If one photo industry expert is right, the buzz on Kodak’s new high-speed commercial print scanners will become the biggest news since the launch of digital photography.

Within minutes, a shoe box full of photos will be converted from just memories into an entirely new way to share, print and archive pictures. "This is a `grandslam' for Kodak. It will even boost employee morale throughout the company and stimulate billions of dollars in new sales from scanner hardware / software and Kodak photographic consumable purchases," explained Mitch Goldstone, a well-known photo industry expert.

But, that is just the beginning.

Goldstone thinks the Eastman Kodak Company will draw more attention than even Apple’s iPod and Nano, combined from what will become the most talked about new product of 2006.

While only a fraction of consumers are interested in storing thousands of songs and listening to an MP3 player, nearly every household has shoe boxes full of family photos. Until now, there was no convenient way to save, share and reproduce billions of these treasures.

The recent hurricanes and natural disasters reminded Americans to protect their prized photos, and this is the solution.

Rather than investing time and frustration to individually scan each photo, picture-takers - from teens to young-adults and especially seniors - will soon be able to bring their collection of treasured memories to a photo specialty retailer. In minutes they will get back a digital CD or DVD preserving all their images, plus order reprints, enlargements and get a website link to share their memories with the world. Out-of-town friends and relatives can then easily order their own Kodak-quality photos with instant, same-day fulfillment from 30minphotos.com.

The Kodak high-speed commercial print scanner and Kodak Capture Software is already available at 30 Minute Photos Etc. It safely preserves high-resolution pictures in seconds – 150 pictures per minute. "The convenience factor," said Goldstone, "is overwhelming because any size photo - from tiny wallet pictures on onionskin thin paper to 11x17 inch cardboard-thick enlargements are all scanned together, instantly."

30 Minute Photos Etc., the Irvine, CA-based retail photo center and 30minphotos.com, its online boutique photo service is among the first to offer this new technology. Consumers can overnight their entire collection of photo memories or locally bring in their stacks of pictures to 30 Minute Photos Etc.

Did you know that only 3% of photographs are ever reproduced? According to the Photo Marketing Association, while 26-billion prints were made in 2005, there was no convenient and easy way to quickly and inexpensively archive, share and print copies from original photos.

This is why Goldstone is so encouraged that Kodak’s family of high-speed production scanners will redefine the photo industry. It even passes his entrepreneurial 30-second "elevator pitch" test with 20-seconds to spare. This is where in 30-seconds you describe your business model in the hope of explaining the concept, customer and catalyst for bringing both together.

Goldstone expects that Kodak will sell hundreds of thousands of these high-speed print scanners to a broad spectrum of new commercial customers, including to the photo industry and entirely new business channels; such as, attorneys and law enforcement agencies which need to efficiently archive their file photos. Photo labs too will create new revenue centers as they bring in more customers and order more Kodak-quality photographic paper and chemistry.

"Because the scanner is so efficient, there is no need to sort and select which photos are your favorite," explains Goldstone. "We want people to conveniently preserve all their photos, even the silly pictures because those are part of their memories too.

At 30 Minute Photos Etc., the charge to scan, digitally archive and upload an entire standard-sized shoe box of individually stacked photos is just $49.95 - or about 3 cents per photo and 49 cents for each Kodak Professional Endura matte finish photographic print. The entire order is completed within minutes and the fee includes a free upload to the 30minphotos.com website to share every photo memory.

Customers can even add music and turn the images into a slide show presentation. The website also provides easy ordering for real U.S. authorized postage stamps featuring your favorite photo, themed photo greeting cards and photo restoration services to fix pictures.

"Reprints were never a significant part of the business," explained Goldstone. "But, when you realizes that billions of priceless family treasures are stored away in shoe boxes full of pictures, the challenge was how to get people to protect pictures from deteriorating and also make reprints for the entire family.

30 Minute Photos Etc., founded in 1990, is regularly featured by the national media and most recently became class representative and lead plaintiff in the multi-billion dollar antitrust litigation against Visa, MasterCard, Bank of America, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, Wachovia, Wells Fargo and other major banks regarding their credit card interchange price-fixing; more info: http://www.WayTooHigh.com.

[ED NOTE - 100 FREE SAMPLES - Accredited journalists will receive a complimentary scan and upload for up to 100 images to sample this new technology. Send request to: corpcommunications (at) 30minphotos.com.

Contact: Mitch Goldstone, president, 30 Minute Photos Etc. 92 Corporate Park Plaza, Irvine, CA 92606, Ph: 949-474-7654, email: goldstone (at) 30minphotos.com. Website: http://www.30minphotos.com.