Flickr’s Terabyte of Free Storage a Game-Changer

On May 20, Yahoo announced a major redesign of its Flickr photo sharing service. One of the new features is that the storage limit has been raised to one terabyte (TB) for all users, and it’s free! Read more »

Connectivity and ‘Smart’ – Most Interesting Camera Features

Just because the camera phone – you know those handy cameras on feature phones and smartphones – has become the everyday camera for many people doesn’t mean it’s all doom and gloom for traditional cameras. In the most recent InfoTrends Digital Camera End User study we found that digital cameras are still being used to take more photos on average than a camera phone and used more often for special occasion photos. The survey also asked a “blue sky” question about interest levels in some current and possible digital camera offerings. Read more »

Photo Boom Time: Challenges and Opportunities

Yesterday Nokia launched the Lumia 925 at a high profile event in London. The Lumia 925 joins a long line of venerable smartphones. The Lumia 925 features an 8.7MP camera and a 6 element lens. With this phone Nokia attempts to cement its position as the imaging leader in the smartphone market. Smartphones are mini computers that can be carried around at any time. Small, light and in most cases with cameras that are good enough for taking both every day and occasional special occasion photos. These are also the reasons why smartphones are taking the place of digital cameras as the camera used most often by consumers. InfoTrends’ European end user data clearly illustrates this trend. Read more »

Pitney Bowes CEO Cautious on Next Steps for Volly

Pitney Bowes held a Financial Analyst Day in New York City today. While technology analysts were not invited to be there in person, I followed the live stream online. I was surprised when I first scanned the presentation slides and saw no mention of Volly. This was a significant departure from recent years and reflects the entry of a new CEO. Marc Lautenbach appears as though he is not going to put Volly on the same pedestal that former CEO Murray Martin did.

That said, Lautenbach addressed Volly toward the end of his opening remarks.

“Volly is one of our important growth opportunities, but Read more »

e-Cards have benefits, but printed cards are more meaningful

Most of us at one time or another have received an “e-card” from a friend or relative, perhaps for a birthday or as an invitation to a party or event. Electronic cards have some key advantages over printed cards. For example, e-cards cost less, as many are available at no charge and there’s no postage cost for sending them. Many of us spend a lot of time sitting in front of our computers, so it’s often easier to just pick an e-card and send it off instead of taking the time to go to a store and search for the right card, or order a card online and wait for it to come in the mail before sending it back out in the mail to its recipient. E-cards also make a lot of sense as announcements and invitations, as you know the person will get it as soon as they check their e-mail and some vendors allow the sender to keep tabs on who has RSVP’d to the event.

InfoTrends 2012 Next Generation of Personalized Printed Products study posed a series of survey questions to respondents who had purchased various types of personalized printed products in the last year (such as greeting cards, invitations/announcements and thank you cards).  In that survey, we asked respondents about how they’re using e-cards and the impact they’re having on printed cards. Many respondents have sent e-cards in the last year, with 45% telling us they sent electronic greeting cards and 37% saying they sent invitations. Thank you cards were sent by 33% of respondents, and 26% sent electronic announcements (multiple responses were allowed).

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The 4K Wave Rolls into the NAB Trade Show

NAB takes over the Las Vegas Convention Center

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) trade show has been running for over 85 years and this year it was estimated that over 92,000 media and entertainment professionals from over 150 countries filled the halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) from April 8 to 11.  

At this year’s International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January, Ultra HD (4K) displays were the talk of the show. If 4K displays are to succeed, they will need 4K content and that is where the NAB trade show comes in.

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A quest to return lost memories

One day, during my second year at university, as I was storing away some boxes in the cupboard under the stairs I came across an old grey box wedged in a neat crack in between two steps. The box was covered in what looked like years’ worth of dust. Inside the box was filled with personal photos, certificates and letters. So many wonderful memories just stashed away and unintentionally forgotten about. There were many letters from family, friends, pen pals and girlfriends all addressed to a Scott Goodfellow. With almost every letter there was a photo. Amongst the letters there were endless photos of Scott and his family. I remember many of them clearly; Scott as a baby in the garden with his mum. Another of Scott sat beside his Nan. Several of Scott lined up next to his football team. I couldn’t bring myself to just tuck the memories back under the stairs, so I made it my mission to return the box to Scott. Read more »

Brother looks to acquire Kodak Document Imaging Division

On April 15th, it was announced that Kodak would look to sell its Document Imaging business  to Brother for $210 million dollars, this makes yet another Kodak business unit to divest as part of a bankruptcy restructure plan by the Imaging company. This announcement appears to be an opening bid for auction of the Kodak business unit. Under the terms of the agreement, Kodak will seek U.S. Bankruptcy Court approval of the bidding procedures at a hearing in late April and is targeting final court approval of a transaction in June.

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Efi Arazi, Graphic Communications luminary – Passed at 76

Efi Arazi, print industry pioneer, luminary, and philanthropist who set the digital revolution in motion in the Graphic Communications filed died this past weekend at the age of 76.

Efi Arazi 1937-2013

Efi was born in Jerusalem in 1937 and already at the young age of just over 16 won a reward for technology innovation in Israel. He earned an engineering degree in the 1960s at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; while there he helped develop the TV camera that was used in the Apollo 11 mission. At the age of 23 he became a fellow at Harvard University.

Efi returned to Israel in 1967 and the following year he founded and headed Scitex Corporation an Israel-based multi-national company that specialized in developing and manufacturing hardware and software for the graphics design, printing, and publishing markets.  Efi stepped down as CEO and president of Scitex on June 1, 1988, but continued to serve as chairman of the board of directors of the company until 1989. Read more »

Jessops Back from the Dead

Earlier this year, I wrote a blog about Jessops entering administration and the impact this would have on the U.K. digital camera market. Three days after I wrote that blog, Jessops did close its doors and 1,300 staff lost their jobs.

Since then Peter Jones, one of the dragons on BBC’s Dragons’ Den program, has emerged as a buyer of the business. Mr. Jones has invested £4mln in Jessops and will by the end of this month have reopened 30 of the 187 stores that were closed in January, re-employing many former Jessops staff in the process. Mr. Jones becomes the Chairman and Chief Executive and has vowed to be closely involved with the business as it is turned around, setting a target of £80 million in sales and 15% share of the U.K. DSLR market in their first year of business. Read more »