According to photo industry surveys, most of the more than 800 million Facebook members use the social network to store and share digital photos with family members, friends and co-workers, using the platforms “Photo Album” feature. The custom brandable application developed by Ecce Terram now clears the way for large retailers and photo services to generate new photo book orders from a so far underdeveloped source.

“Facebook has become the premier destination for consumers to share and store their photo memories,” says Frank Simon, president and CEO of Ecce Terram USA. “For retail chains and photo processing services, the white-label version of our photo book app for Facebook could well be the key to unlock the huge potential of this market.“

The new app is backed by the Ecce Terram’s long-standing experience with large-scale software deployments for the photo industry. Order processing is handled by Ecce Terram’s  Photo2Lab CentralHub middleware. The software facilitates complete solutions from photo ordering to processing in commercial labs, and also supports standard software installations, as well as customized for large photo processing centers.

Ecce Terram positions its photo book app for Facebook as a logical addition to the company’s order channel solutions for desktop, online, mobile and kiosk platforms. For large retail chains with the Photo2Lab infrastructure already in place, configuration and deployment of the new app to work with their existing order processing system can be completed within a matter of days.

“Time-to-market for new photo products and services is a major reason why large retailers have come to rely on Photo2Lab solutions provided by Ecce Terram,” says Jay Hitchens, Project Manager at ECCE TERRAM.

The German version of the photo book app for Facebook has already been successfully stress-tested during the strong start phase of Germany’s holiday shopping season on https://app.share-your-photostory.de/en/, which is bustling this year.

“The Photo2Lab enables our customers to connect with consumers literally anywhere, anytime they are ready to order photo products and services. Starting immediately, through the photobook app, that includes connecting with them during their ‘quality time’ on Facebook. That's when they appreciate offers the most which help strengthen their bonds with family and friends,” says Ecce Terram's president/CEO.

Facebook members who install the white-label version can then simply select an album on their Facebook page, choose a background color and pick an image frame. Once they have chosen the pictures to include, added short text comments (optional), defined the sort order and determined the cover photo, they can order the photo book to be shipped - all from within Facebook.

“By offering the new Ecce Terram photo book app, a customer now can enable consumers to create thoughtful, elegant photo book gifts, when and where it’s most convenient for them - on Facebook,” says Frank Simon. “For consumers, it allows them to free their photos from the fleeting digital domain, and create lasting gifts. For Ecce Terram customers, we expect it to significantly increase order volumes.”

You can download the Illutration on our Media CI Page:

www.Ecce-Terram.com/ci//

One core - a variety of order methods

Part of the Photo2Lab is the multi-channel architecture which allows Photo Labs and Retail Chains to centrally support their products, marketing strategies, and order options, thus equally serving all target groups, regardless of the ordering channel.

This newly-developed system is based on the popular Qt framework from Nokia and Google Frameworks. In due course of 2011 it will also encompass all products, ranging from photo prints, posters, and canvas to photo gifts to print products such as Photobooks, Real Photobooks, Cards, and Photo Calendars. Licensed content templates and user management will be supported, too. Thus, this new solution unites all functions and product worlds which the Photo2Lab Software Suite supports today on a variety of platforms in a uniform technology.

The company will present the new architecture, using the example of a Desktop Client and a novel Web-based Ordering Solution for Photo Books, at the CeBIT Australia 2011, from May 31 to June 02 in Sydney, Australia

Social media and cooperative solution

This architecture offers many advantages over the stand-alone solutions usually found in the market. Not only is the support of products, templates, and content centrally handled for all order methods, there is also free exchange of data between the various platforms.

Thus, consumers can begin designing a photo album on their desktop as a project, upload it, and then share it with friends online, who can then all work on the album together. Likewise, the finished album can be copied and partly changed by every invited user, so that the combined efforts of a group lead to a personalized photo album. This provides new opportunities for attracting a wider range of customers and to increase the revenue for every album created.

Designed album pages or complete Photobooks can also be made accessible to friends, who can add individual pages to their own Photobooks. Social media communities such as Twitter or Facebook are therefore integrated as a matter of course.

ECCE TERRAM would be pleased to provide you with further information at the CeBIT Australia 2011, The Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia, Booth R2 from May 31 to June 02.

About Photolab

The Photo2Lab Software Suite offers a complete solution from ordering to processing in commercial labs. It includes software applications for Windows, Mac, and Linux, web applications, applications for CD processing or the iPhone and Android. The modern connection protocol TRON is freely available and is supported by a variety of third parties. Besides solutions for set-top boxes or kiosk terminals, order processing procedures such as payments, promotion and adaption come along with Photo2Lab, too. The products can be used to handle anything from photo prints to hardback photo albums, thus offering unique flexibility and openness with the goal of reducing costs and reaching new target groups for the solution customers.

In 2010, Photo2Lab installations handled orders with over 200 million digital photos, 400,000 photo albums and photo calendars.

For more information, visit www.ecce-terram.co.nz.

About ECCE TERRAM

ECCE TERRAM was founded by Frank Simon in 1996. It specializes in solutions for e-commerce for the photo industry, lab control, e-payment, and content management. The company's Internet applications are used by well-known companies in the photo industry and beyond. The headquarters of the company is originally in Germany, with subsidiaries in New Zealand and the United States, established in 2008 and 2009 respectively.

Since 2003 ECCE TERRAM provides solutions for the digital photo business, content management and e-commerce to customers such as Kodak Europa, Pixelnet, Financial Times (Germany) and some of the world’s largest product retailers.

Trade show information: CeBIT Australia May 31 – June 2 The Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia Booth R2 www.cebit.com.au/2011

Contact:

ECCE TERRAM Ltd PO Box 95 Shortland Street Auckland 1140 New Zealand Ph. +64 9 304 0709 Fax. +64 9 309 0209 www.ecce-terram.co.nz Info@ecce-terram.co.nz

Follow us on Twitter: @ecceterramnz

This architecture offers many advantages over the stand-alone solutions usually found in the market. Not only is the support of products, templates, and content centrally handled for all order methods, there is also free exchange of data between the various platforms. Thus, consumers can begin designing a photo album on their desktop as a project, upload it, and then share it with friends online, who can all work on the album together. Likewise, the finished album can be copied and partly changed by every invited user, so that the group work leads to a personalized photo album. This provides new options for gaining customers and increasing the revenue for every album created. Designed album pages or complete Photobooks can also be made accessible to friends, who can add individual pages to their own Photobooks. Social media communities such as Twitter or Facebook are therefore integrated as a matter of course. You can find more information at the PMA 2010, Anaheim, California, Booth C-1909-3. 

About Photolab

The Photo2Lab Software Suite offers a complete solution from ordering to processing in commercial labs. It includes software applications for Windows, Mac, and Linux, web applications, applications for CD processing or the iPhone. The modern connection protocol TRON is freely available and is supported by a variety of third parties. These provide solutions for, among other things, set-top boxes or kiosk terminals. Along with order processing, aspects such as payment, promotion, and adaptation options for affiliates and partners are taken into consideration as part of a white brand solution. The products can be used to handle anything from photo prints to hardback photo albums, thus offering unique flexibility and openness with the goal of reducing costs and reaching new target groups for the solution customers. In 2009, Photo2Lab installations handled orders with over 200 million digital photos, 400,000 photo albums and photo calendars. 

The "Wisdom of Crowds" is considered to outperform expert knowledge in areas like topicality as well as width, depth and references of knowledge. A principle of prediction markets, as of any electronic exchange, is that those who buy cheap and sell at a higher price benefit.

Practical evidence suggests that prediction markets are at least as accurate in forecasting events as other instruments used by polling institutes on similar demographic groups. This concept, part of a field of study called collective intelligence, is the ideal tool for market and event forecasts. The closer a participant's forecast matches the real event, the more the value of the virtual account rises. This stimulates forward strategies and therefore using quality information and experience in these virtual investments is paramount. The Political Stock Markets also rewards closely matching expectations when dealing with rate fluctuation and diligence.

The product: Electronic Stock Market

The prediction market is based on the "Electronic Stock Market Technology" (ESM) developed by ECCE TERRAM. It is based on theses by Friedrich von Hayek, who in 1974 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics. From Professor von Hayek's findings it derives that more accurate prediction of future events can be made if people trade shares about them with the opportunity to obtain a profit. Frank Simon, Managing Director of ECCE TERRAM: "ESMs in the form of prediction markets provide surprisingly accurate results for opinion research and serve as a prognostics instrument to generate forecasts". The user's interest in trading shares and the chance for personal gain as well as the opportunity to create accurate forecasts bind the user into the online service and increase traffic to the website. The technology starts from a base different to traditional opinion research. Interviews, polls and e-votes use questions like "how would you vote?" The Electronic Stock Markets ask "what do you expect the outcome to be?"ť Traders therefore buy and sell based on their expectation of the outcome. These reflect in the prices at which shares trade. The system can then, based on the share price, calculate forecasts.

ECCE TERRAM has used prediction markets already in the run up to the German federal elections of 1998 with great success, achieving the second best forecast after Allensbach, one of Germany's leading public opinion poll institutes. In recent years ECCE TERRAM has organised more than two dozen prediction markets on a great variety of events. ECCE TERRAM Ltd, located in Paraparaumu, has started since May 2008 to offer Electronic Stock Markets to the New Zealand and Australian Market based on the 12-year-Experience with this tool.

Press contact:

ECCE TERRAM Ltd

Frank Simon

PO Box 337

Paraparaumu 5234

email: info@ecce-terram.co.nz

phone: 0064 27 500 12 10

Company Information: www.ecce-terram.co.nz

Product Information: www.forecast4u.co.nz

Photo2Lab

ECCE TERRAM is announcing the launch of its Photo2Lab solutions in New Zealand (April 2008) and Australia (May 2008) with lab partners and dedicated local server in. The ECCE TERRAM Photo2Lab solution is unique in allowing photo services to receive and allocate print orders to their own photo printers, to third party central labs, to photo gift specialists or to channel orders on a case by case basis. Photo processing web solutions from large central labs have been developed for them to create an unbreakable tie between shops or portals and the supplying photo lab. Large central labs are building a dominant position, weakening smaller photo service’s negotiation power. ECCE TERRAM’s Photo2Lab is ready to plug into different photo labs, guaranteeing photo stores and web portals independence from dominant labs. With solutions developed using Web 2.0 technologies like SOAP, WSDL, Ajax etc. ECCE TERRAM offers a diverse range of components for photo portals, including support for ICC Profiles for professional colour management demands.

Photo Lab Software Solutions

Together the Photo Lab Software processing components build flexible, state-of-the-art solutions. These range from order processing using online stores, point-of-sale terminals and offline software clients for Windows, Macintosh and Linux using an open protocol connecting to any photo lab or printer. The DPS middleware processes the orders using a central user database, which allows splitting orders to cover production requirements (e.g. mixed orders for standard prints, posters and gift items). Lab plug-ins built the third layer in ECCE TERRAM’s ‘Photo2Lab’ solution. The lab plug-ins currently support for example DPL, Allcop, ORWO, CeWeColor, DWM and Frontline. Increasingly specialists from the growing sector of photo book, calendar and gift item printing, like Ifuse, Snapmania are being supported by ECCE TERRAM.

ECCE adds ICC Profiles to its Middleware

At PMA ECCE Terram is adding ICC Profiles to its Middleware as an option for photo labs catering for professional photographers. These solutions allow to indicate image optimization for individual image files and make re-ordering prints easier. In addition, the ECCE Photo Suite offline client will integrate the HDX4 Photo Manager. It serves to optimise the pictures per mouse click before uploading them to the Internet, in order to bring out the best of the photographs. This is important because large photo labs find it increasingly costly to correct or optimise images in photo albums and calendars. The Managing Director of the developer ECCE TERRAM, Frank Simon states: "Among our customers are ORWO, Farbglanz Imaging, Pixelnet, Focus, TV Spielfilm, Kodak and many more. We are proud that in the past year 132 million image prints have been processed through the installed base of ECCE middleware solutions."

ECCE Photo Suite adds Photo Book and Calendar Editor Modules at PMA

ECCE TERRAM created the new generation of offline photo ordering clients (Windows, MacOS and Linux) with a modular structure. New modules for photo book and calendar design are being released during the PMA Trade Fair. A new postcard module which handles franking and mailing directly to the cards recipient will also be revealed during the PMA. The applications are brandable through graphics, logos and colors and are used by labs and services of different sizes, from large central labs like ORWO and DPL, book and gift printers to mini labs. Catering for European and international businesses ECCE TERRAM’s applications are easy to localize and are available in several European languages.

ECCE TERRAM practices these values with its solutions shown at PMA Booth No.: K 191-1 from January 31st to February 2nd, 2008.

Photo Lab Software Solutions

Together the Photo Lab Software processing components build flexible, state-of-the-art solutions. These range from order processing using online stores, point-of-sale terminals and offline software clients for Windows, Macintosh and Linux using an open protocol connecting to any photo lab or printer. The DPS middleware processes the orders using a central user database, which allows splitting orders to cover production requirements (e.g. mixed orders for standard prints, posters and gift items). Lab plug-ins built the third layer in ECCE TERRAM’s ‘Photo2Lab’ solution. The lab plug-ins currently support for example DPL, Allcop, ORWO, CeWeColor, DWM and Frontline. Increasingly specialists from the growing sector of photo book, calendar and gift item printing, like Ifuse, Snapmania are being supported by ECCE TERRAM.

ECCE adds ICC Profiles to its Middleware

At PMA ECCE Terram is adding ICC Profiles to its Middleware as an option for photo labs catering for professional photographers. These solutions allow to indicate image optimization for individual image files and make re-ordering prints easier. In addition, the ECCE Photo Suite offline client will integrate the HDX4 Photo Manager. It serves to optimise the pictures per mouse click before uploading them to the Internet, in order to bring out the best of the photographs. This is important because large photo labs find it increasingly costly to correct or optimise images in photo albums and calendars. The Managing Director of the developer ECCE TERRAM, Frank Simon states: "Among our customers are ORWO, Farbglanz Imaging, Pixelnet, Focus, TV Spielfilm, Kodak and many more. We are proud that in the past year 132 million image prints have been processed through the installed base of ECCE middleware solutions."

ECCE Photo Suite adds Photo Book and Calendar Editor Modules at PMA

ECCE TERRAM created the new generation of offline photo ordering clients (Windows, MacOS and Linux) with a modular structure. New modules for photo book and calendar design are being released during the PMA Trade Fair. A new postcard module which handles franking and mailing directly to the cards recipient will also be revealed during the PMA. The applications are brandable through graphics, logos and colors and are used by labs and services of different sizes, from large central labs like ORWO and DPL, book and gift printers to mini labs. Catering for European and international businesses ECCE TERRAM’s applications are easy to localize and are available in several European languages.

Multi Lingual Solutions with Source Code License

With Photo2Lab's ready made solutions, any store or website can become an independent online photo service. ECCE TERRAM founder Frank Simon points out: “ECCE TERRAM endeavors with Photo2Lab software to allow photo services to allocate production orders, moving the control over the process from the large central labs back to the photo service. When you start your photo service make sure that you own your customer data and route to lab. ECCE Terram licensing model is unique in offering a source code license option.”

ECCE TERRAM practices these values with its solutions shown at PMA Booth No.: K 191-1 from January 31st to February 2nd, 2008.

A distinctive feature of the HDX4-modules is that they can help to turn any snapshot into a really professional photograph – it only takes a mouse click. So far, photographers rather used trial and error to adjust brightness, contrast and colours; now the software can detect imperfections of pictures and corrects them without need for further user intervention. Frank Simon of ECCE TERRAM: "Thanks to the HDX4-functions, dark pictures with low contrast and matt colours are definitely a thing of the past. Suddenly, the sky prints perfectly blue and details, which were in the shade become visible again."

Photo2lab Software Suite on the PMA in Las Vegas

Among the companies having licensed the HDX4 Photo SDK is the German company ECCE TERRAM Internet Services. Photo2lab Software Suite has been especially developed for digital photo services, which want to digitise all procedures from the order to printing in the laboratory.

Part of this suite is the eccePhoto Offline-Client, which enables the customer to select his own pictures that are to be ordered as prints or to be used as fun products or for the creation of photo albums or calendars. Integrated into the Offline-Client is the HDX4 Photo Manager. It serves to optimise the pictures per mouse click before uploading them to the Internet, in order to bring out the best of the photographs. This is important because large photo laboratories cannot carry out later modifications of photo albums and calendars – in contrast to prints – without large effort. The Managing Director of the developer ECCE TERRAM, Frank Simon states: "Among our customers are ORWO, Farbglanz Imaging, Pixelnet, Focus, TV Spielfilm, Kodak and many more."

ECCE TERRAM Internet Services presents its Photo2lab Software Suite with the integrated HDX4 Photo Manager on the worldwide most important photo trade fair PMA, which takes place in Las Vegas from 31 January to 2 February 2008. It can be found on stand K191-1 (ECCE TERRAM GmbH, LVCC, 2nd floor).

Homepage HDX4: www.hdx4.com

Homepage HDX4 SDK: www.hdx4.com/...

Homepage ECCE TERRAM: www.ecce-terram.com

Homepage PMA fair: www.pmai.org/...

Information about the manufacturer

Mr. Markus Unger (Press relations officer)

HDX4 GmbH, Essener Str. 20, 44139 Dortmund, Germany

E-Mail: info@hdx4.com, Web: www.hdx4.com

Phone: +49 (0)1805 / 36435626

Fax: +49 (0) 700 / 36435626

The "Wisdom of Crowds" is considered to outperform expert knowledge in dimensions like topicality as well as width, depth and references of knowledge. A principle of prediction markets, as of any electronic exchange, is that those who buy cheap and sell at a higher price benefit.

Empirical evidence suggests that prediction markets are at least as accurate in forecasting events as other instruments used by polling institutes on similar demographic groups. This concept, part of a field of study called collective intelligence, is the ideal tool for market and event forecasts. "The partnership with "Financial Times Deutschland" will give this forecasting method new dynamics. Our company is honoured to partner with such a highly regarded broadsheet”, states Frank Simon, Managing Director of ECCE TERRAM.

The closer a participants forecast matches the real event, the more rises the value of the virtual account. This stimulates forward strategies and therefore using quality information and experience in these virtual investments is paramount. The FTD-strategy bourse also rewards closely matching expectations when dealing with rate fluctuation and diligence.

"Due to the positive experience gained with the prediction market for the German General Elections in 2005 and the prediction market for the (soccer) FIFA World Cup 2006 we decided to provide our users continuously with the opportunity to participate with their knowledge and experience in forecasting events of interest", says Dr Anton Notz, Head of Electronic Media at the “Financial Times Deutschland”.

Electronic Stock Markets (ESM)

The prediction market is based on the “Electronic Stock Market Technology” (ESM) developed by ECCE TERRAM Internet Services GmbH. It is based on theses by Friedrich von Hayek, who in 1974 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics. From Professor von Hayek’s findings it derives, that more accurate prediction of future events can be made, if people trade shares about them with the opportunity to derive a profit. Frank Simon, Managing Director of ECCE TERRAM: “ESMs in the form of prediction markets provide surprisingly accurate results for opinion research and serve as a prognostics instrument to generate forecasts”. The user’s interest in trading shares and the chance for personal gain as well as the opportunity to create accurate forecasts bind the user into the online service and increase traffic to the website. The technology starts from a base different to traditional opinion research. Interviews, polls and e-votes use questions like “how would you vote?” The Electronic Stock Markets ask “what do you expect the outcome to be?” Traders therefore buy and sell based on their expectation of the outcome. These reflect in the prices, at which shares trade. The system can then, based on the share price, calculate forecasts.

ECCE TERRAM has used prediction markets already in the run up to the German federal elections of 1998 with great success, achieving the second best forecast after Allensbach, one of Germany’s leading public opinion poll institutes. In recent years ECCE TERRAM has organised more than two dozen prediction markets on a great variety of events.

Ready Made Solutions for Digital Photo Processing Services

Setting up a digital photo processing service in store or online is becoming easier with ready made software solutions. Large central labs offer these to tie in their customers, while specialist developers like ECCE TERRAM sell software components that increase the services independence and negotiation power.
Today the vast majority of photographs taken are digital. Online photo services converting digital images into traditional photographic paper prints in familiar 6×4" (10x15cm), prints are increasingly profitable. Compared to home inkjet prints, pictures on photographic paper tend to look much 'richer', and are vastly more durable with regard to handling by sweaty fingers, humid environments, and fading in daylight. Such services cater for business with new photographic gift items and product ideas. The specialist internet software developer ECCE TERRAM will be presenting the latest off the shelf, modular software solutions for online photo services, web portals, photo labs and purchasing associations at the international Photokina exhibition in Cologne in September 2006, including releases currently being prepared. As a Photokina highlight, the company will also publish its complete ‘Transfer Ordering Network’ protocol for free usage.

Photo2Lab

The ECCE TERRAM Photo2Lab solution is unique in allowing photo services to receive and allocate print orders to their own photo printers, to third party central labs, to photo gift specialists or to channel orders on a case by case basis. Photo processing web solutions from large central labs have been developed for them to create an unbreakable tie between shops or portals and the supplying photo lab. As published by The Grocery Trader, Europe’s largest central lab claims to have extended “its market share yet further on the European continent to more than 40%”. Such large central labs are building a dominant position, weakening smaller photo service’s negotiation power. ECCE TERRAM’s Photo2Lab is ready to plug into different photo labs, guaranteeing photo stores and web portals independence from dominant labs. With solutions developed using Web 2.0 technologies like SOAP, WSDL, Ajax etc, ECCE TERRAM offers a diverse range of components for photo portals.

Photo Lab Software Solutions

Together the Photo2Lab processing components built flexible, state-of-the-art solutions. These range from order processing using online stores, point-of-sale terminals and offline software clients for Windows, Macintosh and Linux using an open protocol connecting to any photo lab or printer. The ‘Photo2Lab’ middleware processes the orders using a central user database, which allows splitting orders to cover production requirements (e.g. mixed orders for standard prints, posters and gift items). Lab plug-ins built the third layer in ECCE TERRAM’s ‘Photo2Lab’ solution. The lab plug ins currently support for example DPL, Allcop, ORWO, CeWeColor, DWM and Frontline. Increasingly specialists from the growing sector of photo book, calendar and gift item printing, like Ifuse, Snapmania are supported by ECCE TERRAM.

The offline photo ordering clients (Windows, MacOS and Linux) are brandable through graphics, logos and colours and are used by labs and services of different sizes, like large central labs by the likes of Allcop, DPL, CeWe Color AG, ORWO, FotoInsight.com or mini labs (Frontline). Catering for European and international businesses ECCE TERRAM’s applications are easy to localise and are available in several European languages.

A photo service for any site or store

With Photo2Lab ready made solutions any store or website can become an independent online photo service. ECCE TERRAM founder Frank Simon points out: “ECCE TERRAM endeavours with Photo2Lab software to allow photo services to allocate production orders, moving the control over the process from the large central labs back to the photo service. When you start your photo service make sure that you own your customer data and route to lab. ECCE TERRAM is a ready made solution proven to work and committed to serving its customer’s independence.

Photokina – hall 10.2 – B 021

With online advertising growing 30% year on year, ECCE TERRAM’s will highlight the bi-directional communication capability of their solution during Photokina. Its solutions allow for online software updates, promotions, implementation of vouchers and rebates as well as the transmission of advertising and links to the offline client on the end user’s desk top.