businessnews

Apple Acquires UK Start-Up that Could Provide Major Boost to iPhone Camera

Apple has quietly acquired a UK-based imaging start-up whose technology could lead to a huge boost in iPhone camera performance. The company, called Spectral Edge, pioneered an "image fusion" technology that uses infrared photos and machine learning to produce photos with more "colour, detail and clarity."

Olympus CEO Backtracks, says Camera Business May Be for Sale: Report

The back and forth between Olympus and the public continues, and the news is grim. After officially denying rumors of an imminent imaging business shut down, Olympus' CEO backtracked on some previous comments today, implying that the company's camera business may be up for sale.

Rumor Claims Olympus will Shut Down Its Camera Division Within a Year

Over the weekend, an admin on the Personal View forum published the shocking claim that "closure is near" for Olympus' camera division, writing that the company's camera business was less than a year away from being shut down. The claim has sparked a firestorm of speculation and rebuttals.

Surprise: Kodak’s Film Business Grew 21% Year-Over-Year

Kodak released its Q3 revenue report yesterday, and while the company is reporting a year-over-year loss of $5 million on total revenues of $315 million, there's a very interesting bright spot in the finances: revenues for Kodak's film business grew by 21 percent year-over-year for Q1 through Q3.

Foodspotting Bought Up by OpenTable for a Cool $10M in Cash

Over the past three years, Foodspotting has made a name for itself by using user-generated pictures to help you find the tastiest dish in the vicinity. And even though we've seen an anti-photo movement in upscale restaurants recently, the app clearly still has a lot to offer. We say clearly because reservation company OpenTable just agreed to buy the company for $10M in cash.

Kodak Brand License Holder JK Imaging Shrouded in Mystery

When Kodak announced that it had reached a brand licensing deal with JK Imaging, hardly anybody questioned the move. It meant that Kodak-branded cameras were not a thing of the past -- there's even an upcoming Micro Four Thirds offering -- and after all, Kodak probably has standards when making deals like this.

Interestingly, that's exactly what Kodak said. The company's corporate affairs spokesperson Krista Gleason was clear that the company has "guidelines and standards in place to protect the brand that each of [its] licensees must follow." But nevertheless, there is surprisingly little information out there about JK Imaging Ltd itself.

Photography Portfolio Website Zenfolio Acquired by Art.com

Art.com is "the world's largest online specialty retailer of high-end wall art." Zenfolio offers "online photography presentation and sales solutions for professional photographers and enthusiasts." Knowing that, Zenfolio's acquisition by Art.com announced earlier seems like a match made in sales heaven.

Temporary-Photo Sharing App Snapchat Raising $10M+, Valued at $70M

If you haven't heard of the photo sharing app Snapchat yet then you probably will soon. The app -- which blew up earlier this year and is about to secure a boatload of venture capital -- is built around an incredibly simple concept: you don't always want to share photos on a permanent basis.

With Snapchat you can share a photo with a friend just like you would with any other sharing app, but instead of that person now having your photo forever, the photo comes with a "self-destruct" time limit à la Mission Impossible.

Facebook Says It Will Monetize Instagram. Would You Like an Ad with that Filter?

Ever since Facebook acquired Instagram for a ridiculous sum of money earlier this year, people have been expecting the social media goliath to ruin it in one way or another. That's because while the small team behind Instagram may have been happy with just the fame part of fame and fortune, a company like Facebook is used to getting both.

Admittedly, so far the downsides of the acquisition have been few and far between. Instagram is growing like gangbusters and it seems Facebook is trying to stay hands off when it comes to its handling of the service. Really the only downside has been the removal of Twitter integration. But, of course, the meddling has to start sometime, and according to Business Insider that moment isn't far off.

Canon to Target Chinese Market Amidst Lingering Anti-Japanese Sentiment

Over the last couple of months, a political skirmish between Japan and China over the ownership of a set of islands has caused anti-Japanese protests all across China, affecting many of the Japanese manufacturing facilities. Some companies -- most notably Panasonic and Canon -- were forced to shut down operations and evacuate their premises as a result of the violent protests. Things got so bad that Chinese photographers had to camouflage their Japanese-brand cameras with red tape and Chinese flags.

Despite the political atmosphere in the world's most populous nation, Canon has China squarely in its sights as it plans its next moves for international expansion.

Pentax Pulling Out of the Compact Game, Will Focus on DSLRs and Mirrorless

Last October Ricoh sealed the deal with Pentax, buying out the company for a sizeable $124-million. Since then we haven't seen any major changes as Pentax has gone about its business as usual. That, however, isn't going to be the case for much longer. According to the President of Pentax Imaging Ricoh, Noboru Akabane, there is a major change on the way: Pentax will be dropping compact, fixed lens camera development all-together, leaving all of that to Ricoh.

Olympus in Final Stages of $623M Sony Investment Deal

Ever since their financial scandal, Olympus has been looking to bring on a big name investor to help get them out of trouble. Earlier this month that investor seemed to be Panasonic, but when that fell through everybody looked to the remaining three possible investors -- Sony, Fujifilm and Terumo -- to see if anybody was going to make the leap. According to Japanese business daily Nikkei, that investor is Sony.