| Konica Minolta EVERPLAY Standard |
Konica Minolta Photo Imaging Inc., Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. and Eastman Kodak Company,
founding members of the former Picture Archiving and Sharing Standard (PASS), today
announced the EVERPLAY standard designed to ensure compatibility of digital photos and
motion images across a broad range of consumer products for future generations.Methods to organize and preserve digital images have evolved independently by many different companies and have lost interoperability among the different systems. There are also potential problems as time passes, systems evolve and formats change. The new EVERPLAY standard aims to resolve these issues and respond to consumers’ needs to protect images and enjoy widespread interoperability. The standard is designed to make it easy to implement and uses XML next-generation language in its specification. Konica Minolta, Fujifilm and Kodak will begin a free license program immediately and call for the adoption of the EVERPLAY standard by all consumer digital imaging companies. The goal for products and services is to use images interchangeably and movies ubiquitously while at the same time, acknowledge the value for protecting consumers’ images. By signing the licensing agreement, which is available on the Web site, any company can acquire a royalty-free license to execute the specification, use the trademarks and obtain rights to the patents owned by the EVERPLAY founders. Further, the following tools will be provided at no cost: Software development kit (SDK) v1.10 and Verifying tool v1.10. Details can be obtained from: http://www.everplay-spec.org In concurrence with the completion of the standard, the new name “EVERPLAY” replaces “PASS” and shall be used as an interchangeable name for the specification and related communication. A trademark, “EVERPLAY,” and associated logo have been registered to help with future identification of products and services compliant to the standard.                                |
About Konica Minolta
Konica Minolta is an innovative global company that continuously delivers inspiring products and services in the field of business imaging, and leads the market through advanced digital technologies and enhanced reliability.
Konica traces its history back to 1873 when Rokusaburo Sugiura began selling photographic materials at his Tokyo apothecary. By the start of the 20th century, the company had developed it’s first camera and range of photographic products. In 1971, Konica released Japan’s first plain paper photocopier, developing a dominant position in high-speed, high quality document management systems and imaging products.
Minolta was founded in 1928 to initially manufacture cameras and then went on to pioneer technologies including; a latent image transfer system, the world’s first magnification and reduction photocopier and the world’s first photocopier to produce two-colour images in a single pass. Minolta went on to achieve a strong global presence as a pioneer in the field of high quality imaging technology.
