Press Release: Microsoft Debuts New Digital Imaging Tools
Microsoft Corp. today launched Microsoft®
Digital Image Suite 2006, a powerful package of easy-to-use tools designed to
help consumers organize, enhance and share their rising number of digital
memories. The new digital imaging software helps consumers, from the novice to
the sophisticated photographer, easily find their favourite snapshots and video
clips and do more with them in just a few clicks.
According to PMA Marketing Research, 25 billion
digital photos are expected to be taken this year alone, and that’s not
counting all the digital video consumers are capturing. Digital Image Suite 2006
includes intuitive tools such as the Hierarchical Keywords and Hover Thumbnail,
offering a more personalized, easy way to manage photos and video. In addition,
with filters and tone adjuster in the Black & White Effects feature,
consumers can turn ordinary color photos into extraordinary works of
art.
“Digital
photography is everywhere in our lives, and although taking pictures has become
fun and exciting, organizing and sharing them has become a challenge,”
said Kevin Gilbert, professional photographer and managing partner of Blue Pixel
Inc. “If you are using Windows® XP, this product fits perfectly into
your digital life. Everyone will find something in it to stimulate their
creativity and have more fun with digital
photography.”
Microsoft Digital
Image Suite 2006 makes it easy to find, view and organize photos and videos with
the following new tools:
* New!
Hierarchical Keywords and Labels provide stacked tags that consumers can use to
organize, sort through and find their images in the way that best suits them
— whether that’s finding all the photos of a family vacation or a
picture of a certain
someone.
* New! Hover
Thumbnail enlarges thumbnail images whenever a mouse hovers above them, making
it easy to view the image, along with details such as date taken, file type and
size, resolution, and assigned Labels.
*
New! Video support offers consumers the option to view and organize their videos
in the same place as their photos. They can easily assign a 5-Star Rating, add
Keywords and captions, or mark videos with customizable Flags representing a
variety of actions such as For Review or To
Share.
* New! RAW Support for Canon and
Nikon cameras allows consumers to view and organize images shot in RAW category
of formats, a high-quality photo format captured by many models of digital
cameras. In addition, consumers can save the RAW format as a JPEG or TIF file
for easy editing of the
image.
Creative Tools Turn Everyday
Pictures Into Masterpieces
“We
believe that consumers should have the tools they need to easily make digital
images they are proud of even if they don’t come out of the camera that
way,” said Ryan Bidan, marketing manager for the Home and Entertainment
Division at Microsoft Canada. “With Digital Image Suite 2006, it’s
simple to do everything from quickly cropping an image to creating a stunning
black-and-white photo to share with family and
friends.”
To help consumers explore
their creative side and visually express themselves, Microsoft Digital Image
Suite offers a wealth of new and enhanced tools, including
these:
* New! Black & White Effects
unleashes the artist within, making it easy to transform color photos into
stunning, contrast-rich, black-and-white images by using a variety of preset
filters, altering color tone or manipulating each of the color
channels.
* New! Intuitive Crop
intelligently analyzes the composition of a photo, such as faces in portraits or
family photos, when a consumer clicks on the Crop task and suggests a way to
crop the photo that will properly frame the subject(s) and create the best
possible image.
* New! Photo Story 3.1
allows anyone to create a photo show with voice narration, customizable pans and
zooms, and music. This year Microsoft has added the ability to make quick edits
(red-eye removal, apply black-and-white filter), create an original soundtrack,
and burn a CD with high-resolution VCD files, perfect for playing back on a
TV.
* New! Sharing Disc allows consumers
to easily burn photo CDs to share with friends and family, without disrupting
detailed photo archive settings.
* New!
Device Sync Support makes it easy to share photos and videos with mobile devices
such as the Portable Media Center, Pocket PCs and Smartphones through syncing
with Windows Media® Player. Consumers can simply flag the desired images,
and the next time the mobile device syncs with the PC, the photos will
automatically
transmit.
Availability
Microsoft’s
2006 line of digital imaging products, including Digital Image Suite 2006 and
Digital Image Standard 2006, is available today. Microsoft Digital Image Suite
2006 offers more robust organization and editing features for an estimated
retail price of $139.99 (CDN), with a $40 mail-in rebate open to all consumers
and an additional $20 digital camera mail-in rebate (if consumers purchase any
digital camera within 30 days of acquiring the software).(1) In addition,
Digital Image Standard 2006, designed for first-time digital photographers, is
available for an estimated retail price of $69.99 (CDN).
Posted: Tue - July 5, 2005 at 10:07 PM