Digital Camera News

August 02, 2006

Kodak Elects New Vice President to Head IP

August 2, 2006 – Following yesterday’s announcement that the company will end digital camera production, the Board of Directors at Eastman Kodak Co. announced its election of new company vice president Laura Quatela, to become effective immediately.

The election comes after Kodak’s statement that it will turn over digital camera manufacturing and distribution to Singapore-based Flextronics International Ltd, while Kodak maintains design copyrights to the products. Kodak, who created the first mass consumer camera in 1900, ended film camera manufacturing two years ago and ended digital camera manufacturing just yesterday.

Quatela joined Kodak in 1999 in the company’s legal department with a background in defense litigation and mass tort. As part of her new duties, Quatela will serve as Director of Intellectual Property Transitions. The new vice president will be responsible for cross-licensing, royalty negotiations, and intellectual property estimations.

Kodak History - Timeline
(Information courtesy of www.kodak.com)

● 1880 – Founder George Eastman establishes the company, leasing a third-story loft of a Rochester office building. Eastman commercially manufactures glass dry plates priced at $125 each.

● 1885 – Eastman produces Eastman American Film, the first lightweight, photo-sensitive film on a roll.

● 1888 – Eastman introduces the first Kodak camera with the slogan, "You press the button; we do the rest." The camera was equipped with film of 100 exposures. It was priced at $25. For ten more dollars, the entire camera was sent to Rochester for film processing.

● 1892 - This year marks the birth the company name Eastman Kodak Co. of NY, devised simply because of Eastman’s affinity for the letter "K."

● 1900 - Kodak launches the first mass-produced consumer Brownie camera retailed at $1 a piece. By this year, Kodak cameras are distributed in England, France, German, Italy, and other parts of Europe.

● 1935 - Kodachrome color film is invented. The film came in 35mm slides and 16mm and 8mm for movies.

● WWII – Kodak creates a microfilm Victory Mail, otherwise known as V-mail, to film-copy original letters to soldiers and save shipping space.

● 1963 - Kodak creates Instamatic cameras for easy film-loading

● 1969 - Partnered with NASA, Kodak supplies color cameras for the first walk on the moon, the Apollo 11 mission. Astronauts photograph lunar soil, rock, and dust.

● 1991 - Kodak introduces its first digital camera, the Professional Digital Camera System (DCS) with a 1.3 megapixel sensor.

● 1995 - Kodak goes online with its website, www.kodak.com.

● 1997 - Kodak supplies sensors on the Mars Rover, NASA’s exploratory pathfinder.

● 2001 - Kodak unveils the Kodak EasyShare product line of digital cameras and docks.

● 2004 - Kodak stops manufacturing film cameras.

● 2006 - Kodak announces the company will no longer manufacture digital cameras.