Lyra Research, Newton, Mass., forecasts that the installed base of cameraphones in the Asia-Pacific region will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.9 percent from 2005 to 2010, topping 600 million camera phones in 2010. While cameraphone adoption in Japan and Korea has been firmly established, China and India represent two emerging markets poised for explosive growth.
Large areas of these two countries are skipping right over wireline telephone systems and going straight to mobile infrastructure. Despite the fact that fewer handset models designed for these markets have camera functionality, the portion of low-cost handsets with basic cameras is sufficiently high that, over the next decade, Lyra expects hundreds of millions of people in these emerging markets will not only have their first telephone experience via a mobile phone, but also their first camera experience.
Lyra's new report "Pictures at Hand: 2006 Worldwide Camera Phone Market Report" presents a worldwide view of cameraphone and image capture and print forecasts, market trends, and analysis of the future for cameraphones worldwide.
 | | The new Rimage Everest III is a permanent thermal retransfer direct-to-disc printing system. |
Rimage Corp., Minneapolis, Minn., released Everest III, a permanent thermal retransfer direct-to-disc printing solution. Everest III, which is an enhanced version of Rimage's thermal retransfer printing technology, enables users to create custom, colorful, high-resolution labels bonded directly to the surface of CDs and DVDs; a permanent solution essential for many retail, medical and banking/finance applications.
The Everest III enhancements include increased color accuracy, added hardware and software functionality, and enhanced ribbon communication, resulting in a combination of unmatched reliability, long print run capabilities, print permanence and a low cost per disc.
Rimage's Everest III printing solution will be sold as stand alone unit and with Rimage's disc publishing systems. The Everest III is immediately available through Rimage and its global network of value added resellers (VARs). Rimage provides worldwide support for all of its disc publishing systems, including personal call center services, a full line of consumables, and maintenance options designed to maximize the quality of its systems and fit each customer's unique needs.
Kingston Technology Co. Inc., Fountain Valley, Calif., is beginning production of its 4GB new Secure Digital (SD) high-capacity (SDHC) Class 2 card. Kingston is also enhancing the function of its existing 15-in-one card reader, to support the growing storage demands posed by high-performance digital-still cameras, digital-video cameras and other high-resolution applications.
"Although identical in size to the standard SD card, SDHC cards can handle the tremendous levels of data that digital cameras and MP3 players are today capable of producing," says Keyla Velazquez, product manager for digital media, and flash memory for Kingston.
The SDHC memory card is produced to the new standard set by the SD Card Association, which redefines both performance classifications and capacity. The standard is used to ensure that SDHC cards can deliver capacities in excess of the 2GB threshold of current SD cards, while also offering three speed classes (class 2, 4, and 6). This guarantees minimum-and-sustained transfer rates to support large digital-video recordings for optimum performance, says the company. Camera manufactures currently offering SDHC include Canon, Casio, Pentax, Sanyo and Nikon. SDHC cards are recognized by host cameras only. Kingston also is adding SDHC compatibility to its 15-in-one reader, too. Retail price for the reader remains $19, while its new 4GB SDHC card carries a retail price of $199.
The Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, D.C., will celebrate the grand opening of the Fujifilm Giant Panda Habitat and Asia Trail next week. Covering nearly six acres, the Fujifilm Giant Panda Habitat and Asia Trail features seven Asian species. It provides a newly expanded home for giant pandas and new homes for sloth bears, fishing cats, red pandas, clouded leopards, a Japanese giant salamander, and Asian small-clawed otters. The clouded leopard and Japanese giant salamander are new to the Zoo.
The concept of Asia Trail emerged after Fujifilm U.S.A. Inc., the Zoo's largest corporate partner, agreed to fund the expansion of the giant pandas' exhibit, a gift that helped trigger additional public funding to support the creation of the rest of Asia Trail. In addition to sponsoring the National Zoo's giant pandas, Fujifilm has supported to Zoo's efforts in animal care by donating digital medical equipment, creating educational programs, and initiating the Fujifilm Curatorial Residency at the National Zoo.
The National Zoo broke ground for Asia Trail and began expanding the Fujifilm Giant Panda Habitat in April 2004. The total cost of the project is nearly $53 million -- $45.3 million was paid with federal funds and $7.5 million with private funds. Fujifilm has contributed more than $8 million to giant panda conservation and education, with $3.8 million used to build the Fujifilm Giant Panda Habitat.
As visitors explore the trail's exhibits, they will learn about the seven endangered or threatened species and the conservation challenges throughout Asia that impact the animals' survival in the wild. Interpretive, hands-on exhibits, such as "Notes from the Field" and "Curiosity Stations," will show how National Zoo scientists are working to conserve these species and their native habitats. At "Decision Stations," visitors will use interactive kiosks to explore complex conservation issues and confront the same decisions often faced by wildlife biologists. This infusion of science into public exhibits reflects the Zoo's commitment to conservation research.
The Fujifilm Giant Panda Habitat and Asia Trail will open to the public at 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 17. The grand opening ceremony will include a special parade of seven teams of students from the Ross Elementary School -- each team representing a different species on the Fujifilm Giant Panda Habitat and Asia Trail -- that will officially open the new exhibit area. On Oct. 21, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the public will have a special opportunity to not only explore the Fujifilm Giant Panda Habitat and Asia Trail, but also meet the design and construction professionals that created the new exhibit area.
The Smithsonian National Zoo was founded in 1889 by an act of Congress. The Zoo's 163-acre park in the heart of Washington, D.C., is home to 2,000 animals representing nearly 400 species.
The Oct. 11 issue of The Wall Street Journal took a look at three compact photo printers, and the strides these small printers have made over the past couple years. The newspaper tested three of the newest compact photo printers from Hewlett-Packard Co., Epson and Canon that include features that make them more like mini-computers, including editing options and internal memory and a CD burner in the HP and Epson printers, respectively.
These new features do demand higher prices, says the article. The $200 Canon Pixma mini260, $250 HP Photosmart A716, and $300 Epson PictureMate Flash cost significantly more than the mini-printers The Wall Street Journal reviewed almost two years ago. Back then, the most expensive of the three compact photo printers the newspaper tested was $200.
The Wall Street Journal printed directly from memory cards plugged into the three printers to see if their higher prices were delivering better results. Overall, the newspaper said it was impressed by the quality of the prints, and also discovered the cost of paper and ink supplies has dropped about 10 cents per print, overall. The most inexpensive supply pack, from Epson, offers prints for 27 cents apiece, says The Wall Street Journal, though this is still about 12 cents more than prints available on the Kodak EasyShare Gallery online.
Printed photos came from two different digital cameras, as well as photos captured on a 1.3-megapixel cameraphone. Neither of the cameras was made by the makers of the printers, says the review.
The Wall Street Journal review found the Epson's prints to be the best overall and the least expensive. The Epson produced sharp images with rich colors in 45 seconds each, the fastest time of the three. The Epson is larger and costlier than the others, says the review, but the company makes a less expensive, smaller model without the CD burner but with the same picture-printing features and quality.
The HP more easily eliminated red-eye with its Photo Fix button, but its other prints looked somewhat less vivid than the Epson's, says the review. It also took two minutes to print each image. The Canon's images looked sharp, but were slightly yellow in tone when lined up side-by-side with the other prints. They took about a minute each to print. According to the review, all three of these compact photo printers have built-in handles for portability, 2.5-inch viewing screens to preview images, and optional sold-separately batteries for cordless use.
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