In another move towards convergence,
Eastman Kodak subsidiary PictureVision and
NDS Group Plc Tuesday agreed to develop
a new business that combines TV, digital photography and the Internet.
The new venture, named NDS Interactive Photo Applications, will enable
consumers to obtain prints of digital photographs by placing orders
via their digital TV sets.
The partners believe that their service will provide the best
way to access pictures stored on the Internet’s top photographic
sites, including Kodak PhotoNet online. There are currently
40,000 participating Kodak PhotoNet online retailers worldwide.
“NDS Interactive Photo Applications is just one of the numerous,
exciting consumer applications being made possible by digital
TV and the convergence of the digital TV with the Internet,”
said Abe Peled, president and CEO of NDS.
David McWhorter, acting chief executive officer for PictureVision,
said that the two companies were going to revolutionize digital
photography forever by expanding the experience from the PC to
television.
The features of the new service will include facilities that
allow users to access photos from anywhere in the world, sharing
the pictures with friends and family. It will also give digital
camera users an easy way to obtain photographic prints of their
images.
Under the terms of the agreement, NDS will develop and deploy
the new applications in return for a share of reprint revenues.
Out of a workforce of 900, NDS has over 300 employees engaged on
research at centers in Israel and the U.K. Its largest shareholder
is Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.
NDS reports that over 15 million digital TV viewers currently use
elements of its technology.
