Coatings World - June 2009

Fresh Paint

to include e-commerce. BASF has long offered e-commerce capabilities to its customers through its exclusive web site bodyshopmall.com, and will continue to do so. However, over the next several weeks, BASF will transition some of its bodyshopmall.com customers to FinishMaster’s pbeconnection.com e-commerce site. The transition of some e-commerce customers from BASF to FinishMaster begins immediately and allows BASF to broaden its product and service offerings to customers.

HOME PRODUCTS, COLUMBIA PAINT FORM ALLIANCE Sashco Log Home Products has expanded its alliance with Columbia Paint and Coatings. After successfully teaming up with two Columbia Paint locations, Sashco and Columbia Paint have approved expanded distribution into six additional Columbia Paint locations throughout the Pacific Northwest region including Washington, Idaho, Utah, Montana, and Wyoming. Sashco’s complete line of compatible log home finish-

ing products including caulking, chinking, interior and exterior stains, and log cleaning products are now available from the select Columbia paint retail locations.

PROTECTIVE COATINGS GROUP AND DEMILEC (USA) JOIN FORCES Building industry leaders Protective Coatings Group (PCG) and Demilec (USA) have formed an alliance dedicated to providing property constructors and owners with a combined service that uti-

BENJAMIN MOORE DEVELOPS APPLICATION TO DIGITALLY MATCH COLORS ON IPHONES

Benjamin Moore is wedding its color authority to the technology of iPhones. The company is debuting “ben Color Capture,” an iPhone application that, with the tap of a key, lets you snap a picture of any color inspiration, anywhere in the world, and instantly match it to one of the more than 3,300 hues that comprise Benjamin Moore’s color system. ben Color Capture allows the user to save favorites for instant color coordination and comparison. Additionally, the new ben application can access the iPhone’s GPS system, locating the Benjamin Moore retailer nearest to wherever the user is at that very moment.

“Anyone interested in color must have the ben app. It’s functional, fun and a sure way to capture color on the run,” said Carl Minchew, Benjamin Moore’s director of color technology. “While Benjamin Moore offers an assortment of professional color tools for designers and architects, we wanted to extend the simplicity of identifying color you love in an instant. With the ben app, iPhone users have the world of color at their fingertips.”

The ben app is intuitive and easy-to-use. Simply glide a finger across the digital photo taken with the iPhone’s built-in camera, zoom into a color, and tap the “match” key. In just seconds, a strip of colors will appear below the photo, with the closest paint match highlighted. A simple shake of the phone and ben will provide up to four coordinating colors, creating an entire harmonizing palette based on the original selection. Favorites can be saved and enlarged to the size of the iPhone screen for easier viewing.

Available beginning June 1, the application is free and can be downloaded by visiting the AppStore Web site, www.apple.com/iphone/appstore; search for ben and select to install.