Kodak Courts Camera Phone Users With New Printer Dock.

This article reports on a new printer dock from Kodak. Kodak introduced a new EasyShare Printer Dock that can produce prints from camera phones, in addition to traditional digital sources. The company also made a replacement in its EasyShare digital camera lineup with a new ultra-zoom model, the 5-megapixel DX7590, which will replace the DX6490. Kodak's new EasyShare Printer Dock Plus will ship on August 2004 for a suggested $199.99. It lets users wirelessly transmit pictures from their mobile phone cameras to the Printer Dock Plus via infrared. In October, Kodak will ship an optional USB dongle for transmitting camera phone images via Bluetooth. The Printer Dock Plus is PictBridge enabled, features a slot for SD/MMC flash memory cards and works with an optional external 8-in-1 memory card reader for producing prints without a computer. The unit's dedicated camera dock works with Kodak's 600/6000 and 700/7000 series of EasyShare cameras. The new Printer Dock Plus can also be connected to a computer and is packaged with a sample photo paper and cartridge kit good for 10 pictures. Kodak sells a 40-print refill pack with paper and ink for a suggested $24.99. The dock also works with an optional remote control for viewing and printing images from television.