RitzBitz

·    Glynn Lavender is retail operations manager of Camera Action Camera House[Link]  and Camera House Digital[Link…the links are different and correct in NLI. Thanks!], in Melbourne, Australia. Learn about this thriving business and Lavender’s goals for his new role as DIMA board member in the newest DIMAcast.

·    Fidelity Electronics Inc., Toronto, Ontario, Canada, announced the asset purchase of Shikatronics Inc. , Brossard, Quebec, Canada, including their digital flash memory, computer memory and imaging accessory product lines. Fidelity is a provider of imaging and consumer products, operating from Toronto, Montreal, Buffalo, and Hong Kong. 

·    PhotoChannel Networks Inc., Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, a provider of online digital media solutions for retailers, signed a 3 year definitive agreement with Costco Wholesale Corp. to provide and operate the Costco online photo service. The service will launch shortly and will allow Costco members to upload and place orders for prints, greeting cards, calendars and other photo gift items on the Costco photo website with options to pick up their prints within an hour and/or have their order shipped to their home. PhotoChannel also provides online photo services to Costco in Canada.

·    A set of 59 new Hubble Space Telescope images were recently released on the 18th anniversary of the NASA Hubble Space Telescope’s launch, reports space.com. The images show galactic collisions and are the largest collection of Hubble images ever released together. The Hubble images capture galaxies in various stages of the collision process and show the variety of new and unusual shapes the mergers can create.

·    CNET Networks Inc., San Francisco, Calif., and Yahoo! Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif., announced a three-year partnership that includes content, advertising, and search marketing components. CNET, a leader in technology media, provides category expertise and content destinations for consumers, while Yahoo! brings a broad advertising platform to increase revenue and distribution for its partners, according to the companies. Under the partnership CNET.com will become a major third-party provider of technology content on Yahoo! Tech and Yahoo! News. CNET Networks will be able to sell ads against its own audience on Yahoo! properties, and Yahoo! will be able to sell display advertising inventory across CNET Networks’ brands, which will be components of Yahoo!’s publisher network. Yahoo!’s toolbar will also be distributed through a new program at CNET Download.com.

·    Canon U.S.A. Inc., Lake Success, N.Y., announced a call for entries for the annual “Canon Photography in the Parks Photo Contest.” The contest invites eligible photography enthusiasts, from now through Sept. 30th to enter the contest by submitting images from any national and state park or monument in America. Participants are invited to enter their “Inspirational Nature Images,” the theme for this year’s contest. Non-professional photographers ages 13 and up may enter. The winning photographer will receive a trip to a park of their choice, and a full suite of Canon photographic equipment. More details are available on www.usa.canon.com/parks.

·    The Hallmark Museum of Contemporary Photography , Turners Falls, Mass., presents a photography exhibit by Stella Johnson. Johnson immersed herself in the lives of three families in poor, rural communities in Mexico, Nicaragua, and West Africa. The black and white images of “AL SOL” represent the relationship between the artist and families and the beauty found in ordinary rituals of daily life. “AL SOL” is at Hallmark Museum of Contemporary Photography through June 15.

·     Canon U.S.A Inc., Lake Success, N.Y., and the American Park Network announced The Canon Forest Program, a nationwide promotional campaign. Beginning in May and running through August, for every 10 new and existing Canon Generation Green products registered, Canon will plant a tree and offer consumers the opportunity to take part in several volunteer programs that will help to revitalize urban parks, gardens and public lands.

·    Wynit Inc., North Syracuse, N.Y., a national distributor in the consumer electronics and digital photography, issued its Spring/Summer 2008 catalog, featuring more than 150 national brands and details on thousands of products available through Wynit. A free copy can be ordered at www.wynit.com.

·    Lexmark International Inc., Lexington, Ky., has received an award from the U.S. Air Force in the form of a 5-year, blanket purchase agreement to provide laser printers, multifunction products (MFPs), consumables, services and support. The contract, awarded as part of a strategic sourcing initiative, is expected to reduce the Air Force’s total output-related costs by more than $40 million, helping to recapitalize its aircraft fleet