corbis

The 404 1,192: Where we bring back the BMT (podcast)

Before we take on the Subway issue, we start today's show welcoming Ariel back from the dead. He spent the last week in bed, proving our theory once again that CES is bad for your health and should be treated accordingly.

On to the news. Google's security team just released a new research paper where GP Eric Grosse unveiled his vision of our future in terms of Web security.

Phishing attacks, malware, and poor password choices are making it hard to keep private data in the cloud, but Grosse proposed a new method called the Yubikey USB card that automatically logs you into your Google account when you plug it in. If you're thinking that sounds like a step back, check out what Google has to say.… Read more

Samsung's GT-3310 Corby Mate

We've already told you about the Samsung Corby and the CorbyTXT and CorbyPro, but now Samsung has added the Corby Mate. Also called the GT-B3310, the Corby Mate has a slider design with a full QWERTY keyboard. You can get it in two color schemes: teal and black or silver and black.

Features on the unlocked quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) world phone include Bluetooth, a personal organizer, USB mass storage, a speakerphone, a Web browser, messaging and e-mail, a microSD card slot, a music player, and a VGA camera.

Samsung launches kid-friendly Corby

Cell phone for tweens have never really caught on, not least because many kids reaching their preteen years these days have used cell phones since birth. Also, though parents may love the cost-saving features on the handsets, kids want something that's cool in the schoolyard.

Samsung, however, is undeterred in this quest. And to its credit, the new kid-friendly Corby may pass the coolness test. The design is very much a smaller version of Samsung's recent crop of touch-screen phones. You'll find a similar shape and a 262,000 touch-screen with Samsung's TouchWiz interface and a … Read more

Bill Gates stocks up on Crocs, Kodak

It's always interesting to note where Bill Gates is putting his money.

Fortunately, his Cascade Investment arm details his largest holdings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. According to regulatory filings made on Wednesday, Gates' Cascade Investment arm (along with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) now holds, among other things, a 5.2 percent stake in Eastman Kodak.

It's not the first photography-related investment for Gates, who owns stock photography company Corbis.

Barron's reporter Eric Savitz also noted Gates holdings in companies ranging from $1.28 billion worth of Canadian National Railway to $391 million worth … Read more

Corbis to phase out SnapVillage microstock site

Apparently, it wasn't as easy to launch a microstock site for lower-cost photography sales as Corbis thought it would be.

Corbis, one of the established powers in licensing stock photography, launched SnapVillage in 2007, arguing that the microstock market was still young. But on Thursday, Corbis announced that it will phase out SnapVillage by the end of the year.

Contributing photographers and illustrators, along with customers and existing imagery, will be moved to a new microstock part of Corbis' existing Veer property called Veer Marketplace. Veer, a stock art agency Corbis acquired in 2007, offers both royalty-free and rights-managed … Read more

Stock art consolidation: Getty to buy Jupiterimages

In one of the larger consolidation moves that have been sweeping the stock art business, Getty Images has agreed to acquire Jupiterimages, a subsidiary of Jupitermedia, for $96 million in cash, the companies said.

Getty will keep the Jupiterimages brand and will augment its collection of imagery with Getty stock, the company said. It's unclear, though, what will come of the two companies' royalty-free microstock sites, iStockphoto and Stockxpert.

"We'll be able to discuss questions like that when the deal closes," said Kelly Thompson, iStockphoto's chief operating officer, in a forum posting after the acquisition … Read more

Need a camera in a hurry? Just print one out

If you're really on a tight budget, or just a hopeless DIY addict, Corbis has a way for you to print out and make your own camera.

The picture agency has released some funky-looking templates on its Web site, and all you have to do is print out the PDF file and stick it onto a card. Follow the score lines, then cut and fold accordingly.

If all goes well, the next thing you have to do is find some 35mm film, which could take far more time than all of the above. Eventually what you'll get is … Read more

SnapVillage microstock goes global

SnapVillage, a microstock site founded in June by stock-art sales company Corbis to compete with rivals such as Fotolia and Getty Images' iStockphoto, has expanded to include international sales.

Although the site now works beyond the United States, the Web site is English-only for now. The company plans to localize with more languages later, a representative said. The site is still officially in beta testing.

The site receives about 10,000 new image uploads a week, SnapVillage said in a statement Wednesday. Although there are several rivals already better established, Corbis believed it would be better off starting its own … Read more

Vista gets some wallpapers from Flickr users

Flickr member Hamad Darwish is now a part of computing history, with two of his photographs included in Windows Vista. Usually Microsoft doesn't approach people with (we're assuming) large checks unless they're vying for a name or settling a lawsuit, but Darwish's work wowed Microsoft so much they hired him for a photo shoot.

Apparently there are three more images from Flickr users shipping with Vista, along with a few from Microsoft employees, too.

This is a cool use of services like Flickr. While Corbis, iStockPhoto, and Getty Images are all a hotbed for finding good … Read more