January 2, 1997 - Kodak announced that it has completed the sale to Danka Business Systems PLC of the sales, marketing, and equipment service operations of its Office Imaging business and the facilities management business, formerly known as Kodak Imaging Services. In connection with the acquisition, Kodak will supply high-volume copiers and printers to Danka, who will be the principal distributor of them under the Kodak brand name. Kodak will retain the manufacturing and research and development functions.
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January 13, 1997 - To help meet the rapidly growing demand for Kodak writable CD discs, Kodak officially opened Kodak Cork Ltd, a new production facility in Youghal County, Cork, Ireland (pronounced "yawl"). The writable discs allow individual users to record their own discs using a desktop computer and a CD writer.
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January 29, 1997 - Kodak and Wang Laboratories reached an agreement for Kodak to acquire Wang's software business unit, which will operate as a separate Kodak subsidiary. This will enable Wang to focus all its resources on its network and desktop integration and service business, and strengthen Kodak's position in the growing imaging and work management software market.
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January 29, 1997 - Kodak introduced four new GOLD Films that employ COLORSHARP Technology.
- KODAK GOLD 400, 200, and 100 Films provide the best combination of color accuracy, color saturation, and sharpness, across the entire color spectrum, of any 35 mm color-negative consumer film.
- KODAK GOLD Max Film is an 800-speed film that delivers excellent picture quality in virtually any picture-taking conditions-indoors or outdoors, stills or fast action.
These new films reflect consumer demand for photographic products that are more intuitive and convenient, freeing consumers to decide simply how they want to use their film, not which film to use.
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February 7, 1997 - Kodak celebrated the second anniversary of its World Wide Web site. Traffic more than doubled since late December as more than 250,000 consumers began taking advantage of "Kodak Picture This," a free application enabling people to send photo-realistic multi-media postcards to family and friends around the world. The site has more than 10,000 pages of information on products and services, software downloads, on-line chat sites, questions and answers, contests, etc. The Kodak Web site has won several awards and is frequently listed on Netscapes's What's Cool list and in Macromedia's "Shocked Site of the Day" area.
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February 20, 1997 - The U.S. Government filed with the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, the case Kodak brought charging the Government of Japan with preventing foreign importers from gaining a meaningful share of the Japanese market for consumer photographic products.
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February 20, 1997 - Kodak introduced five new ADVANTIX Cameras. Three of them are based on the other high-end models and will be sold exclusively by photo speciality dealers. The new ADVANTIX 1600 Auto Camera Outfit is a fixed-focus camera offering three size formats. Among other features, the ADVANTIX 4700ix Zoom Camera displays camera messages and annotations in five languages.
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February 20, 1997 - KODAK Picture Network was announced by Kodak to enable people to view their photos, order reprints, and share their pictures with friends and family around the world, all via the internet. Long-term, on-line image storage with easy access will also be possible.
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February 20, 1997 - Kodak demonstrated its visually interactive imaging display technology at PMA. The image alternates between two separate scenes, is approximately 24 x 10 inches, and could add an exciting new retail look at photo speciality stores or for retail photo locations within larger stores.
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February 26, 1997 - CEO George Fisher extended his contract at Kodak for two additional years, until December 31, 2000. Kodak said the extension ensures Fisher's continued leadership as the company continues on its path to global growth in the markets it serves.
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April 8, 1997 - Kodak Park, in Rochester NY, announced that emissions of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) have been reduced by 93%. CFCs have already been eliminated from direct use in manufacturing; the task remains to eliminate them from the refrigeration needed in the processes for making film and paper.
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April 14, 1997 - Kodak unveiled the KODAK DIGITAL SCIENCE™ DC120 Zoom Digital Camera, the first point-and-shoot digital camera.
The DC120 Camera is targeted for those using desktop publishing or preparing presentations, as well as those in mobile office situations, such as insurance adjusters, real estate agents, or law enforcement personnel.
Features include:
- A CCD imager that delivers high total image resolution of 1.2 million pixels (1280 x 960).
- A motor-driven 3X zoom lens.
- A built-in automatic flash.
- FLASHPIX™ format support (developed by Kodak, Hewlett-Packard, Live Picture Inc., and Microsoft Corp and now the industry standard).
- An LCD for reviewing, organizing, and deleting pictures.
- "Albuming" capability for organizing and storing images.
- Removable, matchbook-sized memory cards (availabale in 2 MB and 10 MB sizes) to supplement the camera's internal memory.
- The easy-to-use software necessary for using and sharing the digital images in MACINTOSH or WINDOWS 95 Software. (WINDOWS NT software compatibility was added in October '97.)
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April 15, 1997 - At the AIIM 97 conference in New York City, Kodak and its subsidiary Eastman Software demonstrated a broad range of document and work management solutions developed for customers in telecommunications, insurance, healthcare, manufacturing, banking and finance, and government. In the Kodak Business Imaging Systems booth, Kodak showed new products, including document scanners, a compact disc library, and a large-format optical disk library with upgraded storage capacity.
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April 21, 1997 - Adobe Systems announced it will offer users accurate, predictable color, by incorporating KODAK Color Management System (CMS) software into Adobe Illustrator 7.0 for WINDOWS software. The Kodak CMS is also licensed for use in QuarkXPress, Corel products, Macromedia's FreeHand, Deneba's Canvas, Fractal Design's Painter, and Micrografx's Picture Publisher, as well as being used in the textile industry, where spot color matching is so important.
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April 22, 1997 - Kodak announced it will open an office of the Chief Operating Officer in Hong Kong, staffed by Executive VP and Assistant Chief Operating Officer Carl F. Kohrt. They emphasized that his relocation to Asia will enable Kodak to move more rapidly to capitalize on trends in emerging and established markets alike.
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April 24, 1997 - Kodak announced a preliminary agreement for Kodak to increase its stake in Chinon Industries, Inc to 50.1%. Chinon designs and manufactures digital cameras and scanners. The two companies closely collaborated on the development and production of digital cameras, including the KODAK DIGITAL SCIENCE DC20, DC25, DC40, DC50, and DC120 Cameras. Chinon produces the KODAK IMAGELINK Scanner 500.
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May 19, 1997 - The Kodak brand has been selected for induction into the Marketing Hall of Fame, the company revealed. For consumers worldwide, the Kodak brand stands for quality, reliability, and trust. Kodak states that their challenge is to continue presenting these attributes to a younger generation of "wired" consumers.
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September 15, 1997 - Kodak introduced the KODAK DIGITAL SCIENCE DC210 Zoom Camera, Kodak's second point-and-shoot digital camera for both home or business use.
Features include:
- An 1152 x 864-pixel image sensor.
- A 2X zoom lens.
- A built-in automatic flash.
- Storage of images in JPEG or FLASHPIX file format.
- Removable, matchbook-sized memory cards (availabale in 2 MB and 10 MB sizes) to supplement the camera's internal memory.
- "Drag and drop" finished file capability, making the camera compatible with virtually any computer platform, including Sun, Silicon Graphics, Windows, Windows NT, Apple Macintosh, and Unix systems.
- Software for reviewing, organizing, correcting, e-mailing, deleting, or printing images.
- Video (NTSC or PAL) and TV compatibility
- Infrared compatibility for direct camera-to-computer communication without a connector cable.
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October 15, 1997 - Kodak and Sun Chemical Corporation announced an agreement to form a joint venture company, Kodak Polychrome Graphics. This new company will be 100% focused on the graphic arts market, supplying it with sensitized products as well as computer-to-plate and other digital solutions, as the industry makes the transition from the traditional to the digital world.
November 5, 1997 - Cameras for NASA's Mars Surveyor 1998 mission will have Kodak supplied solid state imaging sensors. These sensors were chosen because they combine a megapixel device and an electronic shutter design. Mechanical sensors would have added weight and complexity to the mission. Sensors similar to these are found in many Kodak and other manufacturers' products for applications such as security, machine vision, traffic control, and digital still photography.
December 15, 1997 - Kodak announced it would set up and operate the largest photo lab in the world in Nagano, Japan to serve photojournalists at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games. Besides traditional processing and printing, services offered will include loaning photographers digital cameras, scanning their prints or negatives, and helping them convert their pictures into digital images and transmit them to newsrooms around the world.
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