PC World - The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has voted to investigate three patent complaints — about semiconductor circuits, camera phones and flash memory chips — that could lead to products being banned from import into the U.S.
PC World - Canon has shelved plans to start construction in January of a new digital still camera plant in Japan due to a rapid market decline, it said Wednesday.
Reuters - Japan’s Toshiba Corp and U.S. partner SanDisk Corp will cut NAND flash memory production by 30 percent from January, as the global economic slowdown hits demand for the microchips used in digital cameras and portable music players.
AP - The holiday season brings good tidings for shutterbugs. Whether you’re shopping for someone new to digital cameras or a seasoned hobbyist, you’ll find megapixels priced extremely favorably this year.
PC World - After months of waiting, Nokia finally announced the N97, the company’s second (unreleased) device to challenge the iPhone and revive to the N-series to their former glory. With a 3.5″ touchscreen, 5-megapixel camera and 32GB of memory, the N97 is one phone worth waiting for in the New Year.
InfoWorld - Why you must have it: You’re shooting photos on your digital camera, but no one can see them until you get back to your Internet-connected computer.
PC Magazine - The Canon EOS 5D Mark II began shipments to U.S. dealers Tuesday, possibly ushering in a new era in digital imaging: a device that’s both a first-rate digital still camera and a first-class high-definition video camera.
AP - Eastman Kodak Co. said it is suing South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. for infringing various digital-camera patents it obtained between 1993 and 2001.
PC Magazine - Lens maker Sigma Corp. said Tuesday that it has acquired Foveon, a three-layer high-resolution digital-camera sensor maker.
Investor’s Business Daily - Scientists have developed a software program that can duplicate a key from just a photograph of the key. They say this should teach people to think of keys as sensitive visual information, especially given that cheap image sensors have made digital cameras pervasive. The researchers at Univ. of Calif., San Diego, used just a cell phone camera photo of a key in one demonstration. In another demonstration, they used a photo taken from 200 feet away with a telephoto lens.
NewsFactor - Motorola has launched a new mobile-imaging handset that combines imaging, software and online storage technology from Kodak with a Wi-Fi-enabled smartphone. Designed to let users click and instantly share photos in several ways, the Motozine ZN5 was to become available Monday from U.S. wireless carrier T-Mobile.
AP - Eastman Kodak Co. said Thursday its third-quarter profit more than doubled, driven by sales of digital cameras and inkjet printers, but warned of a shortfall in full-year operating earnings and revenue that will likely result in targeted job cuts.
Investor’s Business Daily - A new service called My Mobile Witness lets users turn their camera phones into personal protection tools. The service is designed to help users when they are in a situation that has them on edge, such as letting strangers into their homes. Users take a photo of that person with their phone and send it to My Mobile Witness. The free service gives the message a time stamp and stores it in its digital vault. If a user ends up getting into trouble, the service gives police access to the message. Owners of a real estate firm developed the service after they got worried about their agents’ safety.
PC Magazine - The PhotoPlus show in New York is around the corner, and Michael Miller is looking forward to checking out the new higher-resolution cameras. But more megapixels can also mean images can include a lot more visual noise. How do the professionals solve the problem? Miller explains.
Reuters - Sony Corp (6758.T) slashed its annual operating profit forecast by 57 percent to far below market expectations, citing a firmer yen and tough price competition in the flat TV and digital camera markets.
PC Magazine - With the economy tanking, credit limits shrinking, and 401(k)’s dwindling, will consumers tighten their belts this holiday season when it comes to digital cameras, MP3 players, video games, and other gadgets? Probably not, the Consumer Electronics Association predicts.
AFP - MySpace and Hewlett Packard on Tuesday announced an alliance aimed at getting people to print out more of the billions of pictures digitally stored at the world’s leading social networking website.
AP - Nintendo’s hit DS portable machine will come with a digital camera that will allow players to mix images, scribble on photos and create new faces, the Japanese game maker said Thursday.
PC Magazine - On Tuesday, Dell announced four all-in-one printers, plus two lasers and two inkjet models that range from small, photocentric wireless models for the home or home office to workgroup behemoths with sizzling speed and enormous duty cycles.
PC Magazine - Pentax announced an all new entry-level digital SLR, the K2000, on Monday. A 10.2-megapixel camera, the K200’s most notable feature is its price.