HP PhotoSmart C30 digital camera

HP PhotoSmart C30 digital camera

Hewlett-Packard announced the first 1-megapixel camera with digital zoom available for under $400 -- the HP PhotoSmart C30 digital camera.

HP believes the PhotoSmart C30 camera, which also features enhanced image-quality capabilities, provides the best price/value ratio ever offered in a 1-megapixel digital camera.

"This combination of new features, coupled with a very competitive price, will put digital photography within reach for even more users," said Cheryl Katen, general manager of HP's Home Imaging Division. "Whether they're looking for a high-quality photo or want an image to send over the Web, this digital camera will meet their needs."

The HP PhotoSmart C30 digital camera's improved image quality is based on a built-in CCD (charged-coupled device) and primary-color (RGB) filter and HP's image-processing enhancements. These image-quality features help users create bright, true-to-life photos that offer exceptional clarity. The new RGB filter is designed to reduce the chromatic noise level and capture images that are sharper and more pleasing to the eye. The color sensor also enhances image sharpness and color fidelity, creating more appealing images with noticeably finer details and rich, fully saturated colors.

The camera's 2X digital zoom enables users to minimize file size and boost image size by cropping out unwanted portions of a photo. The new feature provides users with photos that are instantly ready to e-mail to friends and colleagues.

Digital zoom is built into the HP PhotoSmart C30 digital camera, making it unnecessary for users to tote around heavy, breakable lenses. The user still has the convenience of a compact, lightweight camera with the advantage of zoom.

The HP PhotoSmart C30 digital camera comes with a color LCD (liquid crystal display) located on the rear panel of the camera. The color display allows users to preview photos they want to take, review and select the photos they want to upload to their PCs or delete unwanted photos on the spot.

The camera ships with a 4MB removable CompactFlash memory card, which acts like re-usable digital film. The camera works with all industry-standard CompactFlash cards, which are available in various capacities, and it also includes an ac adapter and long-life batteries.

The HP PhotoSmart C30 digital camera comes with HP photo-finishing software, which automatically downloads photos whenever the camera is connected to a PC; features index-page printing; and provides exclusive page-layout capabilities to enable efficient use of paper.

U.S. Pricing and Availability: The HP PhotoSmart C30 digital camera, available now, is expected to sell for approximately $399 through retailers in North America. The camera is expected to be introduced in other regions of the world at later dates.

HEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY

www.hp.com

HP PhotoSmart C20 digital camera

HP PhotoSmart C20 digital camera

Hewlett-Packard introduced the HP PhotoSmart C20 digital camera, a full-featured, high-resolution (one megapixel) digital camera that allows users to capture and view special moments quickly and easily. This is the second HP digital camera after the HP PhotoSmart.

The PhotoSmart C20 digital camera provides home consumers with everything they need to take real photographs. Snapshots taken with the camera and printed on the HP PhotoSmart printer produce 3.5-inch by 5-inch photographs with the look and feel of conventional photos.

HP PhotoSmart C20 Digital Camera Features

The PhotoSmart C20 digital camera, which ships with an AC adapter, batteries and everything users need to begin taking real photographs immediately, was designed to include the features digital-camera users value most.

A color display on the rear panel of the new digital camera enables users to preview photos they want to take. They also can review and select the photographs they want to upload to their PCs and edit out shots they don't want. A new integrated TV connection with an extra-long cable (16.4 feet) allows users to display photographs on their TVs in the comfort of their living rooms -- or in their hotel rooms during vacations or business trips.

The camera comes with a high-capacity removable CompactFlash memory card, which acts like re-usable digital film, giving users unlimited photo-taking capabilities. A 4MB card ships with every camera. Up to 30MB flash memory cards also are available.

"The HP PhotoSmart C20 digital camera gives new meaning to 'instant gratification,'" said Irene Pecenco, general manager of HP's Home Imaging Division. "Users can view their photos immediately on their computers or TVs; they no longer have to wait for the photo-processing lab. Using their PCs and the PhotoSmart printer and photographic paper, they can produce snapshots, reprints and creative projects in the comfort of their own homes."

New HP Photo-finishing Software

The HP PhotoSmart C20 digital camera includes new PhotoSmart photo-finishing software, which automatically downloads photos when the camera is connected to a PC. Users can then print an index print of all their photos for easy viewing and selection -- all within 45 minutes of opening the box. New exclusive page-layout features allow users to use paper efficiently by printing multiple photographs on the same sheet of paper.

The new HP PhotoSmart photo-finishing software also provides advanced image-management features that enable users to crop, lighten or darken, adjust color and add captions or text to their photos before printing.

U.S. Pricing and Availability: The HP PhotoSmart C20 digital camera is expected to sell for about $699. The new photo-finishing software is included in the box with every camera. The camera is expected to be available in North America in the spring.

HEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY

www.hp.com

Snapshot of American Photo-taking Habits - HP Survey Shows Consumers Eager to Use PC Photography

Study reveals Snapshot of American Photo-taking Habits

HP Survey Shows Consumers Eager to Use PC Photography 

Every weekend people around the world take more than 2,000 pictures every second. Yet, after glancing at them, most people store their photos away and forget them.

Most people, however, say they want to do more with their pictures and would, if there were a simple, inexpensive way to develop photos on their home PC. This fact and others were discovered in a recent survey commissioned by Hewlett-Packard Company.

The survey, conducted for HP by International Communications Research, an independent marketing research firm, examined American photography habits including how photos are stored, developed and displayed. In addition to their current photographic habits, respondents also were asked how they would use PC photography -- a breakthrough in consumer photo technology that transforms a personal computer into a photo lab. Those surveyed said they would use PC photography in the following ways:

- print only selected pictures rather than all photos taken (86 percent);

 -enlarge or reduce pictures (83 percent);

- store photos in a computer so they will never be lost, torn or yellow with age (83 percent);

- make copies (81 percent); 

- touch-up or change an image (78 percent);

- make creative projects, such as calendars, greeting cards, collages and newsletters (77 percent); and 

- send photos to friends and family over the Internet (70 percent).

"It's clear from this survey that families are looking for new and innovative ways to enrich their photography experience," said Vyomesh Joshi general manager of HP's Home Imaging Division. "The proliferation of PCs in the home is providing people with a flexibility that didn't exist before. People can now choose which photos they want, print those in the convenience of their own home and control the look of those photographs by editing, cropping and enhancing them with photo-editing software."

A New Generation of Photography

Many innovations in printing and scanning technology have paved the way for PC photography. With traditional photography, control and creativity end when people take the photo and drop the film off at the processing lab. PC photography helps meet a family's desire to develop photos quickly and share copies with relatives and friends. It also provides creativity and control, allowing the picture-taker to store and enhance photos and to incorporate those images in calendars, newsletters, invitations and a variety of other creative projects.

"PC photography is changing the fabric of amateur photography," said Mike McNamara, technology editor of Popular Photography, the nation's leading consumer photography magazine. "New photographic innovations combined with PC technology are revolutionizing the way families will preserve their memories in the future."

A Profile of America's Photo Habits

Other research underscores HP's findings about the passion Americans have for taking and displaying photos. Research by the Photo Marketing Association (PMA), for example, shows that more than 80 percent of all U.S. households are active picture-takers. PMA's survey also found that women take more pictures than men, and they more frequently request double prints to give to family and friends. The PMA study also found that respondents do very little with photos aside from placing them in albums. HP's research agreed with this data, finding that at least 75 percent of the photos developed every year in the United States are left in the photo-processing envelope or are stored away in a box.

Hewlett-Packard Company

www.hp.com

HP PhotoSmart PC photography system with a digital camera

Hewlett-Packard Company introduced the HP PhotoSmart PC photography system, the first PC photography system designed for home users.

The new PhotoSmart PC photography system, which includes a photo printer, photo scanner, digital camera and photographic papers, allows home consumers to take original digital photos or scan in existing photos, slides or negatives and then edit or reproduce those photos at home. The system offers a new level of flexibility and creativity, enabling users to make professional-looking prints, reprints and enlargements of photos that can be incorporated into personalized greeting cards, calendars and postcards.

"We expect PC photography to change the way people take, enhance and develop their family photos," said Antonio Perez, HP vice president and general manager of the Inkjet Products Group. "The new PhotoSmart PC photography system enables families to create and share their pictures on personalized cards, invitations or even calendars. Even antique photos can be reproduced, without the risk of loss or damage."

All three PhotoSmart PC photography products come with Picture It!, Microsoft Corp.'s new image-manipulation software. Picture It! enables home users to edit and enhance photos easily in a variety of creative ways, including cropping out unwanted elements, removing "red eye," adding borders and clip art or merging several photos together for a collage or other project.

The first product to be available is the PhotoSmart digital camera, which shipped today to retailers in the United States. The PhotoSmart photo printer and photo scanner are expected to be available to U.S. users this summer. The system is expected to be available in other parts of the world later this year.

PC Photography Market Poised for Growth

"I predict that this market will be as hot or hotter than the Internet this year," said Alexis Gerard, executive editor/publisher of the Burlingame, Calif.-based "The Future Image Report." "We have reached the point where the average home computer has enough performance to process images interactively. As users discover how much more value they can get out of photos by using a PC photography system, their excitement will drive the next expansion of the technology industry."

The potential size of the market is staggering, in light of the following statistics cited by the Photo Marketing Association: Amateur and professional photographers take 2,000 pictures every minute of every day all around the world, yet fewer than 2 percent of these pictures are enhanced or enlarged. In the United States alone, more than 710 million rolls of film were developed in 1995 -- the equivalent of 2.5 billion pictures.

"HP's position as the leader in the computer printer and scanner markets makes us uniquely qualified to develop this new PC photography system," said Perez. "HP first included photo-quality features in its products last year, when we introduced the HP Pavilion multimedia PC with a built-in photo scanner and with our DeskJet 693C home color printer. The new PhotoSmart PC photography system is the next logical step in making this rapidly emerging market a reality."

HP PhotoSmart PC Photography Components

Each component in the PhotoSmart PC photography system may be purchased separately. 

HP PhotoSmart digital camera eliminates the need to wait for photos to come back from a processing lab by enabling users to download their pictures to a PC instantly. Using removable HP Photo Memory Cards, which are available in 2MB or 4MB configurations, the PhotoSmart digital camera allows users to take an unlimited number of photos. The camera, which is built around an all-glass, seven-element lens, is designed to capture images in any of three resolutions -- normal, fine or superfine. The camera is equipped with an integrated flash and features automatic focus and exposure control and an automatic date and time stamp. HP expects the new digital camera to sell for about $399.

HP PhotoSmart photo printer is designed to provide users with professional-quality prints that look and feel as if they came from a professional photo-finishing lab. The printer features a straight-through paper path designed for thick photo papers. The printer uses six ink colors (in two tri-chamber cartridges) to deliver richer, smoother colors and the subtle tones associated with photos. The printer prints an 8 x 10 photo in five minutes and 4 x 6 photo in 2.5 minutes. The printer is capable of printing a sheet up to 8.5 x 11 for collages, photo album pages or newsletters. HP expects the new photo printer to sell for about $499.

HP PhotoSmart photo scanner is designed to achieve unsurpassed picture quality. It is the only photo scanner that can help users preserve precious memories by enabling them to scan and restore their favorite photos, negatives and slides. The ability to scan negatives and slides provides the clarity of detail necessary to produce high-quality enlargements. The scanner comes with software that allows the user to preview a scanned photo in order to balance colors, correct exposures and flip or rotate images before completing the final scan. The photo scanner will allow a user to preview the image on-screen in about 10 seconds. It completes a typical scan in less than a minute. HP expects the new photo scanner to sell for about $499.

HP PhotoSmart photographic papers are available in matte and glossy finishes. Photos printed on these papers are virtually indistinguishable from traditional photos. In addition to the photographic papers, HP also offers PhotoSmart Greeting Cards and Note Cards (with coordinating envelopes), which can be printed on both sides, and PhotoSmart Post Cards. The PhotoSmart Calendar Kit can be purchased to make customized 12-month photo calendars at home. The papers work seamlessly with the PhotoSmart photo printer.

Hewlett-Packard

www.hp.com