Intel And Hewlett-Packard Company Join Forces To Deliver High-Performance PC Imaging

NEW YORK, June 17, 1997 – Quick and easy image capture, editing and publishing capabilities for home and business consumers will soon be realized through the combined efforts of Intel Corporation and Hewlett-Packard Company. The two companies announced today that they will join forces to advance industry specifications that will offer consumers and businesses a future of seamlessly transferable images and transactions.

"People want to send pictures electronically to their family and friends; businesses want to share ideas and exchange information through the use of PC cameras, the personal computer and the Internet," said Ron J. Smith, Intel vice president and general manager, Intel Computing Enhancement Group (CEG). "Intel is teaming up with HP to make the PC the ideal platform for imaging. The combination of Intel's PC platform connectivity and HP expertise in developing the HP-Pavilion multimedia family of PCs will enable us to grow the exciting field of cyberphotography by making the use of images on the PC easy and fun."

"From a home PC perspective, HP sees these specifications as keys to the easy exchange of information and images for consumers and professionals," said Harry W. ("Webb") McKinney, general manager of HP's Home Products Division.

"In addition to supporting Intel's portable PC camera specification, HP has codeveloped the FlashPix™ file format and the Internet Imaging Protocol (IIP), an integrated approach to the distributed viewing, printing and management of Internet images. HP also supports Flash Memory Miniature Card and MMX™ technology, and HP's Home Products Division supports USB (Universal Serial Bus) through its HP Pavilion PCs. HP and Intel, as well as other computer- and imaging- technology leaders, have developed and advanced key building block technologies that enable consumers and businesses to communicate with images in a way that's both easy and compelling," McKinney said.

For the consumer, broad support of interoperability and connectivity specifications will make it easy to download images to their PC, transmit their images via the Internet and print the images without compatibility concerns. For business applications, the same specifications simplify the completion of visual transactions, as well as communicating in ways that are cost effective and highly productive.

Intel and HP will specifically team up to support the adoption of specifications that will accelerate the adoption and ease of use of PC Imaging.

Portable PC Camera Specification
Intel and HP will advance a series of portable PC camera specifications that support interoperability with the PC platform. The key advantage of a portable PC camera will be the greater ease in connecting the camera to the PC platform for image transfer.

FlashPix-Intel MMX Media Enhancement Technology
FlashPix was codeveloped by HP, Eastman Kodak*, Microsoft*, and Live Picture*. Intel supports FlashPix, a resolution-independent file format which maintains image quality as images are exchanged across multiple software applications. The FlashPix industry file format is enhanced by the speed of Intel's MMX technology, using host sharing to accelerate image manipulation and processing.

Universal Serial Bus (USB)
USB is a PC peripheral interface connection for a wide variety of peripherals and devices, including cameras, scanners and printers. Intel has played a major role in creating the USB specification, and was the first company to offer USB PCI chipsets and motherboards and a family of USB peripheral controllers, including the first hub controller. USB-compliant PCs automatically recognize, configure and immediately enable functionality with USB-compliant peripherals. HP Pavilion PCs support USB connections.

Flash Memory Miniature Card
The Miniature Card acts as a reusable electronic roll of film, storing images to be downloaded from a portable PC camera to a personal computer, where they can be edited and sent to a printer or transmitted over the Internet. Flash Miniature Card holds solid state flash memory within a removable card format. The HP Photo Smart digital camera currently uses Intel's Series 100 Flash Memory Miniature Card.

According to IDC-InStat, with over 17 billion pictures taken each year in the United States, (Photo Marketing Association International-1994), digital-still camera sales are projected to grow to over 15 million units sold annually by the year 2000.

Intel is developing the building block technology for visual computing, enabling small businesses to perform on a large scale and for corporations to improve customer satisfaction. This new direction in computing represents a significant opportunity for the industry to deliver new products, reach new customers, increase demand and access new channels. Visual computing includes home and business applications that use 3-D, video and imaging. PC Imaging is imaging within the PC environment, enabling home and business users to capture, edit, store, share and publish images quickly and easily.

Hewlett-Packard Company is a leading global manufacturer of computing, Internet and Intranet solutions, communications products and measurement solutions, all of which are recognized for excellence in quality and support. HP has 114,600 employees and had revenue of $38.4 billion in its 1996 fiscal year. Information about HP and its products can be found on the world wide web at http://www.hp.com.

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.