Samsung Press Release

Hanover, Germany - 9 March 2006 - Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. brings its new digital photo frame for easy digital picture viewing to CeBIT 2006. The device shows pictures taken with phones or digital cameras on its built in LCD screen, removing the need for printing or storing of hard copy photos in bulky photo albums. Most notable is an embedded feature that allows easy transmission and sharing of digital photos with friends and family. “The digital photo frame with networking capability is a state-of-the-art digital device that helps users cherish their precious photo-memories without loss of clarity or fading. It also allows users to share pictures with friends and family in other locations,” said Yoon Ho Ha, Senior Vice President of the Visual Display Division of Samsung. “Samsung plans to introduce more new concept digital devices throughout 2006.”

Fujifilm UK Press Release

Fujifilm Professional has announced that the final shipment of Fujichrome Velvia 50 has now been received. This means that once the stock held in the company’s warehouse has been sold there will be no more of the film available. Fujifilm has been forced into ceasing production of Velvia 50 due to vital raw materials used in the production of the emulsion becoming unavailable.

Nikon UK Press Release

Nikon has teamed up with the London Wetland Centre to offer an exciting weekend of activities for budding photographers. On Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 May the centre in Barnes will be hosting a Wildlife Photography Weekend. Visitors to the centre will be given the opportunity to see and try the latest Nikon equipment and receive advice from Nikon experts. Wildlife photographer Chris Packham will be at the centre for the whole weekend, leading a programme of wildlife walks and lectures. There will also be the chance to attend sessions led by a Nikon trainer on composition of photographs. For those wanting to learn about digiscoping, the art of taking photographs with a telescope and digital camera, there will be a number of small workshops which will provide an introduction.

NikonNet Press Release

NikonNet and ‘Legends Behind the Lens’ Honor Tony Sweet This March

MELVILLE, N.Y., March 8 /PRNewswire/—Talk to Tony Sweet about photography and before long, the conversation will turn to the subject of jazz.  A jazz drummer for 20 years, Tony’s music experience informs everything he does as a photographer. This March, NikonNet will pay tribute to Tony Sweet and his work in its inspiring monthly showcase, “Legends Behind the Lens.” Tony’s experience in photography is extensive and ranges from shooting for stock, calendars, greeting cards, posters and catalogue sales to authoring fine-art photography books such as Fine Art Nature Photography and Fine Art Flower Photography.  Tony is well recognized as an educator and conducts numerous outdoor and nature photography workshops. He’s also a contributor to Shutterbug magazine.

SanDisk Press Release

SanDisk Announces 4-Gigabyte Capacity—Highest Available—For Its Memory Stick Pro Duo Standard Flash Card Line - Larger capacity Memory Stick PRO Duo card will save more images and video clips on new cameras with high-resolution digital still and video features

HANNOVER, GERMANY, MARCH 9, 2006 – SanDisk® Corporation today introduced a new 4-gigabyte (GB)* capacity, the highest available in the market right now, for its standard Memory Stick PRO Duo™ cards.  The announcement was made at the CeBIT Show in Hannover, Germany, where SanDisk is demonstrating its products in Hall 1, Stand C31 of the exhibition center. The move to a larger capacity Memory Stick PRO Duo card is in response to the release of new high-megapixel cameras as well as hybrid models that combine digital still images and video.  For example, one new camera that takes both high-resolution still images and high-quality MPEG4 video clips, at 30 frames per second, can provide a user with up to three hours of video capacity with a 4GB SanDisk Memory Stick PRO Duo card.

SanDisk Press Release

SanDisk Launches SanDisk Ultra II Mobile Line of Premium Flash Memory Cards - Cards are positioned for feature phones with card slots that can store music, videos and high-resolution digital still images

HANNOVER, GERMANY, MARCH 9, 2006 – SanDisk® Corporation today introduced the SanDisk Ultra® II Mobile line of flash memory cards for multimedia-enabled mobile phones.  The SanDisk Ultra II Mobile memory cards have faster read and write speeds than standard flash memory cards, as well as longer warranty periods.  Faster read/write speeds improve performance of the card for file transfer and play on personal computers.  Also, they may reduce the energy consumption on the batteries of certain phones and are expected to accommodate performance requirements of future mobile phone models.  The announcement was made at the CeBIT Show in Hannover, Germany, where SanDisk is debuting its products at the Mobile Communications Pavilion, in Hall 26, Stand D79, and at the main SanDisk exhibit in Hall 1, Stand C31.

Focus on Imaging Press Release

Wtih yet another record attendance and more exhibitors than ever before, Focus on Imaging has once again underlined its status as Europe’s most important annual photographic and imaging industry event. The final audited attendance figure for the 2006 show, the 17th, was 28,778, compared with 28,381 in 2005. “This is a superb result at a time when the industry is going through a very difficult time,” said show organiser Mary Walker. “It demonstrates just how important Focus is for everyone in the industry as it gives them a unique, all embracing showcase for their products and services.”

Memory Corp Press Release

Memory Corp’s new professional grade memory cards amongst fastest in the industry - Data transfer rates of up to 22.5 MB/sec

Memory Corp – the European designer and manufacturer of digital storage and memory solutions – will introduce its new range of professional grade memory cards at CeBIT 2006 (Hanover, 9th – 15th March). The Pro X CompactFlash and Secure Digital cards are targeted at customers who require the optimum speed, performance and reliability in portable digital storage devices, such as professional digital photographers. Professional photographers need high-capacity, fast and reliable memory cards to capture and secure high-resolution images in every kind of environment. Whilst the PRO X CompactFlash card has a write speed of 20MB per second (133x), Memory Corp’s new Secure Digital and multimedia cards have write speeds of 22.5MB per second (150x). Such speeds are being closely watched by Memory Corp’s competition whose products generally only attain minimum write speeds of 20MB per second.

iView Multimedia and Memory Corp Press Release

Memory Corp encourages digital photographers to manage their creativity with iView Media - iView Media bundled with new PRO X memory card range

LONDON, Mar. 9, 2006 – Digital asset management (DAM) pioneer iView Multimedia and Memory Corp, the European designer and manufacturer of digital storage and memory products, have partnered to promote the importance of cataloguing, archiving and digital asset management through an exclusive product bundle. Memory Corp’s new PRO X range of memory cards, launched at CeBIT 2006 (Hanover 9 th – 15 th March), will include a fully licensed version of iView Media from the award winning DAM software developer iView Multimedia. The purchase of a PRO X memory card will also include an exclusive discount on upgrading to iView Multimedia’s professional DAM tool, iView MediaPro.

Logitech Press Release

New Logitech io2 Digital Pen Features Improved Handwriting Recognition, Advanced Shortcuts Using ioTags; Pen Turns Handwritten Notes Into Microsoft Word Documents in Seconds

HANNOVER, Germany—March 8, 2006—Today at CeBIT, Logitech (SWX:LOGN) (NASDAQ:LOGI) unveiled the new version of the Logitech io2 Digital Pen. The new digital pen—which converts handwriting into digital text in seconds—has improved handwriting recognition and offers a new written shortcut that efficiently transforms notes into a Microsoft(R) Word(R) document. The new io2 pen also is available at a lower retail price. The Logitech io2 Digital Pen’s improved handwriting recognition software learns the user’s personal lexicon and individual handwriting style for a more accurate conversion of notes into digital text.

Ilford Photo Press Release

Introducing a new, major event on the photography student calendar, ILFORD Photo confirms its support for extending the beauty and artistry of black-and-white photography. Reviving ILFORD Photo’s long-standing support of students of photography, the company has launched what will be an annual Student of the Year competition. More than simply judging Student work (a print judgement), this event offers students the opportunity to not only set up the basis of their equipment with a leading camera system, but also to benefit from working alongside leading professional photographers.

Both models will be available in the UK from April 2006 with a guide price of £149.99. A flash diffuser, strap, silicon paste as well as an anti-condensation kit is included in every package.

Casio Europe Press Release

Norderstedt, March 2006 - The Great Barrier Reef on the east coast of Australia is one of the most exciting natural settings on earth. The world’s biggest coral reef offers diving-fans the most beautiful impressions of tropical underwater worlds and is perfect for photography. In order to be able to record these and other moments in pictures and enjoy them again and again, CASIO has designed the two new underwater housings EWC-60 and EWC-70. Both are compatible with each of the two EXILIM digital camera models from the current and new line-up.

Sharpcast Press Release

PALO ALTO, CALIF. (March 8, 2006) – Sharpcast, a leading innovator in real-time synchronization services for digital consumer media and information, has secured $13.5 million in Series B funding. Sigma Partners led the investment, with Series A investors Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Selby Venture Partners participating. Sharpcast is developing a suite of consumer services that dramatically simplifies the way people manage, access, back up and share digital media and information. With Sharpcast services, a person’s PC and mobile phone work together automatically to keep all of their media and information in sync, backed up on the web and instantly accessible wherever they are. The company’s first service, Sharpcast photos, will launch in beta later this spring. People can request an invitation to the beta at www.sharpcast.com.

HP UK Press Release

New HP Scanners Offer Graphics Professionals Incredible Versatility, Quality and Speed - Enhanced transparency capabilities, high resolution and a full professional software package make these scanners ideal for photographers and graphics professionals

LONDON, UK, March 8, 2006 -  HP today announced the HP Scanjet 8300 Professional Image Scanner and HP Scanjet 8300gp Graphic Arts Scanner, giving graphics professionals everything they need from an image-scanning station, ensuring line accuracy and colour consistency. The scanners come with superb resolution, making them perfect for those needing ultra-sharp reproduction. The scanners’ Transparent Material Adapter gives the versatility needed in a professional environment, taking up to eighteen 35mm frames of negative film, eight 35mm framed slides and one frame of middle (120mm) or large (240mm) photographic format.

DIWA member Steves Digicams have reviewed the new 6 megapixel Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ5 camera.

“The LZ5 is very well designed. While it can’t be described as an ultra-compact camera, I found it fits easily in coat or sweatshirt pockets as well as small purses and handbags; thanks in part to its zoom lens neatly retracting into the body. The back of the camera is dominated by its large 2.5-inch LCD monitor, which unfortunately is the only viewfinder. It is however an excellent display and was very effective for menu navigation, image review and as a viewfinder in the bright sun.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ5 Review

Website: Read my Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ5 Review

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DIWA member Steves Digicams have reviewed the new 5 megapixel Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ3 camera.

“The image quality was average. Outdoors it captured the best images in my opinion, with our samples being relatively sharp, well exposed and showing good color saturation. Like the LZ5, noise levels were average when shooting with an ISO of 100 or lower, becoming much more noticeable at 200 and 400. By looking at our ambient light sample of the M&M man, you can see what I mean. While this may not be an issue with those who use the “Normal” exposure mode and can select the desired ISO speed, those who use Simple mode will have to hope the camera is using the lowest setting possible”

Website: Steves Digicams - Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ3 Review

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Micron Technology Press Release

BOISE, Idaho, and FREMONT, Calif., March 8, 2006 – Micron Technology, Inc., (NYSE: MU) and Lexar Media, Inc., (NASDAQ: LEXR) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for Micron to acquire Lexar in a stock-for-stock merger. Under terms of the agreement, each outstanding common share of Lexar will receive 0.5625 shares of Micron stock. Micron anticipates issuing shares in exchange for 81.6 million Lexar shares outstanding. Additional Micron shares will be issued upon the exercise of assumed stock options. The acquisition will strengthen Micron’s position in the NAND flash business and enable the company to deliver innovative NAND flash solutions from design, development and manufacturing to marketing and sales of products to worldwide consumers and device manufacturers. The merger is designed to combine Micron’s technology and manufacturing leadership in NAND flash memory with Lexar’s leadership in NAND controller and system design technology, brand recognition and retail channel strength to create a vertically integrated entity fully focused on the NAND business.

DIWA member Steves Digicams has reviewed the new 5 megapixel Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS2 digicam.

“Coming in at the entry-level of Panasonic’s Lumix line, the LS2 is an affordable point-n-shoot model that features 5-megapixels of resolution, a 3x optical zoom lens, Panasonic’s MEGA O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilization) system, QVGA (320x240) movie mode w/out audio, and 2.0-inch TFT LCD monitor. It offers fully automatic operation for beginners with its Simple mode or one of the pre-programmed creative scene modes. Normal mode is also mostly automatic, but adds options like ISO, White balance, Aspect ratio, AF mode, Color effects, etc.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS2 Review

Website: Read my Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS2 Review

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Texas Instruments Press Release

New Processor Allows OEMs to Rapidly Process High-Quality Images and Shoot High-Definition Video

Giving digital still camera (DSC) manufacturers the benefits of full software programmability with the performance of hard-wired solutions, Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE:TXN) today introduced DaVinci technology optimized for the digital still camera market. The technology includes a new highly flexible processor, a software suite that simulates a full digital still camera system and third parties offering camera-specific algorithms. For more information, please see: www.ti.com/dscinfo. “Offering DaVinci technology specifically for the digital still camera market underscores our efforts to be more than a chip provider and shows our commitment to this space,” said Kanika Ferrell, U.S. marketing manager, digital camera solutions group, TI. “We understand that manufacturers need a partner who is familiar with the entire camera. In fact, TI has a team that built an entire camera system from the ground up allowing us to fully understand the challenges and develop solutions based on this information.”

Casio Europe Press Release

Norderstedt, March 2006 - In good time for the start of spring, CASIO is delighting the camera market with high-grade colour editions of the EXILIM ZOOM EX-Z600, which was introduced in January. The EX-Z600 black sets trends in matt black. The EX-Z600 blue shimmers in elegant blue and gives a great summer feeling. However, the EX-Z600 not only attracts attention through its appearance, but also the technical features of the digital camera are convincing: the extra bright and 2.7-inch TFT colour display permits appropriate adjustment to the scene even during a stronger incidence of light, thus making it easier to take photos. In addition, with the EX-Z600 up to 550 photos are possible according to CIPA Standard with a fully charged Super Life Battery.