Kodak studies wireless photos
democratandchronicle.com
Company says cell phones' prevalence offers opportunity
By Ben Rand
Democrat and Chronicle
(September 22, 2002) — The cell phone is about to undergo a major change in this country, one that has Eastman Kodak Co.’s rapt attention.
Since earlier this summer, U.S. consumers have been able to buy new services -- from companies such as Sprint and AT&T Wireless -- that will turn their phones into mobile cameras, picture albums, Internet terminals, e-mail devices and more.
The services, which are all the rage in Japan and Europe, have the potential to re-shape the dynamics of the evolving digital imaging industry by making pictures an integral part of the communication equation.
The new capabilities will turn the cell phone into the ultimate show-and-tell device. Users could send pictures of new babies or of purchases under consideration, or even send self-portraits as a dating tool.
The potential has caught Kodak’s attention. Rochester’s largest employer will announce this week that it is test-marketing a service in Germany for downloading personal photos from Kodak-operated Internet sites to cell phones.
The service will allow users to view the picture, then forward it by e-mail to other compatible cell phones, personal digital assistants or personal computers. Users can also place print orders. Six retailers in Germany will take part in the test.
The test is designed to start collecting data on how consumers use images with their cell phones, said Dan Palumbo, president of consumer imaging, Kodak’s largest individual business.
The company is proceeding cautiously because the field is new and technology is likely to change rapidly. Information from the test will help Kodak target how it can participate, officials said.
“This is a greenfield, a new frontier,” Palumbo said. “We have to create our own research.”
The test targets a market that analysts say could get very big very fast.
Consumers are expected to buy more than 150 million camera phones worldwide in 2007, compared with 90 million traditional digital cameras, according to separate forecasts from market research firms IDC Corp. and Strategy Analytics Inc.
Kodak won’t be making the phones, but it could benefit from the wireless transition nonetheless.
The company is currently testing a digital camera that will transmit images to computers and other devices without wires. The company declined further comment but said it was being careful not to market something new too soon.
Kodak is convinced that the wireless camera-phone field will provide a boost to photography overall and won’t hurt development of stand-alone digital cameras.
“I know this: People will be taking more pictures. And when you take more pictures, you share more pictures. And when you share more pictures, you print more pictures,” said Marty Coyne, group president for photography.
Projections that camera phones will put a dent in the growth of digital cameras are probably overblown, said Tony Henning, senior analyst for imaging infrastructure for The Future Image Inc., a consulting and analysis firm.
Some consumers will certainly replace their digital camera with a camera phone, but probably not for precious occasions, said Henning, whose company publishes The Future Image Wire, a weekly newsletter on the industry.
Key to the adoption, Henning said, is continued growth in the availability of camera phones with full-color display screens. (Kodak has a fast-growing new business that sells screens to manufacturers of consumer electronics.)
“You’re going to start seeing this happen with enough mass to make things very interesting,” Henning said.
Japan is providing a potential look at the future, said Tom Hull, chief executive officer of Picture IQ, a Seattle-based company marketing software that makes it easier for images to move between electronic devices.
An estimated 60 million people in Japan have some form of mobile device, Hull said.
Some of the more popular uses: Surfers checking weather or tide forecasts; drivers checking traffic backups; and singers downloading karaoke videos and text.
The early days of wireless imaging will not lead to an upsurge of photo printing, Hull said. “The images in Japan are part of a personal message. They’re almost disposable,” Hull said.
“They’ll say, ‘Having a great time.’ They’re almost like a postcard.”
Printing will likely accelerate as the phones become more able to process larger images, said Jim Allen, vice president of technology at Appairent Technologies of Henrietta. Appairent is developing radio transmitters that will allow homeowners to transmit data between consumer electronic devices in the home.
“It’s the kind of market that people have to try to appreciate,” Allen said.
“People once said, ‘Why do I need a cell phone?’ ‘Why do I need a computer?’ People will soon start to understand the value of mobility.’ “
It’s “just a matter of timing,” said Robin Nijor, vice president of marketing at Lightsurf Inc., a company based in Silicon Valley whose software helps images move between mobile devices and personal computers. “We think there will be all sorts of uses.”
E-mail address: brand@DemocratandChronicle.com |
