Argus Camera Sold
Argus Industries Inc., will be auctioned off according to Crain's Chicago Business reports. The privately held camera company, which reported revenues of $31 million last year, ran into cash flow problems when its main customer demanded steep price cuts and, separately, its bank pulled its financing, says Argus President William Pearson. Speculation is that the Chicago based Hartford Computer Group may be the only bidder for Argus. Their site www.arguscamera.com could no longer be accessed as this was written.

Dell Promotes Photography Bundles with Computers

Dell Computer is offering new music, printing and photography bundles designed to help consumers get more out of their PCs. The new products, which combine Dell gear with third-party technology became available last week on PCs sold on the company's website. 

The bundles will offer consumers a simple way to jump into digital photography by providing all-in-one, basic gear to get started. 

The digital photography bundle, which costs $375 before a $50 rebate, has a Dell A940 inkjet printer, along with a cable to connect it with a PC, ink cartridges, a 3.2-megapixel Canon A300 digital camera, and 50 sheets of paper. 

Imacon Ixpress 96 digital back

Horseman DigiFlex II 35mm camera body

Xtensis Launches pxl SmartScale for Precise Image Scaling 

Extensis announced pxl SmartScale, a new Photoshop plug-in for increasing the resolution of digital images without compromising quality. 

Powered by Celartem Inc.'s advanced scaling technology PixelLive, SmartScale offers image scaling up to 1600 percent with no discernable loss in printed quality. Using PixelLive technology, SmartScale increases image resolution while preserving the original color brightness and edge geometry. This information is then applied to the scaling process creating high-quality press-ready results. The English version of SmartScale is available now for download from www.extensis.com. 

SmartScale's estimated street price will be $199.95 for full product. In addition, a competitive upgrade of SmartScale is available for an estimated street price of $169.95. 

French, German and Japanese versions will be available in the third quarter 2003.

EPSON Perfection 1670 PHOTO scanner

EPSON Perfection 3170 PHOTO scanner

The EPSON Perfection 3170 PHOTO will be added to the scanner product line, while the EPSON Perfection 1670 PHOTO replaces the EPSON Perfection 1660 PHOTO scanner. The Perfection 3170 PHOTO and 1670 PHOTO deliver maximum hardware resolutions of 3200 x 6400 dpi on the Perfection 3170 PHOTO and 1600 x 3200 dpi on the Perfection 1670 PHOTO. The scanners each feature 48-bit color depth for color accuracy and offer fast scanning speeds with Hi-Speed USB 2.0 for scanning photos, text and graphics. Both models include Epson Easy Photo Fix technology, which provides customers with fully-automatic scanning, one-touch color restoration of faded photos, slides and negatives, and one-touch dust removal from slides and negatives. The EPSON Perfection 3170 PHOTO will be available in August for $199. For added versatility, this scanner model also offers an optional automatic document feeder (ADF) for an estimated street price of $199. The EPSON Perfection 1670 PHOTO will also be available in August for an estimated street price of $129. Both scanners can be purchased through Epson authorized dealers, consumer electronic stores, mail order, and at www.epsonstore.com. 

AOL Loses Over 1 Million Customers

America Online has lost more than 1 million dial-up customers since the dramatic decline in its subscriber base began late last year. Sources familiar with the figures said AOL is rapidly losing customers to NetZero and other lower-priced bare-bones Internet services, as well as to higher-priced high-speed cable and telephone providers. 

According to Wayne H. Pace, the corporation's chief financial officer "the falloff in subscribers is much steeper than AOL had projected"

With roughly 26 million customers in the United States, America Online remains the nation's largest provider of Internet access. But over the past two quarters, the company has lost more than 700,000 dial-up subscribers and it is projected that they will loose hundreds of thousands of additional dial-up subscribers this quarter and more than 1 million subscribers in 2003.

Jessops Sponsors Photographer Badge to Promote Photo Interest Among Scouts

U.K. based photo retailer Jessops is sponsoring the Scout Associations' Photographer badge to encourage young people to learn more about photography. The badge is open to approximately 120,000 girls and boys aged between 10-1/2 and 14 years who are part of Scout Groups across the United Kingdom .

To complete the badge, scouts are tested on a range of topics and must also produce a portfolio of 12 pictures using either film or digital cameras or they can focus on videography. Scouts, on completion, will receive special Jessops certificates, along with a Scout Photographer badge.

As part of the sponsorship, Jessops has produced a range of resource material for both Scouts and their Leaders. Natalie Spencer, head of Fundraising and Sponsorship at The Scout Association, said, "The Photographer badge has always been one of the most popular of the 72 activity badges the Scouts can choose to participate in. We are sure that with Jessops support we can further increase interest in photography and help even more Scouts successfully complete the badge."

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