Today, Nokia and Kodak announced a collaboration agreement that will offer Nokia mobile phone users convenient solutions to store and print digital images. Users of Nokia imaging phones, such as the Nokia 6600, will be able to upload, store, share and order prints of pictures with their handset using the Kodak Picture Center Online service. Nokia and Kodak will also jointly develop kiosk printing services and other retail printing solutions to empower mobile users to turn their favourite pictures into prints.
The rollout of the Kodak Picture Center online service started in Europe today and will be followed by countries in Asia-Pacific in the second half of 2003. In the Americas, Kodak already offers its Ofoto service, with a similar functionality, to users of the Nokia 3650 imaging phone.
"This initiative is a strong demonstration of Nokia's dedication to bring new value to the digital imaging market through the benefits of mobility," says Juha Putkiranta, Senior Vice President, Imaging Business Unit, Nokia Mobile Phones. "The collaboration leverages Nokia's expertise in mobile imaging devices and knowledge of mobile consumers, and Kodak's expertise in photography. By matching the complementary skills of Nokia and Kodak, two world-class brands, we are able to provide the mobile marketplace with best-of-breed mobile printing solutions for the benefit of our customers."
"This cooperation brings together two leaders in their markets - the world's best mobile communications company with the world's best photography company," said Claudio d'Amico, Regional Business General Manager and Vice President, Consumer Imaging, Europe, Africa and the Middle East (EAMER). "Kodak's long heritage in photography has enabled us to bring to market leading-edge digital solutions to enable mobile phone users to access an exciting range of photo services. This is part of our broad-based strategy that provides consumers with as many options to print as possible - from home to retail to online."
With the Kodak Picture Center Online, owners of a Nokia 3650, Nokia 7650 and Nokia 6600 phone with an integrated digital camera can store their snapshots to an online photo album. Thanks to a Kodak application on their handset, users can also simultaneously order prints from the service. Later, the user can access and retrieve the picture from the virtual photo album, forwarding it again to another Multimedia Messaging -enabled and compatible device such as a mobile phone.
The Kodak Picture Center Online application will be distributed in sales packages of the Nokia 3650 and Nokia 6600 devices. The Kodak Picture Service Online application can also be downloaded from the Nokia and Kodak websites free of charge for existing users of the Nokia 7650 and Nokia 3650 imaging phones.
To date, Nokia and Kodak have already collaborated in a number of markets in Asia Pacific in the area of local printing. Owners of the Nokia 7650 and Nokia 3650 imaging phones have access to more than 1,500 Kodak Picture Makers kiosks across the region, allowing them to print out their favourite pictures on paper, as stickers, personalised calendars, and enhance the pictures with special templates from a wide selection of themes.
About Nokia
Nokia is the world leader in mobile communications. Backed by its experience, innovation, user-friendliness and secure solutions, the company has become the leading supplier of mobile phones and a leading supplier of mobile, fixed broadband and IP networks. By adding mobility to the Internet Nokia creates new opportunities for companies and further enriches the daily lives of people. Nokia is a broadly held company with listings on six major exchanges.
Eastman Kodak Company and infoimaging
Kodak is the leader in helping people take, share, enhance, preserve, print and enjoy pictures - for memories, for information, for entertainment. The company is a major participant in infoimaging, $385 billion industry composed of devices (digital cameras and PDAs), infrastructure (online networks and delivery systems for images) and services & media (software, film and paper enabling people to access, analyze and print images). Kodak harnesses its technology, market reach and a host of industry partnerships to provide innovative products and services for customers who need the information-rich content that images contain. The company, with sales last year of $12.8 billion, is organized into four major businesses: Photography, providing consumers, professionals and cinematographers with digital and traditional products and services; Commercial Imaging, offering image capture, output and storage products and services to businesses and government; Components, delivering flat-panel displays, optics and sensors to original equipment manufacturers; and Health, supplying the healthcare industry with traditional and digital image capture and output products and services.
Further information:
Nokia
Nokia Mobile Phones
Communications
Tel: +358 7180 08000
E-mail: Nokia.mobile.phones@nokia.com
www.nokia.com
Kodak
Brian Bottomley
+44 (0) 1442 845978 (voice)
Mark Jackson, Ketchum for Kodak
+44 (0) 20 7611 3858 (voice)