Eastman Kodak Co saved up all its hot new digital technology developments for a big bang event late on Tuesday, staged in San Francisco and relayed to London and New York. In the first presentation of its ideas for future digital imaging since George F isher took the helm, the company announced plans to open up its proprietary Photo CD system and announced alliances with the likes of Microsoft Corp, Apple Computer Inc, Hewlett-Packard Co, IBM Corp and Sprint Corp. The Rochester, New York company plans to create retail kiosks with Microsoft Corp at which users can manipulate and print photographs and put them on Photo CD disks, and is offering software developers royalty-free licences to Photo CD technology – Adobe Systems Inc will include the technology in future versions of PhotoShop. It is working with Hewlett-Packard Co to develop inkjet printers capable of printing photo-quality images. Among the products introduced was a digital camera at $1,000 that can store up to 48 images and is designed to be plugged into a personal computer, enabling the pictures to be displayed and edited on-screen. Details – page two
