FujiFilm Digital Imaging Printing Services
FujiFilm Press Release
The New Addition To Fujifilm Digital Imaging Services
Innovative Digital Camera Printing Services
PHOTOKINA 2004, COLOGNE, GERMANY, September 28, 2004 – Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. has supplied Fujifilm Digital Imaging Services (FDi services) to global photo retailers, and introduced various digital services such as the Fujicolor CD, Print@FUJICOLOR, Digital Photo Center etc., since the introduction of the Digital Minilab Frontier. Responding to both growing demand for print services and global expansion of digital camera sales, retailers have adapted the Digital Minilab Frontier to offer FDi services under the name of Fujifilm Digital Imaging shop (FDi shop). The following are the new FDi services on display at Photokina 2004.
My Fujicolor Printer A new Internet printing service will be added to Print@FUJICOLOR. In this new system, the FDi shop sells or gives away the My Fujicolor Printer ordering software to their customers. By installing the software onto their PCs, customers can place their digital camera print orders via the Internet directly to the FDi shop that provided the software. Customers can then either pick up their prints at their FDi shop or have them delivered to their homes. Because customers place orders to their local FDi shop using a CD, and not a web browser, operations are easy, particularly for those who are not familiar with using a PC.
FDi shops can benefit from the My Fujicolor Printer ordering software by building up their own customer base, as customers who use the software are expected to repeatedly order prints from the same FDi shops that provided it. Furthermore, as all orders are routed to Fujifilm´s central server, the FDi shops will not need their own server and can easily start their own Internet printing business without creating their own websites. This system will be available in spring 2005 in Europe, and early 2005 in the rest of the world.
New Digital Photo Center Customers bringing their digital print orders to FDi shops are initially offered a variety of ordering options, including the Digital Photo Center, the Printpix Digital Print Station and Princiao. They are free to personally select the print service and quantity that best suit their needs. At Photokina 2004, Fujifilm proudly announces the introduction of a new type of the Digital Photo Center that provides solutions for printing from digital cameras as well as from camera-phones. The new Digital Photo Center handles Bluetooth data as well as mini SD Cards, Memory Stick DuoTM, while offering outputs from the Printpix Digital Color Printer NC-400D for prints on regular paper or NC-471D for prints on sticker paper. In addition, the new Digital Photo Center incorporates the new GUI, allowing customers to place orders with easier operation. The new Digital Photo Center will be available from early 2005.
The Digital Photo Center can be an ideal solution for digital camera printing services not only at the FDi shop but also at various other locations. Print orders from the Digital Photo Center can be transferred via portable media or the Internet to the FDi shop to print with the Frontier. For example, retailers who have installed the Frontier at their main store can offer digital camera printing services at their branch stores even without installing the Frontier into each store. In addition, Frontier shops located in a shopping mall can place Digital Photo Center terminals in various locations within the mall, allowing customers to drop off their orders at the nearest terminal and pick them up at the Frontier shop at their convenience. The ´´Hub and Spoke´´ solution makes it possible for retailers to increase opportunities of digital camera printing services with minimal investment, and will be available from early 2005.
´´Kiosk@Home, Kiosk@Retail´´ My Fujicolor Printer, Digital Photo Center and Hub and Spoke solutions exhibited at the Photokina 2004 in total realize user-friendly digital photo print order environment. Thanks to this environment, digital photo print orders would become more convenient and yet affordable at anywhere, any time. Microsoft Corporation and Fujifilm together pursue such digital photo print order environment, under catch phrases ´´Kiosk@Home´´, and ´´Kiosk@Retail´´. Seamless access toward easy to use print order screen makes interactive collaboration between ´´Kiosk@Home´´ and ´´Kiosk@Retail´´. Visitors to Photokina 2004 can experience at-home digital camera printing at both the Fujifilm and Microsoft booths. Image files can be uploaded at the Microsoft booth and the finished photo prints made by Digital Minilab Frontier can be picked up at the Fujifilm booth.