Kamera Digital News

Pentax in talks on camera production with Samsung

Pentax in talks on camera production with Samsung
Reuters via Yahoo! News

TOKYO (Reuters) – Pentax Corp. (7750.T) would like to jointly produce digital single lens reflex (SLR) cameras with a unit of South Korea’s Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and is in discussions about a deal, Pentax’s chief executive said on Wednesday.

In an interview with Reuters, Fumio Urano also said strong sales of digital cameras and cost cuts would allow its imaging division to book a smaller-than-expected loss in the business year that ended on March 31 and to swing to a small profit in 2006/07.

Urano said Pentax would aim to ship about 3.0 million digital cameras in 2006/07, which started this month, up about 8 percent year-on-year.
That forecast includes a doubling of digital SLR models from an estimated 120,000 units in 2005/06.

Pentax said in October that it and Samsung Techwin Co. Ltd. (012450.KS) would jointly develop digital SLR cameras to pool resources and cut costs, but the agreement did not extend to joint production.

Urano said Pentax was in discussions about possibly making digital SLR bodies with Samsung, believing it would be more efficient to make them together. Pentax would continue to make the interchangeable lenses on its own.

“We have signed an agreement for joint development but going forward we will be talking about various things including how best to handle production,” Urano said. “The body is basically the same so it would be best to make it together in one place.”

Urano said Pentax would likely be able to hit its sales target of 160 billion yen ($1.4 billion) in 2006/07, but said it would be difficult to achieve its operating profit target for that year of 10 billion yen, nearly double its 2005/06 estimate.

Urano also said he has put aside 10 billion yen for acquisitions over the next year.

He said any acquisitions would likely be to strengthen its life care division, which includes its endoscopes and artificial bone businesses.

Add comment April 5th, 2006

Navman Unveils GPS/Camera Combo

Navman Unveils GPS/Camera Combo
PC Magazine via Yahoo! News

In what is a first in the GPS category, Navman is introducing a new GPS that combines turn by turn navigation with a digital camera.
The new iCN750 will feature a 4-inch WQVGA (480-by-272 pixel) touch screen, a GPS unit preloaded with maps, the latest SiRF starIII low-power GPS receiver chipset, and a digital camera.

While the device is priced at a point consistent with an automotive GPS, the iCN750 is designed to be used both as a portable GPS unit as well as a traditional camera.

By combining the two technologies, the iCN 750 can automatically geocode their pictures. Latitude and longitude information are stored in the EXIF information inside the image file. Navman is also introducing a new website that will let users share their NavPix library with their friends.

The iCN 750 sports a new user interface with eleven user-selectable data fields that are available at a touch of a button. The unit runs off either a power adapter or internal rechargeable batteries.

Click here to read about Navizon, a peer-to-peer “GPS” system.

PC Magazine recently got a sneak peek at a pre-production unit, and the new features do, indeed, look nice. We’re anxiously awaiting a production evaluation unit so that we can review all of the features in detail. Be sure to check our our reviews site soon for a full product review.

The iCN750 has a list price of $799.95, and is expected to be available in early May.

Add comment April 5th, 2006