PANASONIC AND T-MOBILE COOPERATE TO ENABLE DEVELOPMENT OF FIRST PANASONIC LUMIX WIRELESS DIGITAL CAMERA WITH ABILITY TO UPLOAD TO GOOGLE’S PICASA WEB ALBUMS
LAS VEGAS, NV (January 7, 2008) – Panasonic, the leading brand by which Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (NYSE: MC) is best known, today highlighted the development of a LUMIX digital camera with wireless network connectivity, complete with integrated access to T-Mobile HotSpot service and the ability to send photos directly to Picasa Web Albums, a free online photo-sharing service from Google. Panasonic collaborated with T-Mobile Hotspot and used Picasa Web Albums’ APIs to develop a new and optimal online environment for photo sharing.
After taking digital photos with the new LUMIX, users will be able to upload their photos directly to Picasa Web Albums through the T-Mobile HotSpot service. The LUMIX comes with complimentary access to T-Mobile HotSpot service for 12 months.* After uploading, they can receive an email with a URL link to their photos, which they can then share with family and friends. In addition, users can confirm photos have been successfully loaded to Picasa Web Albums and can delete photos directly from the digital camera, eliminating the concern that photos have or have not been uploaded.
Panasonic has collaborated closely with T-Mobile to enable quick and easy digital photo uploading. T-Mobile HotSpot service provides fast and reliable Wi-Fi Internet access at more than 8,500 public T-Mobile HotSpot locations throughout the country. As the largest carrier-grade, commercial Wi-Fi network in the United States, T-Mobile HotSpot service is available at many Starbucks coffee shops, Borders Books & Music stores, Hyatt Hotels and approximately 70 major airports across the United States.
“T-Mobile HotSpot service continues to innovate and build new bridges that help people stick together,” said Joe Sims, vice president and general manager for Broadband Services, T-Mobile USA. “Through T-Mobile HotSpot, empowering people to share special moments-in-time captured by the LUMIX digital camera is yet another way we’re helping people stay connected to those who matter most.”
“The new LUMIX will be the perfect digital camera for consumers who are accustomed to the benefits that wireless connections offer: speed and convenience,” said Tokikazu Matsumoto, director of Panasonic AVC Networks Company’s Digital Camera Business Unit. “Ideal for the active user who is always on-the-go, the new LUMIX with wireless network connectivity, has the ability to upload directly to Picasa Web Albums, making sharing photos with friends and family, as simple as a touch of a button and as seamless as connecting to a wireless network.”
“We want our users to be able to access and share their photo collections however and wherever they’d like,” said Mike Horowitz, product manager for Picasa Web Albums at Google. “We created open APIs to encourage exactly this kind of integration. The new LUMIX camera from Panasonic gives our users a great new way to share photos quickly and easily while they’re taking shots on vacation or at a convention.”
“Our collaboration with T-Mobile Hotspot and our work with Picasa Web Albums open programming interface pushes the boundaries of digital photography, said Merwan Mereby, vice president, New Business Development and Strategic Alliances, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company. “We are in a new paradigm of taking digital photographs, where people want to share their memories easily, while also embracing the immediacy that online communities demand. With the direct upload capability onto Picasa Web Albums through any T-Mobile Hotspot location anywhere in the United States, the wireless LUMIX digital camera makes sharing photographs an easy and seamless experience.”
* One year of complimentary, camera-specific T-Mobile HotSpot service begins from the first time you automatically connect your LUMIX digital camera to the T-Mobile network at a T-Mobile HotSpot location within the U.S, subject to certain limitations, terms and conditions. T-Mobile HotSpot service does not include access to the Internet at any Wi-Fi roaming locations. .
About Panasonic
Based in Osaka, Japan, Panasonic AVC Networks Company is an internal division company of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (NYSE: MC), which is best know worldwide by its Panasonic brand name. Panasonic Corporation of North America is based in Secaucus, N.J., and is the principal North American subsidiary of Matsushita Electric and the hub of Panasonic’s U.S. marketing, sales, service and R&D operations. Information about Panasonic products is available at www.panasonic.com. Additional company information for journalists is available at www.panasonic.com/pressroom.
About T-Mobile USA
Based in Bellevue, Wash., T-Mobile USA, Inc., is a member of the T-Mobile International group, one of the world’s leading companies in mobile communications, and the mobile telecommunications subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom AG. By the end of the third quarter of 2007, approximately 114 million mobile customers were served by the mobile segment of the Deutsche Telekom group — nearly 28 million by T-Mobile USA — all via a common technology platform based on GSM, the world’s most widely used digital wireless standard. T-Mobile’s innovative wireless products and services help empower people to connect effortlessly to those who matter most. Multiple independent research studies continue to rank T-Mobile highest, in numerous regions throughout the U.S. in wireless customer care. For more information, please visit www.t-mobile.com. To find more information about T-Mobile HotSpot service and locations, visit http://hotspot.t-mobile.com. T-Mobile is a federally registered trademark of Deutsche Telekom AG.
About Google Inc.
Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google’s targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, please visit http://www.google.com.
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