For example, Kodak cobranded a printer with Lexmark International and then joined Hewlett-Packard to form Phogenix Imaging, a venture to market a photofinishing device based around digital inkjet technology. Xerox's photo-capable kiosk, called Pixography, is built around a color copier that was developed by FujiXerox, Xerox's joint venture with Fuji Photo Film. The beefed-up Frontier system will let photo processors print digital photographs onto greeting cards and other documents exactly the type of applications Xerox is hoping that copy shops like Kinko's will buy Pixography for. Companies are looking outside the imaging industry for partners, too. Kodak and Lockheed Martin are co-marketing systems to store and retrieve digital or paper records.
More partnerships are likely to spring up soon.
Polaroid, for one, will soon introduce a digital paper that traveling sales representatives can use to download sales brochures and the like from a company's intranet. But it will need a special printer, and Ms. Lawrence, the marketing officer, said the company would probably seek a partner to make it. She expects Polaroid to seek out partners for other applications as well. The synergies in our industries are just so extreme. Privacy Information Stay connected to the news that interests you with free e-mail alerts from The New York Times.