January 2011

Kodak hurting
Not that very long ago, Kodak was simply on top of the world. Then digital happened, and nothing has ever been the same since for Kodak. Its current work force of 20,300 is the smallest since before WW II, and down from about 70,000 as recently as 2002. The latest quarterly revenue is now under US$2 billion, with less than a quarter of that still coming from Kodak's once world-beating film business. And with digital cameras becoming low-cost commodity items and Kodak not being in the increasingly lucrative digital SLR market, that pretty much only leaves printers and ink as a potential venue back up. To add insult to injury, Kodak also just got rebuffed in its patent lawsuits against Apple and RIM. -- Posted Wednesday, January 26, 2011 by chb

Lady Gaga unveils Polaroid glasses, printer, camera
Polaroid uses none other than Lady Gaga to unveil some cool new products at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show. Gaga demonstrated glasses with built-in LCDs and camera, a remote Bluetooth printer, and the latest retro/digital Polaroid camera. What's amazing about all this is that Gaga did the entire presentation and all the demos, and she did at least as well as many techie presenters, never missing a beat. [See Gaga present Polaroid on YouTube] -- Posted Friday, January 7, 2011 by chb

Kodak releases first waterproof digital camera
Kodak introduced its first waterproof (up to 10 feet) digital still camera that is also dustproof to withstand dirt, dust and sand. The 12mp EASYSHARE SPORT has a 2.4-inch LCD, Kodak’s Smart Capture feature, multiple scene and color modes, and will be available in white, grey, red, yellow and blue for US$79.95 in spring 2011. -- Posted Wednesday, January 5, 2011 by chb

First aid for wet electronics
A company named DRY-ALL introduced electronic device drying kits at CES that works by placing the device in an emergency kit bag with their proprietary blue bead desiccant/liquid absorption technology. Primarily designed for wet smartphones, they are now branching out into kits for tablets and more. Might be useful when a non-waterproofcamera gets wet. [See DRY-ALL] -- Posted Wednesday, January 5, 2011 by chb

Eye-Fi announces Direct Mode
Eye-Fi, which makes those handy wireless memory cards, announced Direct Mode at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. With Direct Mode consumers can wirelessly connect their camera to a mobile device to seamlessly move pics for browsing, editing, saving and sharing. Direct Mode will be available as a free upgrade to all Eye-Fi X2 cards later in 2011. -- Posted Wednesday, January 5, 2011 by chb

General Imaging launches new lineup at 2011 CES in Vegas
General Imaging (GIC), the worldwide licensee of GE Digital Cameras, unveiled the latest additions to its Power, Power Pro and Smart Series lines, and the brand's first handheld 1080p HD digital video camera. The lineup features the $129.99 GE DV1 (waterproof up to 16 feet, shockproof up to five feet, 1080p HD video), the $149.99 GE X500 (16mp, 15X optical zoom), and the $119.99 GE J1470S (14mp, flip-out USB plug, 7X optical zoom, 720p video. 3-inch LCD). -- Posted Wednesday, January 5, 2011 by chb