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Blurb Boosts Book Sales with Online Sharing

April 26, 2010 By

Photo book-making service Blurb beta tested a new online sharing tool — and reports its authors experienced six times more visits to their bookstore pages — and an 88 percent increase in book sales compared to a control group.

The San Francisco, Calif., company’s new BookShow shares books “in an experiential format” designed to maximize the potential for online sharing, via email, blog, Facebook or Twitter pages — and to maximize sales, with a “Buy” button that directs viewers to the author’s personal bookstore page at Blurb.com.

BookShow is free to use, and does not necessarily distribute an entire volume: Blurb users control how much of their books to share. BookShow is also optimized for Apple’s iPad, Blurb says.

An example of the Blurb BookShow widget is here.

Filed Under: Industry Tagged With: ,

HP “Prints” in 3D — Solid Plastic Models

April 26, 2010 By

“There are millions of 3D designers using 2D printers who are ready to bring their designs to life in 3D,” HP says — and so the leading 2D printer company partnered with the leading solid 3D print maker to release HP-branded Designjet 3D systems in Europe.

That partner company is Stratasys. It says product designers, engineers, and architects working with computer aided design use 3D printers to produce a tangible 3D model from plastic or other material to verify the form, fit, and function of designs prior to committing them to production or construction.

Stratasys says its Fused Deposition Modeling creates three-dimensional plastic models directly from a CAD file by extruding semi-molten plastic in thin layers to “grow” the part, layer by layer — known generically as “additive fabrication.”

Stratasys introduced its first compact system co-developed with IBM in the mid 1990s, and says it now has more than 50 percent of the 3D printer market.

Stratasys is based in Minneapolis. Its RedEye On Demand service provides prototyping and production online. The company claims more than 280 granted or pending additive fabrication patents globally.

Pricing for the HP-branded models starts at around $17,500.

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Render 3D Objects in Photo-Like Realism

April 26, 2010 By

Engineers will be able to easily take their 3D designs and turn them into photographic-like images within minutes, thanks to a new partnership.

SpaceClaim has integrated Luxion ApS’ KeyShot Photographic Rendering into its 3D direct modeling solutions.

KeyShot is an interactive raytracing and global illumination program that “acts like a digital camera” and works with any 3D digital data.

Luxion specializes in computer-based lighting simulations, with expertise in daylighting (atmospheric scattering), light scattering by materials, light transport algorithms such as photon mapping, and realtime rendering technology for precisely calculating the scattering of light in complex 3D environments.

SpaceClaim provides 3D software for concept modeling and simulation-driven product development.

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Animate in 3D

April 26, 2010 By

Toon Boom added 3D stereoscopic capability to its animation software.

With Toon Boom Animate Pro 2, the company says, animators manipulate a virtual multiplane camera with full 3D rotation and have left and right cameras set from different points of view to achieve 3D stereoscopic results.

In either 2D or 3D, the $1800 software combines vector animation with textured pixel mapping.

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Fisheye Lens Security Cam Sees All

April 26, 2010 By

Traditional door cameras often only record visitors when they are standing directly in front of the lens, says Mobotix. The company’s new T2’s fisheye lens, on the other hand, “captures a 360-degree image of the entire entrance area without any blind spots, from wall to wall, floor to ceiling.”

The integrated image software corrects the live view on the remote video station for a normal appearance that can be tilted, panned or zoomed.

The T24 IP Video Door Station with hemispheric lens “offers a solution that has never been available to the market until now,” the company says. The system is also IP-enabled, and when the doorbell rings, a connection is established with a VoIP videophone or a standard computer.

The company is headquartered in Langmeil, Germany, and was founded in 1999.

Filed Under: Cameras Tagged With: ,

Cooliris enhances 3D viewer for online photos

April 26, 2010 By

More than 400 new “3D Walls” per day now immerse visitors within the visual content, claims an online photo sharing developer.

Cooliris is a web tool for showcasing photos and video in a simulated 3D view — and the company says customers have created more than 45,000 of its “Walls” in less than five months, and publishers typically see “a five to six time increase in engagement on their web pages,” the company says.

Cooliris has now added support for comScore and Google Analytics to more precisely measure those views, and users can also now update and add content to existing walls; the changes are reflected wherever the walls are posted, including Facebook and Twitter.

Cooliris says its embeddable “Walls” provide “a completely new visual environment that makes browsing, searching, viewing, and sharing high-quality visual content faster and easier. Users can scroll easily and intuitively through hundreds of images and videos in seconds and select content to view on the same page with just one click.”

Filed Under: Mobile & Internet Tagged With: , ,

Samsung Speeds Flash Storage

April 26, 2010 By

Samsung Electronics is now sampling 20 nanometer NAND chips which its says are substantially faster then previous generations of Flash storage used in camera cards.

“The new 20nm-class NAND is not only a significant step forward in process design,” the company says, “but we have incorporated advanced technologies into it to enable substantial performance innovation.”

As compared to 30nm-class MLC NAND — itself developed just a year ago — the write performance of a 20nm-class-based, eight gigabyte and higher density SD cards is 30 percent faster: a read speed of 20MB/s, and a write speed of 10MB/s.

Filed Under: Components Tagged With: ,

Wavelets Sharpen Photoshop Images

April 26, 2010 By

Technology for “Edge Avoiding Wavelets” is in the improved new Sharpen Tool in Photoshop CS5 and its ‘Protect Detail’ feature — technology licensed from Yissum Research Development in Jerusalem, Israel.

The company, the technology transfer arm of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, reports it signed a non-exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with Adobe Systems.

The new technology provides better and faster detail enhancement and preserves edges when sharpening, Yissum claims, and avoids pixels from both sides of an edge, thus achieving a sharper image that is free of the unwanted “halos” that other sharpening techniques can produce.

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Japanese Police Armed with 6,000 Sony Printers

April 26, 2010 By

The Japanese National Police are using printers to document crime scenes, chronicle evidence, and build criminal cases, all using high-resolution prints, Sony says.

Japan’s police department has installed more than 6,000 SnapLab digital photo printers, according to the Sony. Each police precinct location will have at least one of the UPCR10L printers.

The photos “can be used for investigation of criminal cases, and ultimately as prosecution evidence at criminal trials,” Sony says.

With digital on-site printing, Sony says, the organization can instantly print photos the exact files and quantities needed on demand. Digital photo technology also saves time at a crime scene, allowing investigative teams to view and share images immediately, without waiting for film prints to be processed.

The Sony SnapLab features an LCD, and inputs for most digital media. It has a list price of $1,670.

Filed Under: Industry Tagged With: ,

Apple Counter-sues Kodak for Patent Infringement

April 26, 2010 By

Apple has filed a countersuit against Kodak in regards to imaging patents used in its iPhone.

Apple claims many of Kodak’s consumer-grade cameras infringe patents for using a “unified memory architecture to implement a digital camera device,” and “modular digital image processing via an image processing chain with modifiable parameter controls.”

Apple claims Kodak “derives substantial revenue from the sale of infringing products distributed…” and “has knowingly induced, and continues to knowingly induce, infringement…”

As many business watchers have observed, such counter-suits are often a tactic towards negotiating settlements, rather than court battles.

In January this year, Kodak alleged patent infringement by Apple and Research In Motion, saying camera phones infringe Kodak digital imaging technology.

Kodak filed its complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), claiming Apple iPhones and RIM camera-enabled BlackBerry devices infringe a Kodak patent that covers technology related to a method for previewing images.

Separately, Kodak filed suit against Apple that alleged infringement of two patents generally covering image preview and the processing of images of different resolutions.

Kodak said it has “had discussions for years with both companies in an attempt to resolve this issue amicably, and we have not been able to reach a satisfactory agreement.”

Apple is also currently involved in patent suits with Nokia, and filed to block import of Nokia phones into the United States.

Filed Under: Industry, Mobile & Internet Tagged With: , , ,

Picaboo Updates Book Software

April 26, 2010 By

Photo book software maker Picaboo says it improved new release “delivers unprecedented ease-of-use and creative control to the customer.

Picaboo X, for PC and Mac, has more than 240 pre-designed customizable layouts with which the user can add, resize, rotate or move photos and captions anywhere on the page.

Picaboo is based in Palo Alto, California.

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ACD Updates Photo Manager

April 26, 2010 By

Social networking meets organization in its latest photo manager, says ACD Systems.

The $70 ACDSee Photo Manager 12’s refined interface “helps users navigate between organizing, viewing, editing and sharing photos,” the company says. It comes with a free 2GB account on ACDSeeOnline.com, as well as social networking sharing tools and one-click tagging capabilities.

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Zoran to Enhance Printers with Inferno

April 26, 2010 By

With new Linux-based firmware, hardware manufacturers can easily integrate new technologies, advance features, and improve performance in printers, multi-function printers and scanners.
Original equipment manufacturers use closed, proprietary environments, Zoran says, but its new Inferno, using the open source Embedded Linux environment, can provide a richer selection of features, applications and tools for developing next-generation hardware.
Zoran adds its developed a tiered print engine driver with a real-time layer that runs on the Quatro’s flexRISC cores, and a thin interface layer that runs in the Linux kernel, boosting real-time accuracy and keeping OEMs’ proprietary code separated from the open source Linux kernel.
Zoran is based in Sunnyvale, Calif.

Filed Under: Components Tagged With:

6Sight Report

April 19, 2010 By

 Often described as “the Wall Street Journal of the imaging industry”, the 6Sight Executive Information Service is a continuous information service designed for industry executives, entrepreneurs and investors. It includes both a weekly and a monthly component:
The 6Sight Report, a monthly 16-page publication considered required reading for executives in the digital imaging industry since 1993. The 6Sight Report features trends analysis, market research reports, exclusive conversations with industry leaders, information on high-level job openings and major transitions at imaging companies. 
    The 6Sight Weekly Briefing, a concise executive briefing covering the week’s most important news in the Digital Imaging Industry. The 6Sight Weekly Briefing focuses on four key areas: Internet Imaging – services, alliances, tools, leading edge applications; Digital Cameras – the latest product and marketing news; Digital Camera Components and Architectures – what’s happening in sensors, processors, removable media, file formats and more; Industry Updates – significant developments in other industry areas, from printers to scanners to application software.

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Your trial program will consist of two issues of the 6Sight Report and eight weeks of the 6Sight Weekly Briefing. You will also receive information on special reports and the 6Sight Conference.

2yr Subscription
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Site Licenses
Contact James Byles for information on site license subscriptions for companies with large employee distribution.

Press and Media
Contact Tom Crawford for information on a complimentary subscription for members of the press.

Filed Under: Cameras

TESSERA LICENSES OPTIML FOCUS TECHNOLOGY TO AZUREWAVE

April 19, 2010 By

AzureWave Technologies licensed Tessera Technologies OptiML Focus image enhancement solution, which provides automatic focus capabilities in camera-enabled devices with no moving parts.
  AzureWave, based in Taiwan, will integrate the technology into its camera modules for laptop computers, webcams, phones, and other camera-enabled devices.
  San Jose, Calif.-based Tessera says its OptiML Focus image enhancement solution “enables all objects in an image to be in focus simultaneously, for the entire depth of field, with no mechanical parts.” Current autofocus solutions require moving parts, which are larger, slower, more expensive, and less reliable, the company says. It offers 3x zoom capabilities.

Filed Under: Components

SANDISK SHIPS 32GB MICROSDHC CARD

April 19, 2010 By

SanDisk is shipping what it says is the highest-capacity removable memory card for mobile phones – the 32GB microSDHC card, priced at $200.
  “With the large volume of photos, videos, and music consumers create and carry around, a high-capacity memory card is a must-have component of smart phones today,” the company says.

Filed Under: Components

EYE-FI DOUBLES SPEED AND CAPACITY

April 19, 2010 By

“Uploading and sharing your memories with friends and families are as simple as finding a nearby Starbucks and turning on your camera,” says Eye-Fi. “We do the rest.”
  The Mountain View, Calif.-based company says its latest wireless memory cards provide “faster-than-ever wireless photo and video uploads, improved performance, and virtually endless storage capacity.” Prices range from $50 to $150.
  Eye-Fi has also more than doubled its hotspot upload locations to more than 21,000 hotspots in the United States, including 6,500 Starbucks coffeehouses and BP gas stations.

Filed Under: Components

ALTASENS DOUBLES SENSOR SENSITIVITY

April 19, 2010 By

AltaSens <http://pma.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT03Mzg2ODgmcD0xJnU9MTAwMzkzNDk0MyZsaT0yODIxODEw/index.html> , Westlake Village, Calif., claims the first one-third inch 1080p sensor with “uncompromised” low-light performance, thanks to a patent-pending technique of dual exposures in a single frame to create more than 100dB of wide dynamic range.
  In the A3372E3-4T WDR, each exposure is independently adjustable to light levels in any scene, capturing the widest dynamic range, the company says. Single-frame dual exposures eliminate the need for a dedicated frame buffer in the camera and provide the smoothest motion video, devoid of motion artifacts.
  As a result, exposure latitude is boosted by several f-stops, while the sensor provides an industry-leading frame rate up to 60 frames per second, the company says. Under the low-light conditions commonly found in security applications, uncompromised full 1080p HD is achieved by maximizing each pixel exposure against the wide dynamic range of the sensor.

Filed Under: Components

SUGARSYNC SHARES OPENLY

April 19, 2010 By

It’s a “new, open era for SugarSync <http://pma.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT03Mzg2ODgmcD0xJnU9MTAwMzkzNDk0MyZsaT0yODIxODA5/index.html> ,” the company says, as it offers a beta open API, enabling third-party developers to leverage its cloud infrastructure and synchronization, backup, and sharing platform.
  The SugarSync service lets users organize, manage, share, and access all their files – including photos – instantly and securely from any Mac, PC, or mobile device.
  The company, founded in 2004, is headquartered in San Mateo, Calif.

Filed Under: Mobile & Internet

HP SNAPFISH OPENS API

April 19, 2010 By

The HP Snapfish online photo service will open its application programming interface (API).
  The company says its Snapfish Publisher <http://pma.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT03Mzg2ODgmcD0xJnU9MTAwMzkzNDk0MyZsaT0yODIxODA4/index.html>  initiative “will allow designers, developers, and printing partners to reach more than 85 million registered users through the worldwide Snapfish network.” It will serve as a platform for individuals and companies to market and sell their creative designs, merchandise, and services, HP says. “This enables content contributors, as well as Snapfish, to capture a greater share of the more than $1 billion market for online photo ordering projected in the United States this year, of which more than 60 percent will consist of photo merchandise.”
  Snapfish Publisher officially launches this summer.
  Snapfish notes it started “10 years and 10 billion printed images” ago.

Filed Under: Mobile & Internet

PHOTOBUCKET GETS THE PICTURE ON APPLE iPAD

April 19, 2010 By

“The iPad is a great platform for our users,” says Denver, Colo.-based Photobucket. “Photo lovers will enjoy the 9.7-inch high-resolution screen with a rich imaging experience that takes full advantage of the Apple storied user interface. Photobucket for iPad <http://pma.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT03Mzg2ODgmcD0xJnU9MTAwMzkzNDk0MyZsaT0yODIxODA3/index.html>  is a perfect fit.”
  The new Photobucket for iPad free application lets users manage their albums, share photos, search the Photobucket library, and view albums as slide shows.

Filed Under: Mobile & Internet

MOTOROLA GETS RUGGED

April 19, 2010 By

The Motorola i1 Android phone meets military specifications for protection against dust, shock, vibration, and rain. Carried by Sprint, it has a 5-megapixel camera with flash and geo-tagging, and a 3.1-inch touch screen.

Filed Under: Mobile & Internet

SAMSUNG AUGMENTS AND IMMERSES

April 19, 2010 By

Samsung Electronics says its Galaxy S phone “is designed to provide immersive, intelligent, and integrated experiences.”
  The 4-inch Super AMOLED display “delivers unrivalled screen quality, with less reflection, free viewing angles, and super-fast touch response.”
  The GT-I9000 smart phone has a 5-megapixel camera, and features the Layar Reality browser for augmented reality.

Filed Under: Mobile & Internet

HTC, SPRINT TO OFFER FIRST WIMAX 4G PHONE

April 19, 2010 By

 The HTC EVO is an Android phone with a 4.3-inch screen, an 8-megapixel main camera, and a front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera capable of HD video recording.
  Sprint says the EVO will be the first 4G phone in the United States when it ships this summer.
  The EVO “unleashes the ability to create, stream, and watch video that far surpasses expectations of what is possible on a phone today,” the companies say. “With integrated HD video capture and 4G speeds, HTC EVO 4G makes slow uploads and grainy video things of the past. Now, it is possible to post high-quality video to YouTube or Facebook, or share moments in real time over the internet live.” It delivers “a multimedia experience at 4G speeds second to none,” the company claims, “making it possible to download music, pictures, files, or videos in seconds – not minutes – and watch streaming video on the go.”
  Sprint offers 4G service in 27 markets, with download speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G1, “giving HTC EVO 4G the fastest data speeds of any U.S. wireless device available today.”
  Pricing will be announced.

Filed Under: Mobile & Internet

FACEBOOK ACQUIRES DIVVYSHOT

April 19, 2010 By

Facebook will enhance its photography with the addition of the technology and engineers from Divvyshot, a sharing site linking photos to places, people, and events.

Filed Under: Mobile & Internet
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