Digital Camera News: PhotoPlus Expo, Photography of DCR Reviewer on Magazine Cover, Kodak Outsources Manufacturing

2006 PhotoPlus Expo

This year's PhotoPlus Expo will be held in New York City at the Jacob Javits Convention Center from November 2 through November 4.  The PhotoPlus Expo is a "premier resource for information, solutions, ideas, and networking, gives seasoned photographers, advanced amateurs and imaging professionals the tools they need to stay ahead of the curve in the fast-changing world of photography and imaging".

This year, you can expect keynotes from: Tom Wujec, on the studio of the 21st century; David Friend of Vanity Fair on how 9/11 changed the way we view images; and Joel Meyerowitz on the New York City Parks project.

A comprehensive seminar program, with about 100 different seminars are targeted at all photographic levels, from beginners to seasoned professionals will occur during the Expo.  Eleven different tracks ensure that there is something interesting for everyone.

In addition to the keynotes and seminars, there is a comprehensive exhibit floor, with exhibits from over 200 manufacturers.

For more information, see: http://www.photoplusexpo.com

Photography from DCR Reviewer Howard Creech On Cover of California Agriculture Magazine

Our very own Howard Creech, who keeps us entertained with his reviews, has the distinction of having his photography on the cover of the July-September 2006 issue of California Agriculture magazine.  This magazine is published by the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources of the University of California.  Howard's picture of some bees harvesting pollen from a Passion Flower was a perfect fit for their issue concerning bio-engineering.  Bees, as they pollinate plants, will allow transgenic plants to hybridize with other crops and native plants.  Howard originally took the picture for our Olympus Stylus 800 review.  To see the cover, head to: http://calag.ucop.edu/0603JAS/toc.html

Kodak Outsources to Flextronics

Kodak has announced an agreement in which Flextronics International will manufacture and distribute Kodak consumer digital cameras.  All manufacturing requirements, including assembly, production and testing will be handled by Flextronics, as well as operations and logistics services.  Kodak will retain all of its intellectual property and still handle high level system design, product look and user experience, and perform advanced research and development for future cameras.

With the agreement, Flextronics will acquire a "significant portion" of the Kodak Digital Product Center, Japan, Ltd. in Chino and Yokohama Japan and associated camera design functions and its employees and the digital camera manufacturing, assembly and warehousing requirements and related employees of Kodak Electronics Products, Shanghai Co. Ltd. in China.  About 550 Kodak personnel will be transferred to Flextronics facilities.

Security Holes in WiFi Enabled Nikon Coolpix P1

Security researchers at informit.com have published an article describing various attack vectors against the wireless enabled Nikon Coolpix P1.  Various techniques can be used, including a denial of service attack, listening in on the file transfer process, and uploading an executable file (that the computer thinks is an image).  While the Nikon is most likely not the only type of device that has these holes, it is what the researchers had to play with.

For full details about how they did it, see: Wireless Gadget Vulnerabilities: The Nikon Coolpix P1