OSTA to Manage EVERPLAY Specification for Interchange of Digital Photos,
Video and Related Audio Files Across a Broad Range of CE Devices
CAMPBELL, Calif., Feb. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Eastman Kodak, Fuji Photo
Film Co., Ltd. and Konica Minolta Photo Imaging Inc., founders and owners
of the EVERPLAY specification, today announced an agreement with the
Optical Storage Technology Association (OSTA) to transfer ongoing
administration and future development of the EVERPLAY image
interoperability specification to OSTA. The EVERPLAY specification is
designed to ensure compatibility of digital photos and videos across a
broad range of consumer products for future generations.
When the EVERPLAY specification was finalized in February 2006, Kodak,
Fujifilm and Konica Minolta initiated a royalty-free license program and
urged widespread adoption by companies throughout the consumer digital
imaging industry, as well as the consumer electronics, software, photo and
image processing industries. "The EVERPLAY founders agree that it is time
to transfer the standard to an established trade association to manage
ongoing administration and engage a more open standards process to further
promote its adoption," said Frank M. Ranalletti, Director, Technology
Initiatives, Digital & Film Imaging Systems, for Eastman Kodak. "OSTA has a
long history of creating and promoting widely adopted compatibility
specifications including the MultiPlay specification for CDs and DVDs and
the Universal Disk Format (UDF) file system. The EVERPLAY standard is based
on OSTA's MPV(TM) (MusicPhotoVideo) core technology for exchanging and
playing collections of digital music, photos, and videos among consumer
electronics devices, various storage media and across the Internet. As a
result, we felt that OSTA was best suited for the task."
"We are very pleased that OSTA has been selected to advance the
EVERPLAY specification and promote its adoption as an international
standard," said David Bunzel, OSTA president. "It offers excellent
interoperability benefits to the imaging industry, and has great potential
beyond imaging to facilitate storage, search, exchange, printing and
playback of consumer data, with the recognition and organization of the
images or content available across multiple devices."
Under terms of the memorandum of understanding between the EVERPLAY
founders and OSTA, the specification will be administered as a working
group within OSTA. The EVERPLAY specification and trademarks will continue
to be licensed freely to products and services that are compatible with the
EVERPLAY standard. OSTA will maintain the everplay-spec.org website.
OSTA representatives will be available to meet with potential licensees
of the EVERPLAY specification at the upcoming Photo Marketing Association
International Convention and Trade Show in Las Vegas, March 8 - 11.
Interested parties may contact Debbie Maguire at debbie@osta.org to find
out more about EVERPLAY and our activities at PMA.
EVERPLAY Background
Methods to organize and preserve digital images have evolved
independently by many different companies and have lost interoperability
among different manufacturers systems. There are also potential playback
problems as time passes, systems evolve and formats change. The EVERPLAY
specification aims to resolve these issues and respond to consumers' needs
to protect images and enjoy widespread interoperability. The specification
is designed to make it easy to implement in products and services and uses
next-generation XML language to guarantee interoperability.
By signing the licensing agreement, which is available on the EVERPLAY
website (http://www.everplay-spec.org), any company can acquire a royalty-free
license to implement the specification, use the trademarks and obtain
rights to the patents owned by the EVERPLAY founders. In addition, a
software development kit (SDK) v.1.10 and verifying tool v1.10 are
available at no cost. OSTA will now manage the administration, licensing
and future development of the EVERPLAY brand and specification.
The original Picture Archiving and Sharing Standard (PASS), which was
the name of the project to develop the EVERPLAY specification, was awarded
the prestigious Best Technology in Europe 2005 Award at the Technical Image
Press Association (TIPA) European Photo & Imaging Awards 2005.
About Eastman Kodak Company
Kodak is the world's foremost imaging innovator. With sales of $13.3
billion in 2006, the company is committed to a digitally oriented growth
strategy focused on helping people better use meaningful images and
information in their life and work. Consumers use Kodak's system of digital
and traditional products and services to take, print and share their
pictures anytime, anywhere; Businesses effectively communicate with
customers worldwide using Kodak solutions for prepress, conventional and
digital printing and document imaging; Creative Professionals rely on Kodak
technology to uniquely tell their story through moving or still images; and
leading Healthcare organizations rely on Kodak's innovative products,
services and customized workflow solutions to help improve patient care and
maximize efficiency and information sharing within and across their
enterprise.
More information about Kodak (NYSE: EK) is available at http://www.kodak.com.
About Fujifilm
Fujifilm Group is a leading global provider of imaging, information and
document-related products and services, and a pioneer of a wide range of
digital systems. It had global revenues of Yen2.5 trillion (US$23.6
billion, at the rate of Yen107=US$1) in the year ended March 31, 2005 and
75,638 employees worldwide. Its Imaging Solutions segment includes digital
cameras, color film as well as photofinishing equipment/services. Flat
panel display materials, medical imaging, graphic arts and other businesses
constitute its Information Solutions segment, and digital color copiers and
other office products/services comprise the Document Solutions segment.
Through development and selective application of its advanced digital,
network, image processing, and other proprietary technologies, the Fujifilm
Group has expanded from its original field of silver-halide photographic
films into diverse new business fields. As a global company with a
reputation for the highest quality and reliability, Fujifilm aims to make
innovative use of the most advanced technologies to create beautiful images
and wide-ranging information, and provide the imaging, information, and
document solutions that will best meet the increasingly sophisticated needs
of the world community. Fujifilm is an environmentally friendly, humane
enterprise and an exemplary global corporate citizen. More information
about Fujifilm is available at http://www.fujifilm.com/.
About Konica Minolta
Konica Minolta Group's business domain spans "from imaging input to
output." The Group offers diverse products and services for new digital
imaging environments in a wide range of fields. Our business domain is
broad, including office equipment, optical devices, medical imaging,
graphic imaging and measuring instruments. More information about Konica
Minolta is available at http://konicaminolta.com/.
About the Optical Storage Technology Association (OSTA)
The Optical Storage Technology Association (OSTA) was incorporated as
an international trade association in 1992 to promote the use of recordable
optical technologies and products. The organization's membership includes
optical product manufacturers and resellers from three continents,
representing more than 85 percent of worldwide writable optical product
shipments. They work to shape the future of the industry through regular
meetings of DVD Compatibility, Commercial Optical Storage Applications
(COSA), MPV, ODAT and UDF committees. Interested companies worldwide are
invited to join the organization and participate in its programs by
contacting an OSTA representative at (408) 253-3695, by fax at (408)
253-9938, or by addressing its Web site at http://www.osta.org.
SOURCE Optical Storage Technology Association
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Related links:
http://www.osta.org
http://www.everplay-spec.org
CONTACT:
Jan Johnson of MultiPath Communications,
+1-714-633-4008, jan@multipathcom.com, for Optical Storage
Technology Association
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