Printer-news

Epson Builds on Success of PictureMate® Personal Photo Lab Family With New
Printers That Deliver Even Better Image Quality, Speed and Ease of Use

PictureMate Pal, Snap and Flash Offer Professional Quality 4″ x 6″ Photos That Consumers Can Easily Print Themselves

LONG BEACH, Calif., Sept. 6 /PRNewswire/ — Building on the
phenomenal success of the PictureMate personal photo lab line, Epson
America Inc. today announced three new printer models, which enable
consumers to easily print professional looking 4″ x 6″ photos
themselves at home or wherever they choose, with or without a computer.
The newest PictureMate printer line, which includes PictureMate Pal™,
PictureMate Snap™ and PictureMate Flash™, boasts several improvements
over the previous generation, including features that make it even
easier to print the best looking photos with no tradeoffs.

The PictureMate line, which has consistently been a top choice among
consumers for small format photo printers, uses Epson’s exclusive
MicroPiezo® archival printing technology to produce beautiful and
affordable prints that resist fading far longer than traditional film
processed prints. In addition to being fade resistant, this ink
technology ensures that PictureMate prints are smudge, scratch, and
water resistant. Thanks to improvements in the ink set, all three
models produce photos that have even greater clarity and detail than
the previous generation and resist fading up to 96 years in a glass
frame and about 200 years in a photo album.(1)

Designed as the perfect printing accessory for digital cameras,
PictureMate supports all popular memory cards, as well as direct
printing from PictBridge cameras. And with its compact size, handle and
PC-free capabilities, PictureMate can be easily moved from room to room
or wherever people are gathered.

“The PictureMate lineup has been so successful because Epson
addressed all the barriers consumers had to printing photos at home,
such as quality, ease of use, affordability and print durability,” said
Grace Huang, product manager, Consumer Imaging Products, Epson. “Now we
have made the most successful snapshot printer even faster, with more
vibrant image quality so that users will find it even easier and more
enjoyable to use.”

PictureMate Pal

PictureMate Pal features a fast print speed of as little as 60
seconds for a 4″ x 6″ photo(2) to save consumers time. It also has a
new auto photo correction feature that corrects colors for dark backlit
and washed-out photos, adjusts skin tones, enhances the richness of
scenery, and sharpens photos. This feature is like having a trained
photo lab technician in the printer to fine-tune each image
automatically. Additionally, PictureMate Pal features a 2″ premium
photo viewer with a built-in tilt to easily preview and select images
to print. PictureMate Pal also supports wireless printing with an
optional Bluetooth adapter.

With or without a computer, PictureMate Pal features a variety of
layout options, including true BorderFree® 4″x 6″ photos without the
inconvenient tearing or unsightly perforations that some other printers
require, photos with classic borders, traditional wallet-sized photos,
mini wallets, plus handy proof sheets. It also offers the ability to
print in color, black and white or sepia tones. An easy-to-navigate
control panel simplifies the process.

PictureMate Snap

PictureMate Snap is a step-up model that has all the features and
benefits of PictureMate Pal plus a faster print speed, printing a 4″ x
6″ photo in as little as 45 seconds(2). In addition, PictureMate Snap
includes a premium quality 2.5″ premium photo viewer with adjustable
tilt, one-touch red eye removal, and WiFi connectivity. Snap also
provides extra standalone features, including unlimited cropping using
the viewer and crop buttons and additional layouts such as U.S.
passport size, jumbo wallet, 2″ x 2″, 3″ x 3″, CD proof sheets and
portrait packages (4 or 10 photos to a page). Other highlights offered
by PictureMate Snap are decorative Disney frame photo borders featuring
favorite Disney characters and Epson’s exclusive Print by Date mode, an
innovative way to select and print photos taken on particular dates,
especially helpful for sorting through large capacity memory cards.

PictureMate Flash

PictureMate Flash offers all of the features and benefits included
with PictureMate Snap, as well as the ability to save photos from a
memory card to a CD via a built-in CD burner. With one touch of the
convenient “Save to CD” button located right on the control panel,
PictureMate Flash burns images to a CD through a multi-session built-in
CD burner offering convenient backup of images without a computer.
Additionally, the burner can read photos from both CDs and DVDs
enabling users to print directly from either.

Pricing and Availability

The PictureMate Pal, Snap and Flash will all be available in
September 2006 for $149, $199 and $299, estimated street prices,
respectively. PictureMate comes with a one-year limited warranty in the
United States. More information is available at http://www.mypicturemate.com/.

Accessories

For convenience and affordability, Epson will offer two PictureMate
Print Pack options for this new generation. The first option includes
150 sheets of glossy 4″x 6″ photo paper and a photo cartridge for an
estimated street price of $39.99. The second option includes 100 sheets
of matte 4″x 6″ photo paper and a photo cartridge for an estimated
street price of $34.99. Both packs are supported by the PictureMate
Print Pack Satisfaction Guarantee.(3)

An optional internal battery is available for PictureMate Snap and
Flash that supports printing up to 140 photos or six hours standby time
with Snap and 120 photos or four hours standby time with Flash(4) and
automatically recharges with AC. The optional internal battery has an
estimated street price of $49.99.

About Epson

Epson offers an extensive array of award-winning image capture and
image output products for the consumer, business, photography, and
graphic arts markets. The company is also a leading supplier of
value-added point-of-sale (POS) printers and transaction terminals for
the retail market. Founded in 1975, Epson America, Inc. is the U.S.
affiliate of Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation, a global manufacturer
and supplier of high-quality technology products that meet customer
demands for increased functionality, compactness, systems integration
and energy efficiency. Epson America, Inc. is headquartered in Long
Beach, Calif.

Note: Epson, PictureMate and MicroPiezo are registered trademarks of
Seiko Epson Corporation. PictureMate Pal, PictureMate Snap and
PictureMate Flash are trademarks of Seiko Epson Corporation. All other
trademarks are the property of their respective companies. Epson
disclaims any rights in those marks.

(1) Using the PictureMate cartridge and PictureMate paper, prints are      predicted to last up to 200 years in archival sleeves in album storage      and up to 96 years in a glass frame in indoor display conditions.  See      Wilhelm-research.com for test conditions.  Actual print stability will      vary according to image and storage or display conditions.  Epson does      not guarantee the longevity of prints.

(2) Color photo without a PC in border layout, measured from start of      paper feed.  Additional print time will vary based on system      configuration, software application and page complexity.  See      http://www.epson.com/printspeed for more information about print speeds.

(3) Please see http://www.mypicturemate.com/satisfactionguarantee for details.

(4) Based on testing by Epson, using a brand new battery, with images from      a memory card.  Charge capability declines over the battery's      lifetime.  Number of prints based on continuous printing; number per      charge will vary with printer usage patterns and photo file sizes.      Viewing time and the number of photos printed is substantially less      when using a CD drive rather than a memory card.

SOURCE: Epson America, Inc.

CONTACT: Pam Barnett of Epson America, Inc., +1-562-290-5683,
pam_barnett@ea.epson.com; or Lindsay Rayburn, +1-310-967-2967,
lindsay_rayburn@cohnwolfe.com, or Anna Greulich, +1-310-967-2970,
anna_greulich@cohnwolfe.com, both of Cohn & Wolfe, for Epson America, Inc.

Web site: http://www.epson.com/printspeed

Web site: http://www.mypicturemate.com/satisfactionguarantee

Web site: http://www.mypicturemate.com/