NEW YORK, June 27, 2000 (PRIMEZONE) -- Iomega Corporation (NYSE:IOM), a global leader in data management solutions, announced today that it is expanding its presence in the digital imaging market this fall with the release FotoShow(TM), its new digital image center. Developed with digital photography enthusiasts in mind, the FotoShow(TM) image center, powered by PictureIQ(TM) software (www.pictureiq.com), will allow consumers to view photos on a television, making it possible to store, organize, edit and share photos with family and friends. The FotoShow(TM) image center is Iomega's first-branded product for the digital imaging arena.
"The digital camera market is experiencing incredible growth and this trend is expected to continue over the next several years, making storage and management of images a primary focus to a wide range of consumers," said Bruce Albertson, president and CEO, Iomega Corporation. "We are committed to creating user-friendly storage devices that meet the needs created by the technology explosion. We expect this product to be particularly important to the consumer who not only wants to safely store images taken with their digital camera equipment but who also wants the convenience of sharing those images away from the confines of their personal computer."
Iomega Zip(R)-Based Portable FotoShow(TM) Image Center
Digital photos saved onto digital camera memory cards can be inserted into the Compact Flash or Smart Media card slots on the FotoShow(TM) image center. With the press of a button, pictures can be quickly transferred from a memory card to a Zip(R) disk even when the device is not connected to a TV or PC. When connected to a PC, the FotoShow(TM) image center functions as a Zip 250MB USB drive, enabling consumers to transfer photos easily to the FotoShow(TM) image center from any source - including the hard drive, scanned pictures, pictures attached to personal e-mails, or those downloaded from the Internet - for later viewing on the television. When connected to the television, the FotoShow(TM) image center functions as a photo viewer, editor, organizer and storage device, thus creating a portable "digital photo album."
Built-in PictureIQ(TM) technology will give consumers easy-to-use digital photography capabilities including red-eye removal, one-touch instant photo fixing, cropping, image rotation and the ability to add creative touches such as artistic viewing templates.
The portability and ease of use of the FotoShow(TM) image center will make it an ideal appliance for sharing photos with family and friends anywhere a television is available. The storage capability of Iomega's Zip(R) drive creates a safe, practical environment for enjoying family memories anytime, anywhere.
"One of the most significant advantages of digital pictures is that you get to see them instantaneously," said Bill McCoy, president and CEO, PictureIQ Corporation. "The FotoShow image center, powered by PictureIQ, brings this benefit into the living room, giving consumers an extremely easy way to not only display their pictures on a TV, but to also organize, enhance and be creative with their pictures. Based on the consumer-friendly and cost-effective Iomega Zip drive, the FotoShow image center is a breakthrough product that makes digital photography much more accessible to mass market consumers."
Kristy Holch, principal of InfoTrends Research Group, a leading digital imaging market research and consulting firm, said, "We estimate 13.9 billion consumer digital photos will be created this year alone. Consumers need a convenient way to store, organize and share all of these pictures. By letting consumers transfer pictures from both their digital cameras and directly from their PC, the FotoShow image center with PictureIQ technology gives consumers a convenient digital photo album - and with its ability to connect to the TV, products like these could become the 'slide projector' for the digital age."
Freeing the Business Consumer
The FotoShow(TM) image center also has business applications, since multi-media presentations can be saved to Zip(R) disks as a series of JPEG images and then viewed on television monitors, eliminating the need for laptop computers or expensive projectors to run programs.
"The FotoShow image center will have tremendous potential for the professional who regularly gives presentations and who wants the opportunity to showcase material without the need for computers or projectors," said Mark Lucas, executive vice president, global marketing and product management, Iomega Corporation. "With this product, the days of having to arrive 15 to 30 minutes before a meeting to set up a presentation, or the need to purchase expensive equipment, will be gone. Presenters will be able to literally 'plug and play' their material on available television sets."
Leveraging a Growing Market
The market for digital camera equipment is expected to be explosive over the next five years. Iomega will use a generational product development plan in order to capitalize on advances in digital equipment at the consumer level.
"We recognize that in order to continue to be successful, we must develop products with an eye toward technological advances in the vertical markets that our product lines enhance," said Lucas. "Our plan is to introduce a line of products in this category over the next several years that will significantly enhance the digital photography experience."
Product Specifications
The FotoShow(TM) image center will incorporate a Motorola PowerPC processor and include a Zip(R) 250MB drive. It will also feature a remote control Compact Flash and Smart Media slots to accommodate the most common memory card formats, S-Video and composite video and audio outputs. Additionally, it will be AC powered with an optional DC auto adapter and most importantly, will feature a USB device port that will allow connection to a computer as a Zip drive.
Iomega's FotoShow(TM) image center is expected to be available in the fourth quarter of 2000.
About PictureIQ
PictureIQ Corporation (www.pictureiq.com) develops and licenses the leading digital picture editing and creativity software solution for the Internet and consumer electronics devices. PictureIQ technology is rapidly becoming the industry standard infrastructure for Web sites or consumer electronics manufacturers looking to easily integrate advanced digital photo capabilities directly into their products and services. PictureIQ-powered sites and devices enable people to quickly and easily enhance and be creative with their digital pictures. PictureIQ Corporation is the only third-party company with a license to the core imaging and video technologies from Adobe Systems, Inc., creator of industry-leading products including Adobe Photoshop(R) and Adobe Premiere(R).
About Iomega
Iomega Corporation (NYSE:IOM) manufactures and markets the award-winning Zip(R), Jaz(R) and Clik!(TM) drives and disks and markets the ZipCD(TM) CD-RW drives and discs. Iomega's products help people to save, share, manage and create important information such as spreadsheets, slides, Internet downloads, audio files and personal photographs, while protecting that content from viruses and hackers. Used in homes, businesses, government and educational facilities and by creative professionals everywhere, Iomega storage solutions are the enabling technologies preferred by millions. The Company can be reached at 1-800-MY-STUFF (800-697-8833), or on the Web at www.iomega.com.
Special note: Statements contained in this release relating to the expected availability and functionality of Iomega's FotoShow product, product develop plan and future product introductions are forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause actual events to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements, including market acceptance of, and demand for, Iomega's FotoShow product, manufacturing issues, including component availability and pricing, encountered by Iomega, development and distribution issues of Iomega's FotoShow product, product pricing and conformity to specifications, competition, intellectual property rights and other risks as identified in Iomega's Annual Report to Stockholders for 1999 on Form 10-K, and its most recent quarterly reports filed with the SEC.
Copyright(C) 2000 Iomega Corporation. Iomega, Zip, Jaz, Clik! And ZipCD are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Iomega Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Certain other product names, brand names and company names may be trademarks or designations of their respective owners.