DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY NEWS

Kodak’s Perez Says Consumers Will Set the Rules for the Future of Digital Imaging

Delivers Speech at International Consumer Electronics Show

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 6 -- Just as consumer desires drove the evolution of photography during the past 125 years, today’s consumers are defining the rules that will drive the future of digital imaging, said Antonio M. Perez, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: EK). It’s a future where all digital content is automatically identified, organized and instantly accessible anytime, anywhere.

In a keynote address today to attendees of the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, Perez reflected on the current state of the digital imaging industry and asserted that consumers want full ownership of and instant access to all their images and information in order to creatively tell their life stories. Yet, Perez noted, the imaging industry continues to make this a difficult proposition by adding complexity through the proliferation of stand-alone devices and rapidly changing, proprietary technology standards that confuse consumers.

“Digital products and services should not require our customers to be engineers or professional photographers, but rather, should inspire them to be artists and publishers as they capture the moments of their lives, as they see them, with intuitive ease,” said Perez.

Perez stated that, since the days of company founder George Eastman, Kodak has focused on unleashing the power of images through innovation and by making complex technology simple to use. Yet, today’s digital capture devices don’t enable consumers to take full advantage of the powerful capabilities offered by digital technology.

“Today’s digital cameras are dinosaurs, with the same basic architecture and functionality as the box Brownie camera that Kodak introduced more than one hundred years ago,” said Perez. “It’s a lens, shutter and something to capture the focused light. All the imaging industry has done is to replace silver with silicon. In the next era, we will design digital cameras from the ground up to take full advantage of the creative power that digital technology provides.”

“Consumers want the power to use their images to connect, create, preserve, entertain and inform,” said Perez. “To that end, Kodak is committed to reinventing the digital imaging experience by pretty much changing everything that defines photography today and bringing ease-of-use to the next level.”

Perez cited the following three Kodak technology platforms that are driving the company’s innovation efforts: 

Kodak Perfect Touch Technology, that will automatically detect and fix, before the user knows it, common photographic flaws such as under-lit pictures, high contrast scenes, back-lit shadows and red-eye in both still and motion images.

Kodak’s e-finder technology, where all digital content is automatically given a unique identity, enabling users to instantly access any image or information they wish anytime, anywhere. This intelligent content technology would take metadata tagging to the next level by enabling organization of pictures based on GPS location, automatic scene classification (beach, birthday party, etc.), decade mapping, face recognition technology and more.

Kodak’s e-moment technology, an intelligent system where pictures have the ability to automatically recognize each other. So, without human instruction, a picture will use its metadata to find another picture with related data, and assemble into new groups based on how they relate to one another. For example, imagine being able to access every picture ever taken of your son or daughter at Christmas, whether it’s part of your collection or those of relatives and friends. 

“Consumers own the future of digital imaging -- their pictures, their memories, their life’s data, the stories they can tell about their life,” said Perez. “But it’s no longer about just pictures or voice, data or text. It’s the future where information and imaging become one, and consumers can access the important images of their life anytime, anywhere.” 

Achieving this vision, said Perez, will take intellectual property and brand strength, delivered through innovation, partnerships and consumer insights.

“Images are an integral part of our lives. We must enable people to share faster, seamlessly and much simpler than is possible today,” said Perez. “Without true partnerships across our industry this will not happen. We will disappoint consumers and will miss one of the greatest business opportunities of our time. One of our top priorities at Kodak is to build strong partnerships with other industry leaders to make this happen.”

Motorola Partnership

Ed Zander, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Motorola joined Perez during his speech to discuss the signing of a 10-year global product, cross-licensing and marketing alliance between Kodak and Motorola. The agreement brings together the world’s most recognized brand in digital imaging with the global leader in wireless communications in a partnership intended to fulfill the promise of mobile imaging for the benefit of consumers worldwide.  (See related news release at: www.kodak.com)

Updated Kodak Brand Mark

Perez also unveiled the latest evolution of Kodak’s brand logo. This new look moves the Kodak name out of the traditional yellow box; giving it a more contemporary design, a streamlined rounded look and distinctive letters. This introduction is the latest step in the company’s broad brand transformation effort, which reflects the multi-industry, digital imaging leader Kodak has become.

About Eastman Kodak Company

Kodak is the world’s leading imaging innovator. With sales of $13.5 billion in 2004, the company is committed to a digitally oriented growth strategy focused on helping people better use meaningful images and information in their life and work. Consumers use Kodak’s system of digital and traditional image capture products and services to take, print and share their pictures anytime, anywhere; Businesses effectively communicate with customers worldwide using Kodak solutions for prepress, traditional and digital printing, and document scanning; Creative Professionals rely on Kodak technology to uniquely tell their story through moving or still images; and leading Healthcare organizations rely on Kodak’s innovative products, services and customized workflow solutions to help improve patient care and maximize efficiency and information sharing within and across their enterprise.