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First Details on Photo Plus EXPO East at Javits Center Announced; Photo + Digital Lab Forum will be held October 28-30, 1999

Sterling, VA. July 1, 1999: This year's Photo + Digital Lab Forum will be held at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York, October 28-30, 1999, in conjunction with Photo Plus EXPO East. This renamed and repositioned show emphasizes a new commitment to today's state-of-the art photographic image taking and image production technologies, particularly in the digital sector. Also, while previous shows were basically targeted to professional photographers and professional photographic service providers, an all out effort is being made to include minilabs this year.

According to Photofinishing News, there are over 25,000 on-site processing facilities in the United States, 2,300 of them in-house or in locations providing business-to-business image processing services; 10,100 stand-alone mini-labs and specialty photo dealers, and 13,000 minilabs located in mass merchants, supermarkets and drugstores. A significant percentage of these facilities are already offering digital image processing.

Photo + Digital Lab Forum is the only show for photo-digital imaging centers in the Northeast. It is designed to draw photographic professionals from all market segments: photographers, mini-lab owners and managers, photo-imaging retailers, prolab owners and managers, in-house digital/photo managers, retouching specialists, digital imaging professionals and service bureaus. Other new features will be free technical/business seminars in a special theater within the trade show;  website listing exhibitors, new product releases, registration, travel and hotel information with links to exhibitors' individual websites; and complimentary services for lab exhibitors, like discounts on electrical connection and chemical waste removal services.

Photo + Digital Lab Forum invites various photographic alliance groups to meet at the show, and is happy to announce that Moto Photo has already agreed to hold its regional meeting of franchisees there. The BillExpo show management is developing a complete educational experience for both lab exhibitors and attendees, and welcomes inquires for further information at its special website www.pdn-pix.com/photo+digitalforum/99, or by calling 1-703-318-0300 x 503.

Fujifilm Files Suit Against 3 Companies in Single-Use Patent Issue

Seeks Injunction Preventing Jazz Photo, Charles Randolph Company and Custom Camera Design, Inc. From Selling One-Time-Use Cameras That Infringe on Patents Held By Fujifilm

ELMSFORD, NY, June 23, 1999 Following the favorable ruling by the International Trade Commission (ITC) on June 3rd, in the one-time-use camera patent case, Fuji Photo Film U.S.A., Inc. announced that its parent company in Japan has filed Complaints against three companies for infringement of one-time-use camera patents held by Fujifilm. One Complaint was filed in United States District Court, District of New Jersey, and charged Jazz Photo Corp of Carteret, NJ, its subsidiary Jazz Photo (Hong Kong) Ltd., and Jack Benun, an officer and employee of Jazz Photo. A second Complaint is against Charles Randolph Company, dba The Wedding Lab of Lakebay, WA, and Custom Camera Design, Inc. of Tacoma, WA, and was filed in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York.

On June 3rd, the United States International Trade Commission issued a general exclusion order that bars importation into the United States of all one-time-use cameras that infringe patents held by Fujifilm. The ITC exclusion order is the final stage of an action filed in February 1998 by Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. of Tokyo charging infringement of 15 of Fujifilm's United States patents covering one-time-use cameras.

The Complaints filed by Fujifilm today, charge Jazz, Jazz Hong Kong, Mr. Benun, and Charles Randolph Company, dba The Wedding Lab and Custom Camera Design, Inc., with patent infringement for their sale and inducement of sale of both new and remanufactured one-time-use cameras. The Complaints request relief in the form of an injunction, both preliminary and permanent, preventing the Defendants from selling or inducing the sale of any one-time-use cameras covered by Fujifilm's patents in the United States as well as damages in the form of lost profits for past and current sales by these companies.

Fujifilm is currently evaluating its options with regard to others that may be engaged in the sale of one-time-use cameras that infringe on Fujifilm's patents in the United States.

"Fujifilm is very pleased with the favorable ruling by the International Trade Commission that will prevent the importation of these illegitimate one-time-use cameras. As the inventor of the one-time-use camera, Fujifilm is filing these suits to prevent companies from selling any infringing one-time-use cameras, regardless of whether they were obtained from a foreign or U.S. supplier," said Yasuo "George" Tanaka, President, Fuji Photo Film U.S.A., Inc.

"Fujifilm will continue to take the necessary actions to defend its patent rights in the very important one-time-use camera market. We are committed to ensuring that our retailers and consumers across the country get one-time-use camera products that are of the highest quality and are legitimately manufactured and sold," said Ted McGrath, Jr., President, Photo Imaging Group, Fuji Photo Film U.S.A., Inc.

Fujifilm pioneered the development of one-time-use cameras, introducing its first product in Japan in 1986, and in the United States under the trademark Fujicolor^® QuickSnap^® in 1987. Fujifilm began producing QuickSnaps^® in 1995 at its factory in Greenwood, SC, which now supplies a large portion of Fujicolor QuickSnaps^® sold in the U.S. as well as exporting some of its production.

The Kodak Max Facts $1 Million Challenge Gives consumers Chance to Win Up to $1,000

A Summer Interactive Film Promotion Uses Game Debit Cards to Award Consumers

Rochester, NY, June 29--Heating up the hot summer months, Eastman Kodak Company is launching the Max Facts $1 Million Challenge promotion, offering consumers in-pack game debit cards with chances to win up to $1,000. All specially marked packages of Kodak Max film and one-time-use cameras will contain a Max Facts card that could be a winning debit card worth $20, $100, or $1,000. The promotion will give away a total of up to $1 million.

Targeted specifically at June 27 through July 24, the interactive promotion reinforces the versatility of Kodak Max products. That is, you get great pictures under all conditions: sunlight, low light, fast action and still.

"We are very pleased to introduce a promotion that makes picture taking even more fun and interactive," said Dave Hardie, General Manager and Vice President, Consumer Imaging US & Canada, Eastman Kodak Company. "Our debit card promotion helps consumers know the benefits of Kodak products while giving something back to them during the year's peak picture-taking time."

More than 2.2 million Max Facts cards - with the four Max Facts printed on the face -- will be inside specially marked packages of Kodak Max film one-time-use cameras. Consumers can learn whether they have a winning debit card simply by calling a toll free number printed on the card. While on the phone, consumers will be asked to recite the four Max Facts and enter their card number to discover the value of their card. Winning cards can be immediately used for retail purchases or cash withdrawals at any MAC-based ATM. Consumers have until January 2000 to activate their cards. There is no purchase necessary to participate in the promotion. To obtain a card, consumer can send a self addressed, stamped envelope to KODAK MAX Facts $1 Million Challenge Card/Rules Request, P.O. Box 7676, Melville, NY 11775-7676.

Debit cards are a powerful consumer incentive and their popularity is on the rise. According to a 1998 study conducted by Nielson ScanPro, more than 400 million debit cards are projected to be in use by the year 2000, up from 190 million this year. Already 67 percent of American households have at least one debit card, and the cards have proven their promotional worth in other major consumer product categories.

Not to be overlooked in this multi-faceted promotion is the consumer draw brought by the versatility of the Kodak Max products themselves. Both the films and one-time-use cameras are ideal for many of the summer activities that consumers want to capture on film.

Kodak Professional Enhances Digital Darkroom for Law Enforcement and Public Safety Imagers

Integrated Desktop Imaging System is Basis for Developing High-Performance Digital Imaging Workflow

COLUMBUS, OH, June 26.,--Kodak Professional's Digital Darkroom is now more powerful than ever thanks to new feature-sets and tools. Designed for law enforcement and public safety agencies, this highperformance imaging solution allows them to realize the benefits of digital imaging within their existing image collection, analysis and output workflows.

The Digital Darkroom is an integrated desktop digital imaging system that encompasses all of the essential imaging and computing components to ensure the highest-quality capture, storage, management and output. It provides law enforcement officials with the ability to capture high-resolution images via a digital camera or scanner and acquires still and full motion video from an NTSC video source. These images are downloaded to the system's high-speed Pentium PC for processing and case management.

Law enforcement and public safety imagers can also more efficiently manage, analyze and enhance crime scene and other forensic imagery. They can share imagery and other case data using integrated Iomega Zip or Jaz storage media or writeable CDs created by the system's CD writer.

"The Digital Darkroom is a cost-effective way to handle crime-related photo imaging tasks. Kodak Professional Digital Cameras feature rewriteable memory cards-no consumables are involved in the capture process-eliminating waste and providing substantial cost savings for law enforcement and public safety agencies," said Len Pratt, Law Enforcement and Public Safety Program Manager, Kodak Professional. "It allows agencies to process and view images electronically, share and transmit images from the desktop, print only the images needed and quickly retrieve historical case file data."

The Digital Darkroom includes core components that help customers speed up, improve and economize critical case-information imaging tasks. Core software components include:

Kodak Quicksolve image management software for quick search and retrieval of digital imagery, and other media asset types, such as video, audio and documents;

Kodak ColorFlow Image Acquire software for acquiring and processing digital camera and scanner images in a color managed environment;

Adobe Photoshop 5.0 for image editing and color managed output and

Adaptec EZ -CD Creator Deluxe software for efficient authoring of digital assets.

Kodak QuickSolve database and image management software was developed with input from detectives and investigators from a large, metropolitan law enforcement agency. It enables the quick and easy retrieval of any cataloged digital asset among those archived in a database.

Kodak ColorFlow Image Acquire software is an efficient, easy-to-use tool that allows users to import and save single or batched images, apply International Color Consortium (ICC) profiles, reduce digital artifacts and sharpen images. Baseline color profiles for the Kodak Professional DCS Digital Camera family, Digital Darkroom Epson flatbed scanner and Kodak XL 8670 thermal dye printer are included. For color-critical applications, imagers may capture images using ColorFlow Image Acquire software and Photoshop 5.0 to deliver color-managed output to the XL 8670 or other printers connected to the system.

For those looking to extend the benefits of color managed solutions, Kodak Professional offers services to build custom device profiles and train users on more advanced color management procedures.

The Digital Darkroom's open architecture allows the system to interface directly with common peripherals such as ink jet and laser printers, video cassette recorders and film scanners utilizing RCA video, parallel, serial, USB, SCSI or IEEE 1394 interfaces.

New hardware enhancements include:

Windows 98 operating system, 450 MHz Intel Pentium III processor, larger capacity IDE hard drives and faster CD reader / writer.

Etherlink network controller, video capture card, IEEE 1394 capability and built-in Zip or Jaz drive.

Epson Perfection 636U flatbed scanner with USB connection.

Built-in card reader that accepts Type II / III PCMCIA cards, CompactFlash and Smart Media.

New, smaller mid-size case.

Pricing and Availability

Suggested U.S. list price for the Kodak Professional Digital Darkroom is available through authorized dealers of Kodak Professional Law Enforcement Products.

For more information on products and solutions from Kodak Professional, please visit our web site at http://www.kodak.com/go/professional/

(Kodak, Kodak Professional and ColorFlow are trademarks.)

New Kodak CD-PROM Technology Combines Two CDs In One New Disc

Kodak Is First Company To Perfect Hybrid CD Technology

Rochester, N.Y., June 28--Eastman Kodak Company today announced Kodak CD-PROM technology, a new compact disc technology with exciting applications for the computer industry.

Kodak CD-PROM technology (for Compact Disc-Programmable ROM) combines the technologies of two CDs in one new type of media. It contains mass-replicated information, like the software titles, music and games published on CD-ROM. But these discs add a new feature--a recordable area that lets CD-PROM users customize individual discs.

The company is already using the discs in its Kodak Picture CD product for consumers, which is now available nationwide in the U.S. But the implications for the computer industry are much broader, including:

• Reducing piracy of copyrighted information that's distributed on CD.
  
  
• Providing companies a more efficient way to distribute their products on CD.
  
  
• Customizing products to make them more useful and fun for end-users. (See applications backgrounder release.)
  
  

The technology can be applied to future DVD applications, although there is not currently a standard for hybrid media in the DVD specification as there is in the CD format specifications, such as Orange Book, Red Book and Yellow Book.

"The concept for this kind of hybrid compact disc has long been described throughout the industry, but Kodak is the first company to develop a practical, manufacturable disc," said Steve Glaza, general manager, Storage Business, and vice president, Digital and Applied Imaging, Kodak. "Anyone who can benefit from the ability to produce customized discs with mass-replicated content can employ Kodak CD-PROM technology."

Kodak CD-PROM technology is compliant with all industry standards. End-users of the media will be able to read the discs on equipment for reading CD-ROM discs.

The 120 mm hybrid disc allows multi-session recording and has a capacity of 680 MB. The space devoted to pre-mastered and recordable information can vary based on the needs of the application.

The technology uses modulated grooves that have the appearance of pits (like CD-ROM discs) and grooves (like CD-R discs) so that the disc can have a pre-stamped area and be appendable for writing. Kodak employs a stabilized cyanine dye across the disc. A gold reflective layer is used for the optimal combination of stability and reflectivity, enabling the reader to read the "pits" through the dye layer and a writer to write on the disc.

Kodak tests indicate that the discs perform as well as, or better than, current CD-R and CD-ROM media in playback compatibility, stability, robustness, error rates and other important measures. (See technology backgrounder.)

Availability

Kodak is currently manufacturing CD-PROM discs and shipping them to customers who order Kodak Picture CDs. The company's mastering facility in Rochester and disc production facilities in Youghal, Ireland, and Guadalajara, Mexico are capable of producing CD-PROM discs (with the ROM portion pre-recorded) for other customers.

Kodak is currently talking to a number of large companies that may benefit from CD-PROM technology, including major players in the computer industry. The company is open to licensing the technology. Kodak also recently identified Rimage Corporation as its "preferred provider" of integrated hardware and software for publishing and duplication that will help to implement CD-PROM technology. Rimage, meanwhile, has chosen Kodak as its "preferred provider" of CD-PROM media for use with Rimage's systems. Together, the two companies will be able to offer complete solutions that allow customers to customize CD-PROM discs in their applications.

Kodak said the future direction of the technology will include products that allow end-users to write on CD-PROM discs at the desktop.

"The development of CD-PROM technology reflects Kodak's commitment to leadership in developing and applying 120 mm disc technology," Glaza said. "We believe that CD-PROM technology is a true breakthrough in CD technology, and we look forward to working with other leaders in the computer industry to take advantage of its many benefits."

For additional information about Kodak's CD-R products, visit our web site on the Internet at http://www.kodak.com/go/cdr.

Canon's Traveling Showroom Begins a 10-City Tour This Month

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., June 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Canon U.S.A., announced today that the company has put its brand awareness campaign on wheels with the launch of its mobile marketing vehicle, a traveling showcase and information center for Canon products and philanthropic programs. The 53-foot-long showroom on wheels -- the first of its kind in the office imaging equipment industry -- will offer visitors the excitement of interactive demonstrations through "touch and try" stations for Canon solutions.

Products showcased will include Canon cameras, digital video camcorders, color and b/w copiers, scanners, printers, and networked multifunction devices. In addition, the 18-wheeled vehicle will offer visitors information on the various philanthropic programs the company supports, including the March of Dimes and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), and will visit a variety of special events, trade shows, product launches, and retail promotions throughout the year, from the Three Rivers Arts Festival in Pittsburgh, PA to Comdex in Las Vegas.

Kodak Chooses Dan Carp To Succeed George Fisher As CEO

ROCHESTER, N.Y., June 9--Eastman Kodak Company's Board of Directors announced today it will elect Daniel A. Carp to the post of Chief Executive Officer effective January 1, 2000. Carp currently is President and Chief Operating Officer and he will retain those responsibilities. George Fisher, current Chairman and CEO, will continue as Chairman on January 1, 2000 until January 2001.

"The Board of Directors and I have concluded that Dan Carp is absolutely the best person to become Kodak's next CEO. No one is better qualified than Dan Carp to propel Kodak to even greater success as we prepare to start the new millennium," said Chairman and CEO George Fisher. "As co-architect of Kodak's strategic turnaround, Dan Carp already is leading our worldwide growth strategy for this great company."

"What impresses me most about Dan is the combination of attributes he brings to his leadership role," Fisher added. "He is results oriented, with an expansive focus on customer needs around the world. He applies that to a strategic understanding of growth opportunities; and he is absolutely committed to a bright future for Kodak, its customers, employees and shareholders."

Carp stated, "The picture business today is on the verge of the greatest breakthroughs since George Eastman put photography in the hands of consumers. We are changing the ways our customers and consumers can bring new uses and meaning to pictures--no matter what the technology," said Carp. "That's why I'm so excited about the future."

"In our view, and because the business is so dynamic, revenue growth for Kodak will come from five areas: Category and share expansion, which means growing the entire picture business and our share of it; digitization initiatives based on film as the bridge to digital; 'pure' digital capture and output; emerging markets; and consolidation opportunities due to the changing structure of the industry."

Carp joined Kodak in 1970 and has spent a significant portion of his 29-year career with responsibilities for business and operational activities outside the U.S. That includes General Manager of the company's European region and, prior to that, the company's Latin American Region.

He was elected an Executive Vice President and named an assistant Chief Operating Officer of the company in 1995. Two years later, he was elected President and Chief Operating Officer.

Carp, 51, holds an MS degree in management as a Sloan Fellow at the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a B.A. degree in quantitative methods from Ohio University, and an MBA degree from the Rochester Institute of Technology.

International Trade Commission Issues Final Ruling Barring Importation of One-Time-Use Cameras Infringing Fujifilm Patents

Mark Lockard Joins Kodak As SGA Purchasing Manager

ROCHESTER, N.Y., June 3--Eastman Kodak Company today announced the appointment of Mark A. Lockard as Vice President of SGA Worldwide Purchasing, effective May 12. He will report to Richard S. Morabito, Chief Purchasing Officer and Vice President of Kodak.

Lockard, 40, comes to Kodak from the Quaker Oats Company, where he was director of Non-Traditional Purchasing & Capability Development, responsible for the start up of the non-manufacturing operation at Quaker and where he drove significant changes in sourcing strategies and electronic commerce for non-manufacturing.

In his new position, Lockard will be responsible for worldwide sourcing of such services as information systems, marketing services, advertising, transportation, travel, contract labor and fleet management. He will provide direction to implement sourcing strategies that will rationalize the supplier base and reduce costs for services and materials.

Lockard will relocate to Rochester from Chicago. He holds a BS degree in Industrial Engineering from Iowa State University.

Noritsu Offers Customers 24-7 Technical Hotline Service

BUENA PARK, CA~Noritsu America Corporation has increased the level of customer service on the technical telephone hotline. The program which debuted in Spring 1999, creates the first 24 hours a day, 7 days a week telephone hotline service dedicated to Quick Service System (QSS) customers in the U.S.

Technicians will be staffed at the corporate office taking calls from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. PST on weekdays and 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends. After the office closes, incoming messages are forwarded to a technician on call. The technician has access to a cell phone and the Hotline databases via laptop computer. The call will be retiirned to the customer within 30 minutes.

Customers have been requesting this service and Noritsu recognizes the need for on-site photo processing labs to be flinctional around the clock in today's marketplace. During the Noritsu America 20th Year Anniversarv customers voiced their opinions again that one hour minilab locations needed 24 hour service.

In addition to expanded hours of service the company has announced a toll-free number for the telephone Hotline. Customers in the U.S. can now call 888-435-7448 to get to the Hotline. The local telephone number for the Noritsu Technical Hotline remains (714)522-6670. The call queuing system will also remain the same. Customers with service agreements still benefit from priority service and most other calls will be handled on a return call system within 30 minutes.

Samsung Camera Father's Day Rebate/Trade-in Promo

On Friday, June 11th, Samsung will run large format 3 column x 10" ads in metropolitan areas offering a "Trade in your old camera for cash" program. For redemption, the consumer ships any old, working or non-working camera to Samsung, along with proof of purchase. Samsung will verify the information and mail a rebate to the consumer.

Consumers will receive rebates of $10 for any non-zoom point-and-shoot camera including 35mm, 110, Polaroid, Disc Cameras or older format cameras. Consumer will receive $20 for all cameras with multi lens, zoom lens or 35mm SLR type cameras. Samsung will donate all cameras received to Goodwill Industries. Goodwill Industries will use the cameras for resale in the 1,700 stores to help raise money for employment and training programs throughout the United States.

Genuine Fractals 2.0 Bundled with New Epson Stylus Photo 1200 Printer

BURBANK, CA- Altamira Group, Inc. announced that its Genuine FractalsTM 2.0 LE version is bundled with the new EPSON Stylus® Photo 1200 printer from Epson America Inc.

The Genuine Fractals LE software included in the bundle enables users of the EPSON Stylus Photo 1200 to start with an original RGB image up to 5- x 7-inches at 300 dots per inch (dpi), which is around 9 megabytes of data, and increase the size or resolution of the image up to 65 megabytes without degrading the image quality. For example, an image that looks great as a 5- x 7-inch print at a resolution of 300 dpi will look just as good at the same resolution when enlarged to take advantage of the full printable size of Epson's Super B, 13- x 19-inch papers.

The full version of Genuine Fractals 2.0, the award-winning file format plug-in for Adobe® Photoshop®, is the only software on the market that is able to encode photographic quality images as scalable reusable assets, which can be rendered to any size or resolution without sacrificing image quality. The plug-in allows Lossless or Visually Lossless encoding and provides three scaling options for quality versus speed. In addition to RGB color mode, the full version also supports Grayscale, Indexed Color, Multichannel (up to 16 channels), and Duotone color modes.

By using the full version of Genuine Fractals 2.0 with the EPS ON Stylus Photol2OO, even greater resolution and enlargements are possible. For example, an original file of 15-20 megabytes can be encoded with the Lossless option to less than half the original size for storage and transmission then enlarged to sizes that enable printing full-bleed tabloid-sized prints or even long panoramas up to the printer's full printable size of 12.71" x 44".

In addition to Genuine Fractals 2.0 LE, the software bundle, which Epson calls Digital PhotoLabTM Pro, also includes Photoshop 5.0 LE and Vivid DetailsTM Test Strip® 2.0. "Including Genuine Fractals in the bundle lets us offer our customers the valuable advantage of creating even better quality larger prints from their existing images," said Fabia Barsic, product manager, photographic reproduction printers, Epson® "Digital PhotoLab Pro gives users almost everything needed for expert photo editing, compositing, duplicating, and reprinting."

The bundle agreement allows owners of the EPSON Stylus Photo l200 (estimated street price $499) to upgrade to the full version of Genuine Fractals 2.0 for a special discounted price of $75 (suggested retail price $159).

Kodak Comments on Market Share Data

ROCHESTER, N.Y., May 28--Eastman Kodak Company today described published reports on the competitive nature of the U.S. film market as inherently short term in focus and based on a partial view of the market.

Robert J. Keegan, president of Kodak's Consumer Imaging business and a company vice president, expressed confidence in the company's understanding of the competitive dynamics of the U.S. film market and its share position. "We are managing the Kodak brand for category growth, with a focus on premium-products," Keegan said. "We track share on a weekly basis and manage our share position over the long term. We are confident of our share data and analysis of the market, which is based on decades of market research and a more complete view of the market than any other source."

Business news May 1999