Digital Trends was live at CES 2017 today and among the many guests that we had the pleasure of interviewing was Jeff Clarke, CEO of Kodak, a company synonymous with photography and imaging.
“CES is a great opportunity to show that we are back,” Clarke noted as he pulled out the company’s latest product, the new Ektra Smartphone, which Clarke says puts the camera first with both hardware and software not found in other smartphones available today.
The Ektra features a 21MP rear-facing camera, which Clarke notes is about doubt what most smartphones are rocking these days, as well as a 13MP front facing camera for even higher-quality selfies. Beyond that, the phone features a leather back, dedicated shutter button, and software built in to send your images to Kodak to be printed and shipped directly to you. It is set to be available in the United States in April of this year.
Beyond the Ektra smartphone, Clarke offered us an update on Kodak’s Super 8 camera, which debuted at CES 2016 to much fanfare. Last year, the company only had a few prototypes available, but this year, Clarke says, the company has several working production units, with the actual retail versions set to be available at some point in April.
The Ektra, and moreso the Super 8 camera, are part of what Kodak sees as products to appeal to the analog renaissance that is currently going on in the world. Clarke specifically notes the Super 8 camera as the “democratization of film” making it fairly affordable and practical for lower-budget filmmakers to use film on their projects.
In an electronics show like CES, it is always a bit crazy being bombarded with all the latest cutting-edge technology. It’s nice to see a well-known brand like Kodak bringing back some analog products blended with new technologies.
Digital Trends is live all week at CES 2017 in Las Vegas. Check out our continuing coverage live on YouTube, Facebook, #DTces, and DigitalTrends.com/ces/.
