Eastman Kodak announced on Wednesday that a group of leading tech firms has teamed together to acquire 1,100 digital imaging and processing patents from the company for $525 million. “Once a thriving camera and photo company, Kodak filed for Chapter 11 in early 2012, hoping to restructure,” reports Wired. “Intellectual property aggregators Intellectual Ventures and RPX organized a consortium of 12 tech companies — Adobe, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Fujifilm, Google, HTC, Huawei, Microsoft, RIM, Samsung and Shutterfly — to make the purchase.” Continue reading Kodak Sells 1,100 Digital Camera Patents to Group of Tech Giants

Despite camera manufacturers shifting much of their focus to overseas events, Engadget still expects some announcements at January’s CES, especially with heavy-hitters such as Canon, Nikon, Samsung and Sony investing in significant floor space.

“Last year’s show brought consumer and advanced amateur models,” notes the post. “Fujifilm introduced the X-Pro1 mirrorless interchangeable lens camera, Canon showed off the PowerShot G1X with a 1.5-inch sensor, Samsung boosted its SMART line of point-and-shoots, while Polaroid delivered the SC1630 Android hybrid.”

“By the end of 2012, all of these additions faded from memory, overshadowed by more powerful ILCs, advanced compacts from Sony and the Samsung Galaxy Camera, respectively,” explains Engadget. “That’s not to say that any of these products were insignificant, but they surely weren’t blockbusters, despite CES-fueled excitement at the time.”

Wireless connectivity and downloadable apps are expected to be the must-have features in 2013. Also anticipated are larger sensors, smaller bodies, lower prices, in-camera filters and new touchscreens (particularly in high-end models). “And while Android may make an appearance in another compact or two, it won’t be the star of the show,” suggests the post.

Cameras with updated sensors and optics will also appear in a larger variety of other devices including TVs, tablets, laptops and smartphones. “Eye-tracking may also have a more substantial presence within select laptops and desktop computers, bringing additional cameras into the picture. We could also see camera-equipped robotic vacuums (for remote monitoring and navigation), and maybe even some home appliance surprises.”

Engadget provides an overview of what it expects we’ll see at CES in early January in regards to display technologies. “The list of tech we’re expecting to see (Ultra HD — aka 4K/8K, OLED, connected TV and second screen interaction) is almost an exact mirror of the high-profile launches from last year’s show,” suggests the post. “The good news, however, is that there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic that this is the year we’ll actually see the technology become available and/or more useful in our daily lives.” Continue reading CES 2013: Display Tech Expected to Highlight UHD and Connectivity

Despite panicked reports regarding recent changes to Instagram’s terms of service, The Verge notes that the Facebook-owned photo-sharing service always had an expansive license to use and copy images, not unlike the agreements of other Web services that store user data. There has been an uproar to the following sentence, released earlier this week: “You agree that a business may pay Instagram to display your photos in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions without any compensation to you.” Continue reading Instagram Users and Privacy Advocates Riled by New Terms of Service

According to a blog post from Hulu CEO Jason Kilar, the video service earned $695 million in revenue in 2012. Additionally, Hulu Plus saw a 50 percent increase in paying subscribers, passing the three million mark.
By comparison, Hulu’s 2011 numbers included $400 million in revenue and less than 1.5 million Hulu Plus subscribers. Continue reading Hulu Earned $695 Million in 2012 and Doubled its Paying Subscribers

YouTube has released a new basic iOS camera app that uploads automatically and makes sharing to social networks as easy as pushing just one button. Simply called Capture, it “comes with a few key features that make it superior to the default iOS camera app: It offers image stabilization and color correction, and users can trim clips and even add a YouTube-approved soundtrack,” reports GigaOM. Continue reading Google Aims to Replace iPhone Camera App with YouTube Capture

Huawei may possibly launch its long-awaited Windows Phone 8 handsets during CES in January. There is also speculation that the company will debut a 5-inch smartphone/tablet hybrid featuring a 1080p screen. “Huawei was one of the hardware partners listed by Microsoft when it revealed its new operating system in June, however despite a few leaks, the premier device from the Chinese manufacturer hasn’t officially appeared yet,” reports Digital Trends. “This could all change at CES, and Huawei could spearhead the second wave of phones running Windows Phone 8 with two new devices.” Continue reading CES 2013: Windows Phone 8 Devices and Hybrid from Huawei

Will the flexible smartphone screen change the face of mobile phone design in 2013 and mark the biggest change since the introduction of the touchscreen? Rumors suggest manufacturing rivals Samsung and LG are working on it. Speculation regarding flexible display development dates back to 2002, and in the last six years we’ve seen some interesting prototypes and low volume products at CES featuring E-ink and Electronic Paper Display technologies. To address slow response times (especially with video) and challenges with handling color, flexible OLED displays emerged. Continue reading CES 2013: Samsung and LG to Debut Flexible Smartphone Screens?

Industry sources have indicated that major players in the mobile market plan to release smartphones with 5-inch displays in 2013. The sources told DigiTimes that manufacturers including Samsung, Sony, LG, Huawei and ZTE are planning phones with full HD 5-inch displays for release in the first half of 2013. Continue reading Smartphones Featuring 5-inch Displays Expected to Launch Next Year

Facebook will offer improvements to its privacy settings by the end of the year to allow users to change and understand their privacy settings without going to a remote privacy settings page.

The social network will provide a dropdown box on “almost every page,” reports The Atlantic. Facebook will also include messages alongside posts to help people understand who can see the specific status update or picture.

Changes to the privacy settings are intended to help people understand who can see content, and to help users target and remove inappropriate or unwanted content.

The changes will not affect Facebook’s data sharing, and Facebook will continue to leverage user data to build targeted advertising.

While The Atlantic classifies the changes as mostly “cosmetic,” it still says they are important because simplifying privacy control could help Facebook gain user trust.

Morgan Stanley’s Katy Huberty issued findings this week regarding the much anticipated and perhaps never-to-be-realized “iTV.” Huberty surveyed 1,568 heads of households in the U.S., asking about smart TV habits. According to her results, 18 percent of those surveyed own smart TVs and 11 percent said they would be “extremely interested” in buying an Apple-branded TV. That percentage translates to 13 million units in the U.S. alone.

Those who already own Apple products were four times more interested in buying an iTV than those without. Perhaps most notable: “46 percent of respondents were willing to pay over $1,000 for an iTV and 10 percent were willing to pay over $2,000. On average, respondents were willing to pony up $1,060, a 20 percent premium over the the average $884 they paid for their current TV set.”

“Bottom line: iTV represents a $13 billion opportunity that could add $4.50 to Apple’s EPS,” suggests Fortune.

Huberty notes three potential “go-to market” strategies: 1) Apple becoming a virtual cable service provider; 2) Apple partnering with pay TV carriers and replacing their set-top box; or 3) Apple bundling its TV with its own digital media receiver.

“Because Apple’s biggest media-device successes (iPod, iPhone, iPad) have been end-to-end solutions — including hardware, operating system and the packaging and distribution of content — Huberty favors the third option,” notes the article.

Most consumers who watch television programs or movies on their wireless devices are not actually doing so while on-the-go, suggests a new report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau. The IAB report found that 63 percent of viewing takes place at home, while 36 percent takes place in a room that already has an existing device available to watch the content.

The report notes that two-thirds of respondents watch more than one hour of video a week on their smartphones or tablets. However, 85 percent of it is consumed in short bites of less than 10 minutes, according to VentureBeat.

“We need to see mobile as a primary screen for on-demand consumption, not as an afterthought,” says David Levin, president of digital agency 360i.

The report also points out that entertainment content is the most consumed, with music in the lead, followed by movie trailers, tutorials and funny short video clips. Perhaps most interesting to advertisers, the IAB study learned that 53 percent of respondents indicated they’re okay with mobile video advertising and 48 percent said the ads should relate to the video content being watched.

After two months of testing, Facebook Gifts is rolling out publicly to U.S. users. TechCrunch predicts that Facebook could earn between $127.5 million and $1.02 billion per year with the social commerce product.

“It lets people choose a friend, often someone who’s birthday or wedding it is, and give them a real-life gift or gift card,” explains the post. “At first it only allowed a few users to access the beta, but then let the service grow organically so anyone who received a Gift gained the ability to give them. It dropped another couple tens of millions of users into Gifts in late November, and now is finally publicly available so anyone in the U.S. can give to other people stateside.”

Since the social network currently touts roughly 170 million U.S. users, the earnings potential is massive. TechCrunch maps out this potential based on number of users and an assumed average gift amount, and speculates that Gifts could account for 3 to 24 percent of the social network’s annual revenue.

“Basically, Gifts will complement Facebook’s advertising and gaming revenue but won’t replace them,” suggests the post. “If it made $510 million a year, that would be $3 per year in additional average revenue per user in the U.S. That would nearly double the U.S. ARPU from $3.40 to $6.40.”

Of course, if successful, these numbers could increase dramatically with an international release.

It has taken an act of Congress, but the volume of television commercials will finally be turned down. The FCC has been fielding complaints from TV viewers since the 1960s and now the government has taken action with a law that went into effect last week.

“Representative Anna Eshoo (D-California) introduced the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (CALM), which passed both the House and the Senate — where the vote was unanimous — in 2010,” reports TIME. “President Obama signed it on December 15, 2010.”

The law requires that the commercials be no louder than the broadcasts that accompany them. It has taken two years to implement, since stations and cable operators had to upgrade their equipment.

“Surprisingly, advertisers didn’t put up much of a fight over the legislation, likely realizing how annoying their ads had become to basically everybody who owns a television,” notes the article. “It’s not clear whether turning the sound down on ads will actually hurt ad awareness, but with more of us simply fast-forwarding through commercials on our DVRs, it probably won’t help, either.”