Memolio which is photo website has launched a range of photo albums that are not only compact but also crumple & tear resistant. One can upload up to 24 images at a time, choose the theme color, save the albums and the print them out for around 15 GBP which includes worldwide shipping. You can check out the video demo here.
Ritz Camera Center which is the largest specialty camera and image products and accessories retailer in the United States will close more than 300 stores because of court-supervised bankruptcy reorganization. According to the company’s press release retail inventory valued at more than $50 million will be liquidated at the stores that shutting down.
LaCie, the French manufacturer of external storage devices and online storage provider Wuala have entered into a new business merger. The merger aims at revolutionizing the storage industry by building a unique and sustainable cloud storage service.
“We’re very proud to announce that we join forces with LaCie,” says Dominik Grolimund, co-founder and CEO of Caleido AG. “This is a major leap forward for Wuala and will bring us to the next level. LaCie is the perfect match for us. Together we will realize the vision we embarked on more than four years ago while researching the basics of Wuala at the ETH Zurich: to build a reliable and secure cloud storage by integrating millions of devices around the world.”
The nightmare continues for businesses all over the world. Due to the global recession, Hoya which has merged with Pentax will cut the Japanese workforce in its digital camera operations to less than 400 employees from the current 800. According to the financial daily Nikkei:"It has yet to decide how many of the roughly 300 targeted employees will be let go,"
Kodak and Photobucket have teamed up to make photo sharing more intuitive and fun. Photobucket users can now use Kodak Gallery products to create personalized photo gifts and prints. Products range in price from $0.15 for prints to $22.99 for large posters and can be shipped around the globe. To sign up for a free Photobucket account, visit http://photobucket.com.
ExposureManager, has announced new features for their web service, BuyThisImage! Now photographers and artists can choose how to fulfill all print orders and choices include fulfillment (print and shipping for a nominal fee) through BuyThisImage! or self-fulfillment, which allows users to sell a print and take care of printing and shipping themselves (or use another lab). One can also sell digital products like screensaver files, pdf documents, etc. Check the service at http://www.buythisimage.com/
Nikon UK has once again hiked up their prices and like before, blame the currency fluctuation and the weakening of the Sterling. The hike will affect Nikon’s Imaging and Optics products however the COOLPIX series and selected digital SLRs will not see an increase. An updated Recommended Retail Price (RRP) list will be available to view at http://www.nikon.co.uk from 1st March 2009.
Pentax has announced a significant price drop on their K Series. The PENTAX K20D digital SLR body alone and all other K20D body and lens configurations will have an in-store instant $100.00 Consumer Rebate. PENTAX is also extending the K20D FREE Three Year Warranty (one year standard, two years extended) on all K20Ds purchased by March 31, 2009.
The new prices:
* PENTAX K2000 two lens kit (PENTAX K2000 body, smc PENTAX DA L 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL lens, and an smc PENTAX DA L 50-200mm F4-5.6 AL lens) will be $649.95.
* PENTAX K2000 single lens kit (PENTAX K2000 body, smc PENTAX DA L 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL lens) will be $549.95.
* PENTAX K2000 body only is $499.95.
Expect a price hike on all Sigma UK products from 1st February onwards. Citing “currency fluctuations” and the devaluation of £ Sterling against the Yen by 40% as the main reasons, the company said it has no choice. Things may get back to normal when the UK pound makes a recovery against foreign currencies.
Camera & Imaging Products Association or the CIPA have released a very interesting camera shipment forecast for the period 2009-2011. The report can be read here (pdf) and below are some highlights:
Forecast for 2009:
“In terms of the breakdown in shipments by product type, the forecast anticipates shipments of interchangeable lens digital SLR cameras increasing by approximately 660,000 units to 10,349,000 units (a year-on-year increase of 6.8%) and shipments of digital cameras with built-in lens declining by approximately 1,450,000 units to 108,622,000 units (a year-on-year decrease of 1.3%).”
The imaging industry has also been hit by the global economic crisis. Japan's Canon Inc admitted that in the year 2009, the company’s target for digital camera sales is 23.9 million units, which is 7 percent down from 25.6 million units in 2008. Canon also admitted that the company is undecided on its dividend forecast for 2009.
According to a press released by Epson, their stand (C10) at will be 50% larger than 2008 and will also include a presentation theatre seating forty. The presentation programme will start by 10.15 every morning, with a presentation every hour. The last presentation will be on 17.15 on Sunday – Tuesday and at 16.15 on Wednesday. Each presentation will last 30 minutes with an additional 15 minutes for questions and answers.
If you were planning to buy a Nikon product anytime soon in the UK then be prepared for a price hike. Due to “volatile exchange rate conditions”, Nikon UK has jacked up the prices of all Nikon products including the Nikon D300 (£1279.99), and the D3x (£5999.99).
SanDisk and Sony Corporation announced the joint development of two expanded formats that will the determine flash memory landscape for years to come. Memory Stick format for Extended High Capacity expands the Memory Stick PRO format series to achieve a maximum storage capacity of 2-terabytes while the "Memory Stick HG Micro" format enables a maximum data-transfer speed of 60 megabytes per second (MB/s).
BuyThisImage is a new free web service that gives one the chance to create online revenue from their photographs, illustrations and artwork. A brainchild of ExposureManager, BuyThisImage! is a widget, which is compatible with all popular web browsers. Pricing for the images and items for sale are pre-loaded at suggested retail prices and can be adjusted too. One can create a free account on http://www.buythisimage.com.
Polaroid Corp will be filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection which doesn’t surprise us, in this time of economic recession. The company wants to restructure its finances and is also investigating its parent company, Petters Group Worldwide for fraud!
"Our operations are strong and during this process Polaroid will ship products to our retail partners, work with our suppliers and contract manufacturers to fulfill retailer demand." said Mary L. Jeffries, Polaroid chief executive officer.
Tsuneji Uchida, president of Canon Inc predicted the shrinking of the digital camera market in 2009. In an interview to Reuters, Uchida admitted that the global economic recession had harmed sales of DSLRs.
"We hope we will see the same level of demand next year as this year," Uchida said in an interview conducted on Friday and embargoed from publication until Tuesday. "Whether or not that will become reality is up to economic conditions."
Canon has updated their website to provide more information on the recent rebate controversy. Canon has now made arrangements for rebate checks to be honored despite CPG's bankruptcy. Canon has identified the affected customers and is now in the process of sending replacement checks. For more information head over to the Canon website.
Canon USA has released a press statement regarding the bankruptcy filing of CPG, a company responsible for processing rebate claims and issues checks to Canon customers. The statement instructs Canon users on what steps to take and can be read here.
Some excerpts from the statement:
* "If you are holding or receive a rebate check for printer or video products which is dated on or before November 14, 2008, please do not cash the check, as it may bounce. Please look for updated postings on the Canon U.S.A. website on or about November 21, 2008 for further instruction on how to exchange your check for a new check that you will be able to cash.
* If you have not yet mailed in your rebate claim materials, please hold such materials until you receive further instruction. We are making new processing arrangements, with a new mail-in address. Please look for updated postings on the Canon U.S.A. website on or about November 21, 2008 for further instruction on where to mail your rebate claim material and how to exchange your check for a new check that you will be able to cash."
In a press release, Sigma Corporation announced its acquisition of Foveon Inc. which had developed the original three-layer image sensor. Foveon will continue its sensor development operations in San Jose, CA, USA. Interestingly, Foveon had supplied their technology to Sigma and all Sigma digital products are equipped with Foveon image sensors.
Geotate will combine their Yuma and Kato geotagging software with SiGe’s SE4120 GPS radio chip to achieve high-accuracy and affordable navigation in portable devices. With geotagging, camera users can automatically add geographical identification to their photos using GPS data. The combined Geotate/SiGe Semiconductor solution will be available in Q4 2008, priced at approximately $5 for a complete BoM in volume. For more information, visit http://www.geotate.com.
The recently announced Photo Print Services portfolio by Canon seeks to help commercial, print-for-pay printers and professional photographers. Photo Print Services portfolio includes Canon's imagePRESS range of digital colour printers and imagePROGRAF large format printers. The basic aim of this service is to generate extra revenues through the sale of photobooks, calendars, greeting cards, signs and posters.
Mark Lawn, Canon European Marketing Manager said: "The addition of Photo Print Services offerings to our portfolio is another significant milestone for Canon as we continue to combine state-of-the-art technologies with leading software solutions. We have built on the success of our Path to Profit initiative, introduced at drupa 2008, enhancing our compelling value proposition and helping Print Service Providers grow their businesses through new digital print services.
The PhotoShelter Collection, which is a stock photography marketplace, will shut down operations October 10, 2008. Offering a 70/30-revenue split, PhotoShelter was targeted at the professional photographer and prospective buyers. However the PhotoShelter Personal Archive will continue to be platform for photographers to license their images.
"We have typically used the blog to inspire and congratulate. Today is atypical," wrote PhotoShelter CEO Allen Murabayashi in today's blog entry announcing the stock photography site would close on Oct. 10. "We knew that sales would be challenging, but we honestly underestimated the complexity of sales," he noted.
Canon Inc. recently announced its decision to construct new production facilities with the aim of expanding production of interchangeable EF lenses for single-lens reflex cameras. Construction of the new facilities is scheduled to begin in September 2008 with the expanded production operations expected to commence in July 2009.
Overview of Expansion Plans
1. Name: Canon Inc., Taiwan 2. Location: Taichung Hsien, Taichung Export Processing Zone, Taiwan 3. Representative: Kenji Yoshida, President 4. Business activities: Production of EF lenses for SLR cameras 5. Employees: approx. 2,400 (as of August 2008) 6. Capital: NT$800 million 7. Establishment: June 1970 8. Land area: approx. 20,365 sq. meters 9. Total floor area: Expansion area: 13,744 sq. meters (Total: 59,276 sq. meters) 10. Planned staff increase: approx. 600 (by 2009) 11. Investment: approx. ¥2 billion 12. Start of construction: September 2008 12. Start of production: July 2009 (tentative)
Canon in a press release announced that they have shipped their 100 millionth digital compact camera. The imaging giants from 1996 have delivered a total of 106 models Compact digital camera models (including regional models) as of August 5, 2008 around the world and some of their more popular models were; Digital IXUS I, PowerShot A70 and PowerShot S5 IS.
“We are delighted to reach such a landmark number in camera production,” said Mogens Jensen, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging, Europe. “Canon pledges to continue searching for new technologies, and new designs, that let everyone capture their most precious moments.”
On data based on Futuresource Consulting’s weekly price tracker system, the average selling price (ASP) of Digital SLR cameras across EMEA has witnessed a decline of 1.6% (20 Euros) in the past ten weeks.
Here are some excerpts from the company’s press release:
“Our price tracking system shows that some of the largest decreases in ASP appear in the 6-7MP pixel segment,” says Adam Cox of Futuresource Consulting. “This group has seen a decline of nearly 8%, just short of 50 Euros, over the past 10 weeks.
“With most newly-launched DSLRs occupying the 10MP segment, which is experiencing relatively slow price erosion, older models such as the 6.1MP Nikon D40 are remaining price competitive. In fact, over the past 10 weeks this particular model’s ASP has decreased by more than 7%.”
Samsung just got the stamp of approval from Russia’s Energia , which for the uninitiated is an organization that developed the Soyuz spacecraft and the international space station.
2 Samsung Techwin cameras including 1 DSLR camera and 1 NV camera plus batteries, etc. will be flying on the Soyuz spacecraft on April 8th and will delivered to the Korean astronaut Soyeon Lee as well as Russian scientists. The astronauts will test the cameras capabilities in outerspace (talk about pressure) and will undergo rigorous quality testing.
A Samsung Techwin representative said, “On a historic day when a Korean takes flight into space for the first time, our company is proud that our technology is providing the first Korean digital camera in space. It means that we are letting the world know we have the best technology in the digital camera field. Henceforth Samsung Techwin will continue to develop world-class products for the space age, and we will look to capture more of the global market.”
According to IDC, Canon still rules the roost when it comes to sales of digital cameras and dSLR growth reached 41 percent as shipments climbed to 7.5 million units. Here are some highlights 2007 Worldwide Digital Camera Market Share Review Report:
Global shipments of digital still cameras including dSLRs reached 131 million units in 2007, driven by strong dSLR shipments and strong growth in the U.S., Eastern Europe, parts of Asia and Latin America. This represents a 24 percent growth rate, stronger than the 15 percent growth experienced in 2006.
dSLR growth reached 41 percent as shipments climbed to 7.5 million units. Canon was again number 1 with share of 43 percent, yet lost another 4 points on top of the 5 points the firm lost in 2005. Nikon was second with share of 40 percent, gaining 7 points from 2005. Sony again placed third, with a share of 6 percent, unchanged from 2005. Olympus, despite having a broader product lineup, failed to make it out of 4th place with a share of 6 percent, just behind Sony.
Sony continued to make inroads after bottoming out in 2005 and saw its total digital camera share maintained at 16 percent, on shipments of 20.1 million units. Kodak had a strong showing in 2007, maintaining its third place ranking and despite the onslaught from Samsung, which came in fourth with 10 percent share on shipments of 12.6 million units.
The Nikkei English News is reporting that the Tokyo-based company Canon plans to increase its digital camera production and laser printers in China and Vietnam to meet increased demand in emerging markets.
Canon aims to double its production of digital cameras in China and hope to achieve a goal of 10 million units a year by 2009. If everything falls in its place then Canon will boost its worldwide digital camera production capability by 20 percent.
Memolio which is photo website has launched a range of photo albums that are not only compact but also crumple & tear resistant. One can upload up to 24 images at a time, choose the theme color, save the albums and the print them out for around 15 GBP which includes worldwide shipping. You can check out the video demo .png){kind=small}
Ritz Camera Center
LaCie, the French manufacturer of external storage devices and online storage provider 
The nightmare continues for businesses all over the world. Due to the global recession, Hoya which has merged with Pentax will cut the Japanese workforce in its digital camera operations to less than 400 employees from the current 800. According to the financial daily Nikkei:"It has yet to decide how many of the roughly 300 targeted employees will be let go,"
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Polaroid Corp will be filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection which doesn’t surprise us, in this time of economic recession. The company wants to restructure its finances and is also investigating its parent company, Petters Group Worldwide for fraud!
Tsuneji Uchida, president of Canon Inc predicted the shrinking of the digital camera market in 2009. In an interview to .gif)
Geotate will combine their Yuma and Kato geotagging software with SiGe’s SE4120 GPS radio chip to achieve high-accuracy and affordable navigation in portable devices. With geotagging, camera users can automatically add geographical identification to their photos using GPS data. The combined Geotate/SiGe Semiconductor solution will be available in Q4 2008, priced at approximately $5 for a complete BoM in volume. For more information, visit 
The PhotoShelter Collection
Canon in a press release announced that they have shipped their 100 millionth digital compact camera. The imaging giants from 1996 have delivered a total of 106 models Compact digital camera models (including regional models) as of August 5, 2008 around the world and some of their more popular models were; Digital IXUS I, PowerShot A70 and PowerShot S5 IS.
Samsung
According to IDC, Canon still rules the roost when it comes to sales of digital cameras and dSLR growth reached 41 percent as shipments climbed to 7.5 million units. Here are some highlights 2007 Worldwide Digital Camera Market Share Review Report:
