product fee. The fulfillment service is scheduled to be available in early 2009.

London-based Anthropics Technology has a new batch-processing version of its Portrait Professional software, which enables photographers to retouch individual photos in minutes. Now Portrait Professional Lab makes it possible to automatically retouch the faces from entire photo shoots, without having to perform artistic work on each photograph. A wedding photographer with 300 pictures could do all the work in 10 minutes, the company says, needing only to select photographs to process, configure the automatic retouching and approve the results. Facial feature recognition technology automates the process, and the software scans images for faces, maps the features, and applies enhancements to them, without user intervention. It will be available next month.

Italian company Barbieri electronic launched a new edition of its spectrophotometer Spectro Swing, which will be available in two versions: version R for reflective and version RT for reflective and transmissive materials. The new Spectro Swing comes also in a new design, is faster and runs under Mac, says the company. The Spectro Swing R can be upgraded to a Spectro Swing RT by software.

  "The new Spectro Swing R is an entry model for professional users who want to be open for the future and reserve the possibility to upgrade in a second step to transparent measurements too, allowing them to get the right colors also on transparent media such as backlit," says Wolfgang Passler, manager, Marketing and Sales.

  The new versions are about 30 percent faster than the predecessor. It comes in light gray/black with a big clipping of the Barbieri logo. Also, a new version 3.0 of the measuring software Profile-Xpert Gateway is available, allowing use of the Spectro Swing on Mac. This measuring software is the link between Barbieri measuring devices and software products and allows using the Spectro Swing and Spectro LFP together with most third-party RIPs and profiling creation software.

The new JOBO X7 features a 7-inch screen and 1GB of internal memory. It is available for $189.

JOBO AG, Gummersbach, Germany, announces the JOBO X7 Portable Photo Viewer digital picture frame. The new frame features a 7-inch viewing screen and 1GB of internal memory capable of storing up to 10,000 images.

  Digital images can be transferred to the JOBO X7 by inserting a CF, SD, MMC, MS, MS Pro or xD memory card or via USB connection to a computer. When images are transferred via memory card the X7 automatically creates a new folder for each transfer of images from a memory card. These folders can be viewed as-is or they can be renamed and sorted afterwards by the user via USB connection to a computer. The new JOBO X7 features a protective leather cover that flips around to the back of the frame to function as a stand for table-top viewing.

  The new JOBO X7 displays digital pictures full-screen, as individual thumbnail views or in a slide show format featuring user-selectable transition effects such as random, sliding, snail, roll up, and puzzle. The unit also allows for picture browsing. In addition to copy, delete, rotate and zoom functions, the JOBO X7 also displays time as well as a calendar and can be powered on and off automatically by a timer. The JOBO X7 is available this month for $189.

Thursday, September 04, 2008

PhotoChannel Networks Inc., Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, an innovator in digital media solutions for retailers, is in the final stages to acquire WorksMedia Ltd., operating as Works Imaging. Works, headquartered in the United Kingdom, provides retailers with kiosk and desktop software to create and order photo products such as photo books, calendars, and other photo gift products. The terms of the deal will be announced upon official signing of the agreement which is expected to close in the first quarter of fiscal 2009.

DigitalPost Interactive Inc., Irvine, Calif., a leader in the digital media sharing and social networking space, named Brandon Chatham director of Product Development to drive strategic products and partnerships for the company's continued expansion. In his new role, Chatham will work directly with key partners, including Kiddie Kandids, the country's largest children's photography studio chain, to test market and launch new digital media-sharing subscription services to a vast national audience.

  Prior to joining DigitalPost Interactive, Chatham was the director of Marketing, Operations, and New Product Development at www.eKnowledge.com, a provider of interactive learning products and services where he grew sales while cultivating new partnerships with organizations such as the U.S. Department of Defense.

Hunt's Photo & Video, Melrose, Mass., named photo industry veteran Stanley Goldberg as sales manager of the new Corporate Sales division. The new division has been expanded to include law enforcement, medical, and audio/visual integration. Goldberg has experience developing specialized products and solutions for clients in law enforcement and medicine. He has developed a wide range of digital camera solutions for law enforcement agencies and managed the installation of more than 180 law enforcement interview rooms in seven states.

  In his new position at Hunt's, Goldberg will continue to deliver digital camera solutions to law enforcement and medical organizations, and design, configure and install interview rooms for law enforcement agencies throughout the country.

  Hunt's Photo and Video is New England's largest retail chain of photo, video and digital imaging products, says the company. Hunt's includes a 30,000 square foot flagship store Melrose, Mass., as well as satellite locations in Boston, Mass.; Cambridge, Mass; Hadley, Mass; Providence, R.I.; Portland, Maine, and Manchester, N.H.

BJ's Wholesale Club Inc., Natick, Mass., today reported sales for August increased by 17 percent to $774.4 million from $661.8 million in August 2007. On a comparable club basis, sales increased by 15.4 percent for the month. Comparable store sales for the 30-week period were $5.6 billion, up from the $5 billion reported last year.

  Costco Wholesale Corp., Issaquah, Wash., reported net sales of $5.41 billion for the four weeks ended Aug. 31, an increase of 12 percent from $4.84 billion in the same four-week period last year. Net sales for the fiscal 2008 fourth quarter, the 16 weeks ended Aug.31, were $22.6 billion, an increase of 12 percent from $20.09 billion in the 16-week fourth quarter of fiscal 2007. Net sales for the 52-week fiscal year 2008 were $70.95 billion, an increase of 12 percent from $63.09 billion in the 52-week fiscal year ended Sept. 2, 2007. Comparable sales for the four-week retail-reporting month of August were up 9 percent. Comparable store sales for the 16-week fiscal fourth quarter were also up nine percent, and up 8 percent for the 52-week fiscal year 2008.

  Target Corp., Minneapolis, Minn., reported net retail sales for the four weeks ended Aug. 30 increased 3.1 percent to $4.852 billion from $4.707 billion for the four weeks ended Sept. 1, 2007. On this same basis, August comparable store sales declined 2.1 percent.

  Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Bentonville, Ark., reported $30.6 billion in net sales for the four weeks ended Aug. 29, an 8.7 percent increase from the $28.2 billion reported for the same period in 2007. Net sales for the 30 weeks ended Aug. 29 were $227.1 billion, a 9.5 percent increase from the $207.5 billion reported in 2007. Comparable store sales for the four week period were up 3 percent from last year, and comparable store sales for the 30 week period were 3.1 percent, also an increase from last year.

Canon U.S.A., Lake Success, N.Y., and the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Canton, Ohio, present the "Why Do You Love Football" photo challenge. The nationwide amateur photo contest features two entry categories -- Action and Feature. The Action category focuses on any image that captures football action during game play, while the Feature category comprises any football imagery outside of game action on the field. Entrants are encouraged to submit as many as 10 football photos from Sept. 1 to Dec. 3 by visiting www.usa.canon.com/nfl.

  A judging panel consisting of sports photographer, Peter Read Miller, Sports Illustrated, Archie Manning, former National Football League (NFL) quarterback, and other staff photographers from the Professional Football Hall of Fame, will determine the group of 14 finalists in each division. The voting will then be turned over to fans, who will choose the winners in both categories, along with the grand prize winners in early January.

  The grand prize winners will each be awarded a trip for four to attend Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa Bay, Fla., and will earn a once an opportunity to have his or her photo displayed in The Pro Football Hall of Fame. Additionally, the winners will receive a trip for four to the 2009 Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Celebration in August 2009.

Autodesk Inc., San Rafael, Calif., announces Autodesk Stitcher Unlimited 2009 and Autodesk ImageModeler 2009 software products. These are the first versions of the former Realviz products to be released as part of the Autodesk product portfolio, says the company.

  Stitcher Unlimited 2009 software helps create wide-angle and panoramic images. With an upgraded user interface and an automatic photo-merging engine, the software is ideal for generating virtual tours for the web, matte paintings for movies, environment maps for 3D rendering and panoramic prints for artistic display, says the company. The software's three-step workflow of calibration, modeling, and texturing lets users achieve photorealistic results with real-world accuracy.

  The Stitcher Unlimited 2009 software includes a fully automatic engine, allowing users to create partial or full spherical panoramas in just a few clicks. Stitching, alignment and color correction can be automated as well. Users can also stitch images taken with a two-shot fisheye lens -- an effective way to create spherical virtual tours with only two pictures. The redesigned user interface and workflow includes new icons and a new palette to manage thumbnails more efficiently.

  The ImageModeler 2009 also contains several new features. A new calibration engine generates a 3D model or scene using calibration points based on one or more panoramas or photos. The high-performance photo texturing feature makes texture mapping a one-click, automatic process with photorealism is built-in.

  Stitcher Unlimited 2009 for Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh will be available in English, French, German and Japanese in October. The Stitcher Unlimited 2009 software is $350. ImageModeler 2009 for Microsoft Windows is expected to be available in English in October. The ImageModeler 2009 software is $995.

Google Inc., Mountain View, Calif., launched a major technology upgrade to its free online photo sharing site, Picasa Web Albums, alongside Picasa 3.0 (beta), the next generation of its free photo editing software

  Picasa Web Albums now helps users automatically sort and share their online photos based on who's in each picture. The new name tags feature in Picasa Web Albums uses advanced clustering technology to quickly group together pictures of the same person. If users assign name tags to a few faces in a collection, Picasa Web Albums will help them automatically find other photos with the same people using facial recognition so they can quickly tag their whole collection. Picasa Web Albums now also features a remodeled user interface, and uses new technology to help users organize and share photos with others.

  Users can now share full-resolution albums for free with friends and family, and they won't need to sign up for an account to see the photos. The link received contains an embedded key to view your photos with one click. Visitors can download full-resolution albums to Picasa and prints and other photo products can be ordered directly from multiple retailers, like Walgreens and Snapfish. A new Explore section gives users a way to enjoy photos published by other Google Photos users around the world, including a Where in the World game in which you guess the mystery locales of geotagged photos.

  Picasa 3.0 beta is free desktop software for Windows that helps you organize, print, and creatively edit your photos. Picasa also integrates seamlessly with Picasa Web Albums for sharing photos online. With just one click in Picasa 3, users can sync albums from their PCs to the web so that any changes or additions made on PCs are automatically reflected in web galleries. New tools in Picasa 3 help you make professional-looking edits without any technical knowledge, including a drag-and-drop photo collage tool, a retouching brush to wipe out scratches and blemishes, a slide show movie maker that uploads to YouTube, an auto red-eye removal tool, smart auto-cropping, and a fast-launching Photo Viewer to inspect and manipulate images while in the Windows filesystem.

  As in previous versions, Picasa automatically finds and sorts the photos on your hard drive, and lets you drag and drop photos into folders or add custom tags. It leaves original files undisturbed on users' hard drives, so they don't have to worry about overwriting or altering originals. Also users can download any photos out of Picasa Web Albums.

United Kingdom-based Microsoft Research Cambridge launched AutoCollage 2008, a desktop application allowing users to compile a set of individual photographs into a seamless collage. The collage can be printed, used in e-postcards, web pages or desktop backgrounds, or e-mailed to family and friends.

  AutoCollage is an advanced computer vision and image processing program that assembles pictures into a seamless collage using methods such as object recognition and face detection, says Microsoft Research. Having automatically identified interesting parts of pictures, AutoCollage combines the separate pictures into a composite collage by following natural features as a boundary between images.

  "The most significant feature that differentiates AutoCollage is that it offers exceptionally sophisticated blending technology for photographs, powered by state-of-the-art computer vision techniques," said Alisson Sol, development manager at Microsoft Research Cambridge. "It's great that we can give everyone the opportunity to play with and use this compelling technology, and we're looking forward to seeing what collages they come up with."

  AutoCollage started as a research project at Microsoft Research Cambridge in 2005 and was recently transferred into the Cambridge Incubation team, in order to ensure the technology was ready for consumers to use and had adequate support. It also features technology developed by Microsoft researchers in China and Redmond, Wash.

Photobucket, San Francisco, Calif., a leading photo and video sharing site, added online scrapbooking powered by Miami, Fla.-based Scrapblog, a service for creating and sharing scrapbooks online. Scrapblog's application is now seamlessly integrated with Photobucket, enabling Photobucket's more than 46 million unique users to transform their photos into personalized digital scrapbooks without ever leaving Photobucket. Users can share their scrapbooks via email or IM, post them on a personal blog, or embed them on a social network profile.

  The Scrapblog application allows users to create scrapbooks from scratch or choose from professionally designed themes. In addition to themes for events such as vacations, holidays, sports, weddings and more, themes for popular television programs and films such as Disney's "High School Musical 3," among others, are also available.

  Users can drag-and-drop photos directly from their Photobucket albums into Scrapblog's web-based application where they can be cropped, resized and moved to customize the chosen layout. Pages can then be personalized with thousands of creative elements including backgrounds, stickers, text, and decorative frames. No software downloads are required and the finished scrapbooks are saved in the user's Photobucket album. Users will also be able to print their scrapbooks into high-quality books, greeting cards, postcards, and other products.

  "Scrapbooks have traditionally been an important part of how people have kept and shared memories offline for many years, and bringing that capability online to Photobucket gives users even more options for enhancing their lives and expressing themselves digitally," said Alex Welch, president of Photobucket. "We are excited to partner with Scrapblog and be the first photo and video website to integrate a digital scrapbooking feature directly into the site, making it easy, convenient and accessible to everyone."

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Any imaging business executive who's interested in knowing what tomorrow will bring needs to be at the upcoming 6Sight Future of Imaging Conference, which will be held Nov.18-20 in Monterey, Calif. The conference is co-hosted by AIE, PMA, and Future Image Inc. In today's AIE Imaging Executive Podcast, Alexis Gerard, author of the book "Going Visual" and founder and president of Future Image, explains why attending this event may be critical to your company's long-term success.

Employees at HP Co.'s Imaging and Printing Group in Boise, Idaho, confirmed Tuesday a round of job cuts as part of the company's global reorganization of the division, according to reports from RedOrbit and an Idaho business publication. Palo Alto, Calif.-based HP, which employs 3,000 workers at the Boise facility, would not comment on the number or area of layoffs, to the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal.

  Company spokesman Scott Stalla, however, released the following statement: "As part of the HP Imaging and Printing Group's (IPG) continued Print 2.0 transformation, the business announced plans in June 2008 to realign and streamline its organization by reducing the number of its global business units from five to three customer solutions-oriented businesses. The realignment of IPG's business entails shifting resources from slower growing businesses to new business opportunities. In some cases, parts of IPG's business will experience reductions while investments will be made in high growth segments of the business. These decisions will be made at the level of the global business unit and are not specific to HP sites. Consistent with its transformation, IPG will continue to proactively manage the challenges of the current market and consider changes that will position the business to win today and in the future."

Imaging Solutions Inc., Regensdorf, Switzerland, appointed Tammo Bettex the new sales director for the company's Imaging Postprocessing Solutions division, reports PMA Newsline Europe. The Imaging Postprocessing Solutions division includes the company's cutting, packing and sorting equipment. In his recent position, Bettex had project responsibility for the introduction of index prints, digital image processing, and photo book production.

Picateers, San Mateo, Calif., has raised $6.6 million in a second round of funding to continue volunteer-based programs run by parents in the school portrait market, reports VentureBeat. The company uses a web-based approach to the school portrait business by recruiting parents to use their own digital cameras to shoot portraits of kids. The volunteers then upload photos to the Picateers website. There, the kids' parents can view photos, select the ones they want to print, and then pick up the photos later on at the school, says the article.

  Dan Levin, a former senior vice president at Intuit, joined as Picateers chief executive a month ago. He replaces Larry Jacobs, co-founder, who is still with the company. The company launched last fall and now has more than 100 schools participating. Levin said the company will use the money to expand its team of 16 employees and ramp up marketing, says the article.

The Schneider Group, Bad Kreuznach, Germany, has taken over Isco Group, Göttingen, Germany. The transaction, the terms of which were not disclosed, became effective Aug.15, reports PMA Newsline Europe.

  The Schneider Group's main brand, Schneider-Kreuznach, specializes in the development and production of photographic lenses, cinema projection lenses, and lenses for industrial applications and precision engineering. The group includes 550 employees worldwide. The Isco Group works in cinema projection lenses and optical elements. According to a press release, the Isco brand will be continued alongside Schneider-Kreuznach.

Samsung Techwin, Seoul, Korea, is set to introduce a new interchangeable lens hybrid digital camera system in the spring 2010, reports an article in Amateur Photographer, in a move aimed at propelling the company to the top of the digital camera market.

  Speaking exclusively to Amateur Photographer in Berlin, Germany, Samsung Techwin Executive Vice President Byung Woo Lee says the first model in the as-yet-unnamed system will carry the company's 14 million-pixel APS-C sized CMOS sensor and a new lens mount.

  Samsung's plans come weeks after Olympus and Panasonic announced the Micro Four Thirds system based on similar principles. Like Micro Four Thirds, Samsung's hybrid system will use electronic viewfinders (EVF) and a compact camera style live rear LCD screen for framing, says Amateur Photographer. The focusing system will use a video type automatic process, and lenses will be smaller than the company's current GX series optics.

  Lee told The Associated Press that Samsung has been working on this project for some time, and is already producing prototype lenses.

Tamron Co. Ltd, Commack , N.Y., announced the SP AF10-24mm F/3.5-4.5 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) featuring a 2.4x ultra wide-angle zoom. The B001 model lens is designed exclusively for Canon and Nikon DSLRs with APS-C sized image sensors. Pentax and Sony mount models will be announced at a later date, says Tamron.

  The SP AF10-24mm Di II, the first-ever 2.4x ultra wide-angle lens for DSLR cameras, features a focal length range with the 35mm equivalent of 16mm ultra wide-angle to 37mm semi-wide-angle. The advanced optical system of this wide angle lens features large-aperture, glass-molded aspherical elements, hybrid aspherical elements, as well as elements made of low-dispersion glass.

  The new lens covers a focal length range of 10mm ultra wide-angle to 24mm semi wide-angle. It also features a new optical system designed to confine the changing angles of incidences of light rays reaching the imager within a certain scope over the entire image field, from the center to the periphery, addressing the effects of variances caused by zooming. In addition, peripheral light fall-off that becomes an image-degrading factor in wide-angle photography is minimized to ensure high optical quality from the center to the periphery, says Tamron.

  The lens uses newly developed multiple-layer coatings and internal surface coatings to reduce the image degradation caused by the reflection of light rays entering from the lens front and affected by the imager. The new zoom lens covers is lightweight and compact and accepts a 77mm filter, the same as the existing SP AF11-18mm F/4.5-5.6 Di II zoom lens model A13.

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Hoya Corp., Tokyo, Japan, recently announced that it will liquidate Pentax (Shanghai) Corp. in March 2009 and transfer the camera lens manufacturing operations to Vietnam, reports JPEA International PEN News Weekly.

  The manufacturing company was established in 2003 by Pentax, which Hoya purchased last March. The company was established to engage in operations including assembling of digital cameras and lenses, but it has so far handled lens processing only, and its earnings have been deteriorating, says PEN News Weekly.

  Hoya's digital camera business under the Pentax brand suffered an operating loss in the April-June quarter. By reorganizing its own production bases, Hoya aims to improve the productivity and profitability of its digital cameras with higher added values, while increasing the degree of dependence on subcontractors as for low priced compact cameras, says the article.

Google Inc., Mountain View, Calif., is adding video communications features to its business application suite, reports Reuters, as it aims to make video-sharing among office workers as easy as trading emails or instant messages. Unlike YouTube, which is aimed at consumers, Google Video for business is designed to be shared among designated users within an organization's own web domain, protecting executive speeches, product training, sales meetings, or other employee video messages from unauthorized disclosure outside the company.

  Google Video for business is being incorporated into the Internet search leader's Google Apps Premier Edition, which costs $50 a user for year for a package of business software, e-mail, scheduling and Web site design capabilities. From Sept. 8, educational users of Google Apps can try out the service free for six months and will be charged $10 a user to continue using video afterward. Unlike videoconferencing services that require specialized hardware and software installations in offices, Google Video for business users can simply trade website addresses to view videos as the videos are delivered from Google computers, reports Reuters.

  "What YouTube did in the consumer world, Google Video for business is going to do in the enterprise," said Matthew Glotzbach, product management director of Google's Enterprise division, the unit responsible for Google Apps.

  Google Video for business can run for an hour or more, reports Reuters. The company has also developed an automated service that identifies scene transitions and creates a quick way to skip to specific segments of a video. Administrators can give users the option to download videos to view offline or on portable devices. Google Video provides 3GB of video storage per Google Apps Premier user. The videos can be used in standard quality or high-resolution formats, depending on network bandwidth. They are also available to designated corporate users of Apple Inc's Internet phone, the iPhone, Google said.

Ricoh Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, will purchase Ikon Office Solutions Inc. , an office equipment marketing company based in Pennsylvania, reports JPEA International PEN News Weekly. Ikon will be purchased for ¥172 billion (US$1.56 billion) in order to strengthen its sales and servicing channels abroad as the domestic market continues to be weak.

  Ricoh intends to buy all of Ikon's outstanding shares at US$17.25 a share -- a 33 percent premium over Ikon's 60-day average stock price. Ikon has agreed to the condition offered by Ricoh, and Ricoh hopes to complete the acquisition by the end of the year says PEN News Weekly.

  Ikon has more than 400 sales and service locations in the U.S. and Europe. In addition to

Ricoh products, it sells office equipment procured from Canon and Konica Minolta. The company is one of the world's largest independent distributors of office equipment with about 24,000 employees. It posted a net profit of ¥12 billion (US$109 million) on consolidated sales of ¥440 billion (US$4 billion) for its fiscal year ended Sept.30, 2007.

Washington-based R&R Custom Color Lab Inc., developed about 1,000 rolls or sheets of film a day in 2000, but even then, Steve Riffle could tell film was dying, reports an article in The Spokesman-Review. Today the company, with offices in north Spokane near the Spokane Arena, handles about 100 rolls of film per day.

  "Mostly it comes from those photographers who still love film," said Riffle. He said R&R makes about 1,000 prints daily. Most of those are for professional photographers or corporations based in the Seattle area needing high-quality prints.

  In 2004 Riffle looked around and knew that the company needed to shift to online processing to compete, according to the article. At that time, R&R became one of a handful of Northwest commercial photo processors with attention to detail who handle customer orders online and sends the prints back.

  Now about 75 percent of all images and pictures R&R handles come from online orders, says the article. Those orders come from all over the country, with California and the Puget Sound accounting for a large share of that business. Riffle said he also gets business from as far away as New Jersey.

On Aug. 14, LexJet hosted its 2008 Technology Review at the LexJet Technology Center in Sarasota, Fla., for companies representing the spectrum of the wide-format digital printing industry, including photography and fine-art studios, commercial printing companies, sign companies, service bureaus, and in-house print shops from the beverage distributor market. The event offered wide-format printing professionals the opportunity to meet the people driving technological progress in the industry, learn more about the various printing processes and where they're headed over the next few years, see first-hand the different avenues in which the technology is employed, and engage in hands-on demonstrations and training.

  Attendees also got a first look at Digital Equipment Co.'s new Legend 98HUV, a 98-inch hybrid (roll-to-roll and flatbed) UV-curable printer that can print directly to rigid substrates, such as foam boards, aluminum, and even doors and tabletops. The printer is scheduled for release in early 2009. LexJet has tentative plans to hold another Technology Review in early 2009.

Sony Corp., Tokyo, Japan, released a new safari game for its PlayStation 3 (PS3) videogame console that has no shooting, little action, no winning or losing, and not even an ending, reports The Wall Street Journal. Instead players observe wild animals in the savanna and take virtual photos. Afrika is Sony's attempt at emulating the Wii's straightforward game play, while touting the PS3's superior graphics, says the article. Players tour a virtual African safari completing photo-taking assignments.

  The developers spent nearly four years creating the game including two visits to Africa. They packed a fictitious national park with photo-realistic zebras, elephants, lions, and dozens of other exotic animals, says the article. The PS3 has the ability to render images more realistically than ever before, and developers took extra care with the smallest details like the way muscles ripple when they move.

  Afrika went on sale last week in Japan for about US$54, and it represents a test for Sony as the company aims to broaden videogame sales beyond a core of young male players. Sony is hoping Afrika could lead to a new genre of nature-exploration games.

  "This is a different approach to interactive entertainment, and some people may not see it as a game," said Kazuo Hirai, chief executive of Sony's videogame unit.

  There is no doubt that Sony is trying a new approach, says the article. Because it costs so much to develop games for today's technically advanced consoles, videogame companies often stick to sequels of popular games or surefire hits along familiar themes. Whether a different approach will succeed in drawing new players to the PlayStation 3 is unclear.

  PlayStation 3 sales recently have accelerated after a slow launch two years ago, but they still lag behind rival Nintendo's Wii, which has been more successful at capturing casual game players with innovative, easy-to-play games. As of June 30, Sony has sold 14.4 million PS3s cumulatively worldwide, compared with 29.6 million Nintendo Wiis, and more than 20 million Microsoft Corp. Xbox 360s, reports The Wall Street Journal.

"One of Us," a book by photojournalist Chris Usher detailing photos of life after Hurricane Katrina, is now available.

Photojournalist Chris Usher, a member of the White House Press Corps and freelance contributor to TIME, introduces "One of Us," a book that highlights the results of nearly three years of photographic fieldwork begun the day Hurricane Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29, 2005. To create the book Usher revisited the Gulf Coast region six times over three years and traveled across the country find displaced residents. The subjects include families, parents, siblings, children, as well as first responders, volunteers, and the media.

  "For the people of the Gulf Coast region, Katrina is just as devastating today as it was in 2005," said Usher. "Katrina was a cataclysmic disaster that forced hundreds of thousands of people to migrate across the country, or stay and suffer with little or no help. Many of those who left haven't returned and those who stayed continue to face unemployment and mortgages on uninhabitable or non-existent homes. This project documents, through survivors' stories, that the situation is still as real and as challenging as it was that very first day."

  Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, N.Y., enabled the digital on demand printing and an online ordering of "One of Us," facilitating the donation of book proceeds in partnership with ColorCentric, a Kodak Nexpress Digital Production Color Press customer. Through Kodak support, Usher will donate 100 percent of the profits from "One of Us" to the Gulf Coast Fund and the Southern Animal Foundation relief organizations that continue to provide post-Katrina aid and assistance in the Gulf Coast. "One of Us" is currently available online for $40 at www.chrisusher.com/news and through Kodak.

Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA), Tokyo, Japan, released the latest statistics of digital camera output and shipments in July, reports JPEA International PEN News Weekly. More than 8 million digital cameras were produced in July, most of which were 8 megapixels or higher. There were 814,000 SLR models produced, making up 9.6 percent of the production total. Shipments to Japanese domestic market for the month declined 2 percent to 811,000 units. DSLR shipments increased 30.5 percent from last year to 714,000 units.

  Shipments outside Japan increased 14 percent in unit numbers, but recorded a .2 percent fall in value. Shipments to Europe, North America, and Asia registered declined growth in value. Shipments of smaller digital photo printers in July increased 3.9 percent to 201,000 units. Total shipments of interchangeable lenses in July were favorable, and value retained a 4.2 percent gain. Total shipments for the January to July period increased 22.4 percent in unit and 31.3 percent in value, says PEN News Weekly.

According to a Chinese media report, sales of image capture devices in Beijing, China, heated up toward the opening the Beijing Olympics. Since the Olympic Games began on Aug. 8, digital cameras were selling at large-scale consumer electronics retailers at 4 times the rate in the previous year and 2.7 times the rate in the previous month, reports JPEA International PEN News Weekly.

Monday, September 01, 2008

In today's DIMAcast, Bill McCurry speaks with several photo retailers at the recent IPI meeting held in Aug. 10-13 in Las Vegas, Nev. Hear about the lowest cost and most effective advertising time of the year from Kirk Sidley of Picture Perfect in Portland, Ore. Neil Hoversten of Photo Imaging Center in Sheridan, Wyo., discusses how he's doing overnight, one-hour, and instant prints. Dave Evans of Stellhorn Custom Photo in Fort Wayne, Ind., shares a solution for when non-profit partners don't produce. Gaby Mullinax of Fullerton Photo in Fullerton, Calif., provides an update on Girls Night Out. Additionally, Bill Eklund of Sharp One Hour Photo in Eau Claire, Wis., talks about how his one-hour lab successfully added camera sales to the mix.

Spector Photo Group, Wetteren, Belgium, has released earnings results of the first half of 2008. The company reported revenue of euro 135 million (US$198 million), a 2.1 percent decrease from the euro 138 million (US$203 miillion) reported in 2007. Revenue from the Imaging Group was euro 33 million (US$48 million), a 10.1 percent drop from the euro 36 million (US$53 million) reported in 2007.

  Concerning the Imaging Group, mail order print demand rose 31 percent compared to 2007. New customers and new orders increased by 29 percent, and the number of photo books and photo calendars grew by 144 percent, says Spector.

Spector Group

In millions euro, US

	Six months ended
	June 2008		June 2007
Net revenue	euro 135	$198	euro 138	$203
Imaginge group net revenue	euro 33	$48	euro 36	$53

Events

Proud Galleries, London, United Kingdom, presents "Eltonography: A Life in Pictures," a photography exhibit beginning Sept. 24. and running indefinitely. The exhibit includes a collection of images of Sir Elton John from photographer Terry O'Neill's private archive, many of which have remained unpublished

until now. Specifically selected from a back catalogue of thousands, O'Neill's photographs document the life of the pop superstar. Launched to coincide with the release of a book by the same name, Eltonography will provide an exclusive first look at the publication,

which contains over 200 unique images.

  Proud Galleries Group was launched in 1998 by Alex Proud to bring affordable high quality photography to a mainstream market.

Lexmark International Inc., Lexington, Ky., announces a new Web toolbar that gives people more ways to block such unnecessary images from coming out of printers, saving ink and paper, reports The Associated Press.

  Lexmark's new free program brings several functions such as converting a web page into black and white for printing, extending the life of color ink cartridges. The web software also extends the "printer-friendly" features many sites offer. Often those printer-friendly versions still carry logos and other graphics; the Lexmark tools let users eliminate those as well.

  Lexmark has versions of the free software available for both Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer and Mozilla's Firefox browsers.The Firefox version offers more functions. Lexmark says Firefox users tend to be more technically advanced, and thus open to more customization. While the Internet Explorer tool lets you eliminate images, for instance, the Firefox version lets you remove forms, links and other elements, too, says the AP.

Picture Me Press LLC, Akron, Ohio, a market leader in innovative children's books, announced a collaboration with online photo service Snapfish by HP Co., allowing customized Picture Me books and gifts online using digital photos uploaded to Snapfish accounts.

  Picture Me also has confirmed an exclusive multi-year licensing agreement with photo processor District Photo, allowing the company to create and distribute Picture Me books and gifts to Snapfish and District's other customers.

  Snapfish customers can use their uploaded photos to insert children's faces into the story.  Picture Me will offer four 7-by-7-inch Picture Me titles, including "Cuddly as a Bunny," "Baby's Birthday," "Dinosaur Adventure," and "Cute as Can Bee" for $16.99 per book. 

  Picture Me Press was created in 1988 by Deborah D'Andrea, a school psychologist and educational specialist. Die-cut holes through the center of the books allow a face from a photo to complete the picture on each page.  

According to the 2008 PMA U.S. Camera/Camcorder Digital Imaging Survey, 19 percent of U.S. households uploaded pictures in a social network in 2007. The average number of pictures uploaded was 66. The Western regions of the United States are most likely to upload pictures to a social network with 22 percent of households doing so. In contrast to the other regions, however, they only upload an average of 50 pictures compared to much higher numbers in other regions.

  Not surprisingly, uploading pictures to social networks has a negative correlation with the age of the head of household. Fifty-nine percent of those under 30 years old uploaded to a social network in 2007, compared to only 5 percent of those 60 years and over. Those under 30 years old also upload an average of 91 pictures, more than any other age segment. Households falling in the middle income ranges are more likely than their younger and older counterparts to upload pictures to social networks. Those earning between $50,000 and $75,000 upload the largest number of pictures (92 pictures) on average.

  Females living with no husband, child, or other relative present are most likely to upload pictures to a social network with 36 percent doing so. Males living alone are the least likely candidate with only 9 percent uploading to social networks. Having children, especially young children under 6 years old, increases the probability of uploading pictures to social networks. Those with children under 6 are also most likely to upload larger quantities of pictures. Finally, high-speed internet users are more likely than average to upload to social networks and those without high-speed internet are much less likely.

  For comments and questions please visit the Marketing Research blog PMA Foresight.

-- By Kristy Clairmont

PMA Marketing Research Analyst

About Us | Site Map  | Contact Us | Privacy Statement
©2008 PMA. All Rights Reserved.