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UMAX Shows Hand from Scanners to Cameras at PMA

LAS VEGAS -- UMAX Technologies, Inc. places all its cards on the table this week at the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) show.

UMAX will display its portfolio of industry-leading solutions, including its line of high-end professional scanners to its family of consumer-focused digital cameras. UMAX will highlight its new PowerLook 1100 scanner with FireWire connectivity, and its latest entry into the consumer digital camera arena, the AstraCam 1000. Other products listed below will also be on display at the show.

Among the featured new products:

PowerLook 1100

The PowerLook 1100 is the first Mac and Windows scanner dedicated for FireWire/IEEE-1394 support. Targeting professional users who want fast, single-pass scanning capabilities, the PowerLook 1100 also allows multiple Mac users to daisy-chain to the device. It is hot-pluggable and twice as fast as SCSI-connected scanners. It is compatible with Apple PowerMac G4 and G3, and the iMac DV systems or with PCs running Windows 2000 and Windows 98 second edition. The PowerLook 1100 will be available in March for an estimated street price starting at $995.

AstraCam 1000 and AstraCam

These two members in the UMAX family of digital still cameras will thrill show visitors -- when they see the demo and especially when they see the price. The AstraCam 1000 will retail at a suggested price of $129 when it hits the stores in late March. These slim, lightweight, USB-enabled digital cameras target novice users or travelers who want to keep a photo journal of their travels, business trips or visits to family and friends. The original AstraCam, with USB docking port and rechargeable batteries, retails for an MSRP of $199.

PowerLook 3000

Ideal for design studios, photographers and in-house print shops, this ultra-high resolution moving flatbed, "flat drum" scanner includes UMAX proprietary technology for high quality output from reflectives, transparencies, and negatives. Since its launch this scanner has seen unqualified success in its target market because of its high 3048 dpi resolution and a maximum optical density of 3.6 Dmax. The PowerLook 3000 carries an SRP from $7,295 to $7,695.

PowerLook III

The PowerLook III professional scanner offers high resolution (1200 dpi) scanning and 3.4 Dmax to capture fine detail when scanning prints, transparencies or negatives. The scanner comes with several software choices, depending on the customer. Estimated street pricing ranges from $895 to $2,195.

Mirage II

This dual lens, high resolution, flatbed scanner targets the customer who needs large format scanning capabilities for documents, newspapers, and transparencies. The Mirage II has scan areas up to 11.4" by 17" at resolutions up to 1400 x 2800 dpi, and can batch-scan up to thirty-two 35mm slides. Depending on the software package, scanner estimated street prices range from $1,995 to $2,995, including a transparency adapter.

Photo Prepress Software

Designed for photographers, PowerColor includes sophisticated drum scanner software features for professionals who want control over their image corrections during the scan. These features include accurate negative scanning, one of the industry's best unsharp mask tools, a true 48-bit density driven interface, closed loop calibration for press output, ColorSync support (Mac only) and the ability to use LAB correction. PowerColor is compatible with both Mac and Windows systems and is included for the PowerLook 3000, PowerLook 1100, PowerLook III, and Mirage II.

Astra 4000U

UMAX Astra 4000U targets the SOHO user who needs to be able to scan legal-sized documents with 1200 x 2400 dpi high-resolution scanning capabilities, and USB interface for less than $400. It offers improved image quality jobs where higher resolutions are needed like scanning finely detailed engravings and enlargements.

Astra 2400S (DigitalFocus Awards winner)

This single pass scanner, earned the attention of the DigitalFocus judges this year. With its fast SCSI-interface, this device doubles as a small office copy machine, sending high resolution data directly to the printer or to the PC for use in applications like web graphics, newsletter artwork, customer presentations and proposals. The price point is hot as well, the business-oriented bundle carries an SRP of $299.

Astra 2200

Aimed at the SOHO and consumer user who wants more from a scanner. The Astra 2200 comes in USB and SCSI interfaces for fast transfer of scanned data to applications that will put the data onto a Web site or high resolution color brochure, send it out as an email document or send it directly to the printer thereby eliminating the need for a standalone copy machine. The scanner has a built-in transparency cover and, with software enhancement, can achieve a maximum resolution of 9600 x 9600 dpi. The price point of $199 makes this a perfect home or small office tool.

Customer Service and Support

Customers can call the UMAX PowerLook users technical support center at (800) 468-8629, and Astra users technical support center at (208) 552-7980, Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. -- 9:00 p.m. (MTN) and Saturday from 9:00 a.m.- 6:00 p.m. (MTN). Customers receive three months of free technical support after purchasing the scanner or digital camera and can also contact UMAX for technical support via email 24 hours a day, seven days a week ([email protected]), and via the World Wide Web (http://support.umax.com). Additionally, UMAX offers an intelligent expert system also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, via the technical support telephone lines or through the UMAX support Web site.

About UMAX Technologies, Inc.

UMAX Technologies, Inc. is a technology leader in the design and distribution of a full line of imaging products. The company maintains its leadership position in the imaging market with a broad line of desktop scanners, digital cameras and multimedia devices for the capture and manipulation of video images. UMAX is located at 3561 Gateway Boulevard, Fremont, CA 94538, and is on the Web at: http://www.umax.com.