Kodak forms wireless tech company

Photo giant Eastman Kodak is to form a new company that will develop equipment for sending high quality video, still images and data over wireless connections more efficiently.

Kodak is hoping that its new Appairent Technologies Inc venture will help place its technology at the heart of what the company calls the info-imaging market - the convergence of images and information technology.

It also believes that wireless will play a key role in how that market develops. "Wireless communication is critical as imaging and information technologies converge," James Stoffel, chief technology officer at Kodak, said in a statement.

Appairent is charged with taking patented wireless technologies developed in Kodak's research and development labs and bringing them to market, not just in Appairent products, but by licensing to other manufacturers.

"The greatest value in this is intellectual property, and the technology it enables lies in making it broadly available," said Stoffel.

In setting up the new company, Kodak has partnered with private venture capital fund the Monroe Fund as a co-investor.

The amount of the investment and the size of Kodak's stake were not disclosed, but Kodak did say it would contribute a number of patents and patent applications.

Forming Appairent is the latest move by a struggling Kodak to adapt to a changing market and the growing popularity of digital photography.

In November last year, the company said that it was reorganising its corporate structure and eliminating some businesses and product lines.

That restructuring plan was dealt a blow earlier this week when president and chief operating officer Patricia Russo left to take over the chief executive spot at Lucent Technologies. Russo had been with Kodak for just nine months.