OSTA to Manage EVERPLAY Specification for Interchange of Digital
Photos, Video and Related Audio Files Across a Broad Range of CE Devices
February
27, 2007 - FUJIFILM Corporation, Eastman Kodak 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. "After starting the
EVERPLAY license program, a lot of people and companies had interest
and downloaded the EVERPLAY specification v.1.10 from the web site,"
said Hideki Morikawa, Operations Manager, Business Incubation Division,
for FUJIFILM Corporation. "We think it is important to set EVERPLAY as
an international standard for it to be widely adopted, and this gives
customers tremendous benefits."
"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, Consumer Digital Imaging
Group, for Eastman Kodak. "OSTA has a long history of creating and
promoting widely adopted compatibility specifications including the
Universal Disk Format (UDF) file system used on every DVD in the world
and the MultiRead specification for interoperability of recordable CDs.
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 compliant to 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
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
to schedule a
private meeting.
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 (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 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 Yen2.667 trillion
(US$22.8 billion, at the rate of Yen117=US$1) in the year ended March
31, 2006 and 75,845 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 will use
leading-edge, proprietary technologies to provide top-quality products
and services that contribute to the advancement of culture, science,
technology and industry, as well as improved health and environmental
protection in society.
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 www.kodak.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 are invited to join the organization and
participate in its programs by contacting OSTA at (408) 253-3695, by
fax at (408) 253-9938, or by addressing its Web site at http://www.osta.org.
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