80 years young: Black's unveils technology to lead digital imaging into the
future

TELUS technology enables customers to print photos directly from smart phones to any Black's location

TORONTO, Sept. 27 /CNW/ - Today, Black's Photo Corporation, in partnership with TELUS, unveiled the next generation of digital imaging with the world's first-ever fully integrated photo management site and an innovative smart phone app. Both of these brand new technologies are dedicated to making it easier than ever for customers to create, manage, print and store photo memories from anywhere in Canada.

Customers will now be able to use the secure TELUS-powered storage cloud on Blacks.ca and TELUS-designed Black's Photo app to learn, share, shop, organize, and create memorable photo projects. The Black's Photo app also enables customers to send photos directly from their smart phones to a printer at any Black's location across Canada.

"For 80 years, Black's has continued to evolve and provide a platform for people who share our passion for celebrating their memories," said Ethel Taylor, President and General Manager, Black's. "And now, our partnership with TELUS enables us to leverage their leading technology and secured mobility to provide customers with the tools they need to keep doing more with their photos."

The New Blacks.ca

The newly designed photo management site offers customers a simplified online approach to organizing their photos and provides additional value to complement the in-store experience. Functions such as easy photo-tagging, Photo Book creation, and the ability to download photos at full-resolution in a secured cloud storage platform are just the beginning.

"Modern technology allows us to take photos from a number of devices, but until now, there hasn't been a reliable place to store and easily organize all these valuable memories," said Taylor. "Today marks a great milestone for us and we're very proud to be celebrating 80 years in business by bringing this leading technology to customers who share our passion for photography." 

The new site also harnesses a social community of education and learning, with HD video tutorials, blogs, forums and photo sharing all incorporated.

The New Black's Photo App

For customers who want access to their photos on-the-go, the new ground-breaking Black's Photo app, designed by TELUS, will provide just that. The Black's Photo app offers a mobile way to manage, share, store and print photos, allowing users to immediately share their memories with friends, family and colleagues, rather than sending them at a later time when the moment has passed.

Customers can use the Black's Photo app's GPS feature to locate and map out the nearest Black's store, and send photos directly from their smart phones to a printer at any store location across Canada.

The Black's Photo app is free to download and available to iPhone and BlackBerry customers as of the week of September 27, 2010. As of mid-October 2010, the technology will also be available on Android.  To experience these new innovative offerings, visit www.blacks.ca.

Free previews of the Black's Photo app will be available during the week of September 27, 2010 on www.blacks.ca, BlackBerry App World or the Apple App Store.

About Black's:

Established in the 1930's, Black's is Canada's premier destination for imaging and digital products and services. Black's has a network of 113 stores across Canada, a large base of loyal customers, and one of the top retail brands in the country. Over its proud 80 year history, Black's has earned a reputation for premium printing services and for being a top destination for purchasing: digital camera equipment, services, supplies and accessories; media; frames and albums; and Memorables - Personalized PhotoGifts. For more information about Black's, please visit www.blacks.ca. 

About TELUS:

TELUS (TSX: T, T.A; NYSE: TU) is a leading national telecommunications company in Canada, with $9.6 billion of annual revenue and 12 million customer connections including 6.7 million wireless subscribers, 3.8 million wireline network access lines and 1.2 million Internet subscribers and 228,000 TELUS TV customers. Led since 2000 by President and CEO, Darren Entwistle, TELUS provides a wide range of communications products and services including data, Internet protocol (IP), voice, entertainment and video.

In support of our philosophy to give where we live, TELUS, our team members and retirees have contributed $158 million to charitable and not-for-profit organizations and volunteered 3.1 million hours of service to local communities since 2000. Nine TELUS Community Boards across Canada lead TELUS' local philanthropic initiatives. TELUS was honoured to be named the most outstanding philanthropic corporation globally for 2010 by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, becoming the first Canadian company to receive this prestigious international recognition.

For more information about TELUS, please visit telus.com.

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