HP Photosmart 8250 Printer Announced, Keyboard for Digital Camera Users, SeaLife Underwater Camera Announced, Kodak Image Sensors

HP Announces the HP Photosmart 8250 Photo Printer

The new HP Photosmart 8250 Photo Printer is one of HP's new products that is using a new ink jet printing platform.  HP has spent a lot of money on improving the printhead and allowing it to be "scalable".  They can vary the density of nozzles on the print head to meet the differing demands of different users.  The new technology boasts a 4x6 print in 14 seconds.

From the press release:

The HP Photosmart 8250 Photo Printer, priced at $199,⁽⁵⁾ and HP Photosmart 3000 All-in-One series, priced from $299 to $399:⁽⁵⁾ These are designed for consumers who want to quickly print batches of photos, unattended, in the convenience of their homes. These world's fastest photo printers feature six individual HP Vivera ink cartridges and produce beautiful photos and crisp text at blazing speeds - 4 x 6-inch photos in as fast as 14 seconds for as little as 24 cents a print.⁽⁶⁾ The HP Photosmart 8250 Photo Printer is available this month via hpshopping.com and major retailers. The HP Photosmart 3000 All-in-One series is expected to be available this fall.

Keyboard Meant for Digital Camera Users

An article on Microsoft Watch is expecting Microsoft to announce two new keyboard bundles for home users.  In particular, one is aimed at digital camera users.

From the article:

The other hardware model due out Tuesday is a bundle tailored for digital camera owners, consisting of a mouse, keyboard and digital-imaging software (Digital Image Standard 2006), sources said. The "Wireless Optical Desktop 5000" is designed to "turn any desktop into a virtual dark room," said sources claiming familiarity with Microsoft's positioning.

New Underwater Camera from SeaLife

Found on Photography Blog, Sealife Pioneer Research has announced the SeaLife DC500 underwater digital camera.  A 5.5 megapixel camera, with a 3x optical zoom and 2" LCD, it's a camera "Made for Divers by Divers".

For more information, see the article at Photography Blog.

Kodak Announces New Image Sensors

From the press release:

 ROCHESTER, N.Y., July 11 -- Eastman Kodak Company reached another milestone in its digital growth strategy with the announcement of innovative new image sensors for mass-market products such as camera phones and digital still cameras. The company also announced important new alliances that will extend its reach in the market for image sensors.

The company announced availability of the first CMOS image sensor (CIS) devices to arise from its manufacturing alliance with IBM, as well as development of a reference design that incorporates these new image sensors with multimedia processors from Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI).  Kodak also announced an agreement to license key CIS manufacturing technologies to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC), the world's largest dedicated semiconductor foundry.  A critical component in any digital imaging device, image sensors act as the "eye" of a digital camera by converting light into electric charges to begin the capture process. 

"These announcements are tremendous examples of the speed with which Kodak is moving to grow its digitally oriented businesses," said Mary Jane Hellyar, President, Display & Components, and Senior Vice President, Eastman Kodak Company. "We are very excited that our manufacturing alliance with IBM is now yielding its first products, and that we now are expanding our participation in this industry through new alliances with other leaders, such as TI and TSMC.  The market for image sensors used in consumer devices is very exciting, and we will continue to move quickly to deploy our core competencies in image science and sensor research to participate strongly in these high-volume consumer applications."

Kodak's new three- and five- megapixel CIS devices -- the KODAK KAC-3100 and KAC-5000 Image Sensors -- are targeted to camera phone and consumer DSC and DVC applications.  Both sensors incorporate KODAK PIXELUX technology, a proprietary design that offers manufacturers of consumer digital imaging devices improved image quality, higher performance, and more features than other CMOS-based image sensors on the market.  The new products are manufactured at IBM's Burlington, VT, plant as part of the manufacturing collaboration announced last year between Kodak and IBM.