RitzBitz

·      This week ’s DIMAcast features an interview with Brad Burgess, staff manager for messaging products, for Alltel Wireless. The company offers a service called Alltel Pic Transfer, which automatically saves every picture customers snap on their camera phones to their home computers and Web albums. Although theVerizon Wireless unit of  Verizon Communications recently announced in June it is acquiring Alltel, the Pic Transfer service will continue. Burgess discusses the implications of this service on mobile imaging.

·      This week on the AIE Imaging Executive Podcast, host Paul Worthington speaks with one of the true computer pioneers who is now leading the charge in a new arena: using 3-D cameras as input devices for virtual worlds, computer applications, and more. Mitch Kapor is the developer of the first spreadsheet, Lotus 1-2-3. He is now chairman of the board for Linden Research, the creators of the Second Life simulation.

·      Mediaclip, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, a provider of software solutions for personalized photo products, signed a distribution agreement with Softec ApS, Aalborg, Denmark, an e-commerce and order management software company for the exclusive distribution of Mediaclip’s Photo Product Creator Suite in the European market. The European market will now have access to photo product creation software that differentiates it from the competition by providing the same workflow for all products and across all platforms.

·      CVS/pharmacy, Woonsocket, R.I., and Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, N.Y., announced that CVS/pharmacy is the first U.S. retailer to offer customers both hardcover photo books and Kodak Picture Movie DVDs in minutes using the Kodak Picture Kiosk. Both of these products are now available in more than 4,500 CVS/pharmacy stores nationwide. From July 13-19, CVS/pharmacy cardholders can create one in-store photo book; from July 27 - Aug. 2, cardholders can create one Kodak Picture Movie DVD, and receive CVS/pharmacy Extra Bucks equivalent to the price of the Photo Book or Kodak Picture Movie DVD.

·      Wynit Inc., North Syracuse, N.Y., a distributor of print equipment and other consumer electronic and digital photography products, announced a major expansion to its professional and amateur print lines with the addition of HP Designjet printers, HP Photosmart printers and HP Scanjet products. The HP Designjet large-format printer family group works well for businesses that need large and wide-format printing that combines high-throughput color printing, copying, and scanning with unattended operation.

·      IAC/InterActiveCorp’s search engine unit Ask.com struck a deal that allows its search box to be displayed across online photo and video site Photobucket.com, reports Reuters. Under the terms of the multi-year deal, Ask.com’s display advertising and paid search ads, which are displayed based on search terms entered by the user, will also be displayed on Photobucket’s site when a customer uses the Ask search box. Financial terms were not disclosed. Photobucket, which is owned by News Corp., is the world’s largest photo sharing site with more than 44 million users.

·      Storefront.com, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, has been granted trademark approval by the U.S. Trademark Office for the name OmniShop. OmniShop is Storefront’s multifunction kiosk platform featuring a services for photos, music, video, software, internet access, prepaid cards, loyalty cards, custom applications, and more. Storefront will begin offering OmniShop to current and future clients who have interest in providing multi-function versatility to their kiosk network.

·      General Imaging Co., Torrance, Calif., the worldwide exclusive licensee for GE digital cameras, received a Sears Holdings Corp. Partners in Progress Award for excellent market performance in the digital imaging category. Established more than 20 years ago, the Partners in Progress program recognizes sources for product or service quality, innovation, diversity and overall market performance.

·      Grins 2 Go, San Diego, Calif., an event and portraiture photography franchise, announces its new blog at www.Grins2Go.com/Blog . This blog will address the many facets of business ownership from franchising, entrepreneurship, and the various layers of getting into business. The blog will also focus on what’s been learned about small business ownership by experts as well as personal experience.

·      Verbatim Corp. Inc., Charlotte, N.C., will launch a consumer website aimed at showing digital camera owners how to back up their images, reports TWICE. The new site –PhotoStorageGuide.com — is currently live and will offer advice to consumers on how to backup, print and share their digital images. Verbatim will promote the site with a photo contest where consumers can submit summer photos and enter to win a Nikon D40 DSLR, says the article.

·      Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc.  (MSLO), New York, N.Y., announced its Martha Stewart Crafts line is expanding. Two new assortments — Martha Stewart Create and Martha Stewart Celebrate — are debuting in the majority of Wal-Mart stores across the United and Canada this month. MSLO teamed with EK Success, one of the country’s leading scrapbooking and creative consumer products companies to manufacture, market, and sell the products. Martha Stewart Crafts launched in 2007 at arts and crafts stores in the United States and Canada. That same year, MSLO further extended its footprint in the $30 billion U.S. crafts market with an investment in Wilton Industries, Woodbridge, Ill., which owns EK Success.

·      Office Depot Inc., Delray Beach , Fla., recently opened its first green store, located in Austin, Texas. The new store, which is pre-certified to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards by the U.S. Green Building Council, will use less energy and water in its daily operations, increase recycling and leave a much smaller overall environmental footprint than the typical store of its size, says the company. The store includes T5 energy-efficient lighting, more than 50 active skylights that adjust with the path of the sun and provide natural light to the store, solar panels on the roof, a reflective roof with a membrane that helps to prevent absorption of the heat from the sun, water conservation interior fixtures, an Energy Management System, and an in-store recycling center, among other features.

·      With the 25th Anniversary of the AVP Crocs Tour under way, PNY Technologies Inc., Parsippany, N.J., announced its Serve, Set and Spike photo contest. Pro volleyball fans can submit their best photos of any AVP player in action for a chance to win a weekend trip to the AVP Crocs Cup Championship in Manhattan Beach, Calif., Sept. 19-21. Entrants can submit an unlimited number of photos at www.pny.com/avpcontest.