PRESS: Kodak, Informix To Develop FlashPix Datablade Module

Kodak, Informix To Develop FlashPix Datablade Module=20 SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 11 (SEYBOLD) -- Eastman Kodak Company and Informix Software, Inc. today announced they are developing a FlashPix DataBlade module, a standard software plug-in that provides INFORMIX-Universal Server with native support for FlashPix image format files.=20 The FlashPix DataBlade module will be available to select customers in December 1996, in concert with INFORMIX-Universal Server. The module gives database users access to FlashPix functionality, such as read/write capability for multiple resolutions of the same image, automatic indexing information extraction, and the ability to embed descriptive data along with image files. The new DataBlade module will be complementary to all other DataBlade modules, including text, audio, HTML and video. It will provide customers with a single, integrated information management system to handle all their rich-data assets, as well as their traditional alphanumeric information.=20 According to Alexis Gerard, digital imaging expert and editor ofThe Future Image Report, "Kodak and Informix together are helping customers tackle the unwieldy challenge of storing, managing and deploying high-end image assets along with other critical enterprise information."=20 The FlashPix DataBlade module can be mixed and matched with other DataBlade modules to create applications important to businesses with rich media assets, including those in video production, prepress, printing, advertising, stock photography and entertainment. By combining the FlashPix DataBlade module with a "visual intelligence" DataBlade module, customers can build visual queries, avoiding cumbersome key-word searches. The FlashPix DataBlade module will automatically extract indexing information from each FlashPix image entered into the database. Images can also be searched by other attributes, such as photographer, camera information, date or topic.=20 "As business communications increasingly depend on networked images, Kodak will bring its imaging to intranet and Web environments," said Aidan P. Foley, vice president and general manager, Digital Motion Imaging, a component of the Kodak Professional Motion Imaging business unit. "The FlashPix DataBlade module is an early example of our commitment to networked imaging solutions beyond the desktop."=20 David Cope, general manager, DataBlade Business Development Unit, Informix, said, "Organizations that need to manage volumes of images across the enterprise are no longer willing to settle for the inefficient, file-based solutions of the past. As a plug-in to INFORMIX-Universal Server, the FlashPix DataBlade module will provide customers with a more efficient and optimized way to manage their critical image-based media assets, along with all their other information types, in a single, elegant database management system."=20 About FlashPix=20 FlashPix technology was developed collaboratively by Kodak, Hewlett-Packard Company, Live Picture Inc. and Microsoft Corporation.=20 For example, it enables users to access multiple resolutions of an image from a single file, optimizing the way image files are accessed. The FlashPix format also allows users to extract and store descriptive data, along with image data, in each FlashPix file. Through the FlashPix DataBlade module, these image-handling capabilities will now be available to database users.=20 The FlashPix DataBlade technology enables users to optimize the management of high-resolution images. Users will be able to view, edit, transmit, print or otherwise manage images at any resolution they choose, without having to juggle multiple versions of their image files. This will streamline the transmission of images over networks, including the World Wide Web. Users will also be able to insert and extract metadata into their image files, which optimizes the management of devices that use the files. The technology will be supported by Sun Microsystems' Solaris, and Microsoft Windows NT platforms.=20 About DataBlade Technology DataBlade modules are standard software extensions that snap into the database to extend its capabilities to handle any information type, including image, text, audio, HTML, and more. Customers can mix and match shrink-wrap DataBlade modules from third-parties or Informix, or write their own, to create innovative business applications. DataBlade modules are available today in a variety of key domain areas, such as text, image, audio, video, and geo-spatial mapping.=20 For more information, please visit the Informix World Wide Web home page at http://www.informix.com or the Kodak home page. Kodak and FlashPix are trademarks of Eastman Kodak Company. The FlashPix=99 format will be defined in a specification and a test suite, developed and published by Eastman Kodak Company in collaboration with Hewlett-Packard Company, Live Picture, Inc. and Microsoft Corporation. Only products that meet the specification and pass the test suite may use the FlashPix file format name. The following are worldwide trademarks of Informix Software, Inc. or its affiliates, registered in the United States of America, as indicated by (R), and numerous other countries worldwide: INFORMIX(R), and DataBlade (R).=20