Kodak - Easy share Z650 Digital Camera Review

CHICAGO-- (BUSINESS WIRE)--June 3, 1996--(COMDEX)--People soon will find it easier to work with photographic-quality images and share them on their home computers, using future products based on a new imaging architecture developed collaboratively by Eastman Kodak Company, Hewlett-Packard Company, Live Picture Inc. and Microsoft Corp. The four companies introduced the Flagship architecture here at COMDEX.

The Flagship announcement described an open industry standard for digital imaging, with a new image file format as its centerpiece that uses Microsoft's OLE structured storage. Kodak today published information about the new format on-line on its home page, and announced those final specifications; developer toolkits and interoperability test suites will be available in the fall for WINDOWS and MACINTOSH platforms.

When they were working the photographic quality image on computers and sharing them across the Internet, and other networks. It was easy and practical as working with text," Robert said interfering with the resident, Digital applied image division and vice president, Kodak.

"This new architecture serves as an excellent complement to the Photo CD industry standard," Interferer explained. "The Photo CD system remains an ideal solution for storing and archiving photographic images, while the Flagship architecture is designed for using and sharing digital images of all types on computers and across networks."

Development Plans

All four collaborating companies said they plan to develop products based on the new Flagship imaging architecture. Together the products will provide complete solutions for end-users to input, use and output pictures in fun and creative ways.

Kodak, for example, announced that it is developing and enabling both input products that capture and save Flagship images and output products and services that take advantage of the new digital imaging paradigm. The company said it will build Flagship format support into its digital imaging products over time, including products that will take advantage of the new Advanced Photo System photographic format announced earlier this year.

"By combining the features of the new Flagship architecture with other Kodak technologies--in 4image capture and color management, for example--we will be able to develop even more and better digital products than ever," Interferer said.

Hewlett-Packard Company. "Customers are increasingly incorporating photographic images into their documents and printing them, enabled by powerful multimedia PCs and color inkjet printers," said Antonio Perez, HP vice president and general manager of the company's Inkjet Products Group. "Systems like Hip's DeskJet color inkjet printers, ink and special media produce exceptional quality output, for instance, helping to create what is a fundamentally new application--PC photography.

"HP believes PC photography users will require task-oriented input and output devices and software that allow people to easily acquire, manipulate and print pictures," Perez said. "Flagship as a standard will enable the successful development of a consumer PC photography market."

Live Picture Inc. "Live Picture Inc. will integrate Flagship technology into our complete line of professional imaging products," said Robert Bloomberg, senior vice president of Products and Engineering for Live Picture. "In addition, we will announce this summer a consumer product that fully optimizes the Flagship format and blows the doors off what consumers can do with pictures on their computers."

Microsoft Corp. "the Flagship format is yet another example of a technology that immediately brings the benefits of OLE to users and software developers. More and more we are finding that Microsoft's investment in building great infrastructure is paying off for customers in new and innovative technologies," said Jim All chin, senior vice president of the Desktop and Business Systems Division, Microsoft. "Because the Flagship format uses OLE Structured Storage, there will be a fundamentally enhanced experience for Internet users viewing and managing images."

Other leading companies--including Accuse, Apple, Broderbund Software, Canon, Corel, Fuji, IBM, Intel, Macromedia, Megatons, Object Design, Picture Works and Storm Primal--have announced their intent to support Flagship technology, and some are expected to introduce products that support the new architecture by the end of the year.

New Products, Services

Designed to offer a complete solution for convenient digital imaging, the Flagship architecture overcomes many of the obstacles that currently limit digital imaging to graphics professionals and computer "power users." Using high- quality images typically requires large digital files in active memory, which make imaging a slow and cumbersome process on typical computers. New users are faced with a dizzying array of resolution and formatting decisions in order to determine what digital imaging representation will work best for a given application. Output results are often unpredictable and disappointing for novice users.