Connectix Ships Color QuickCam for Macintosh; Color digital video camera provides easy to use video solution for under $200.SAN MATEO San Mateo (săn mətā`ō), city (1990 pop. 85,486), San Mateo co., W Calif., on San Francisco Bay; inc. 1894. It is a commercial and retail center with some high-technology manufacturing. San Mateo, Spanish for St. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 16, 1996--Connectix Corporation announced today it is shipping Connectix Color QuickCam(TM) for Macintosh, a 24-bit color digital video camera that plugs right into a Macintosh serial port, requiring no additional hardware. With an expected retail price of US$199 (after a $30 manufacturer's rebate, offer expires July 31, 1996), Color QuickCam is the most affordable color digital video camera available today. Its release builds on the success of the original Connectix QuickCam, the leading digital video camera for computer users. Color QuickCam retains the award-winning design of the original grayscale In computing, a grayscale or greyscale digital image is an image in which the value of each pixel is a single sample. Displayed images of this sort are typically composed of shades of gray, varying from black at the weakest intensity to white at the strongest, though in QuickCam and is just as easy to use. In less than five minutes, users can install Color QuickCam and start taking brilliant color images at 640 x 480 pixels in 24-bit color (millions of colors). Color QuickCam incorporates several new features including a manual adjustable focus lens, Auto-Capture for live Web images, a self-timer mode, and proprietary compression technology that expand its usefulness on the Internet, at work and at home. Color QuickCam also uses a pass-through Apple Desktop Bus See ADB. (ADB (Apple Desktop Bus) A low-speed serial bus for connecting keyboards, mice and other input devices on Apple IIgs and Macintosh computers. Starting with the iMac in 1998, the ADB was superseded by USB. ) connector for power, providing portability and international compatibility. "We're seeing an explosion in the number of computer users adding still image and video capability to their systems, and Connectix QuickCam has been by far the most popular device to do that," said Alexis Gerard, President of Future Image in Burlingame, CA. "Connectix has used its leadership position to acquire a superior knowledge of users' needs, and that's enabled them to respond with a second generation product which should vastly expand the market." VIDEC Means Faster Frame Rates Using Connectix' proprietary, VIDEC(TM) -- Video Digitally Enhanced Compression (patent pending) compression technology, Color QuickCam compresses the video data at a 4:1 ratio with virtually no loss of picture quality. As a result, users get faster frame rates, larger frame sizes and significantly smaller files to store on their hard drives. In fact, frame rates are even faster than the original grayscale QuickCam. Typical Color QuickCam frame rates at thousands of colors are: -- Power Macintosh See Power Mac. (computer) Power Macintosh - Apple Computer's personal computer based on the PowerPC, introduced on 1994-03-14. Existing 680x0 code (both applications and device drivers) run on Power Macintosh systems without modification via a Motorola 68LC040 emulator. (160 x 120): over 24 fps -- Power Macintosh (320 x 240): over 10 fps Sharp Images From Under One Inch To Infinity Color QuickCam uses a fast, f/1.6, 5.7mm wide-angle, manual focus lens that can record close-ups of objects as small as the serial numbers on a dollar bill or as large as a conference room full of people. Color QuickCam's 48 degree angle of view is especially well-suited for videoconferencing. Excellent Images In Virtually All Indoor Lighting Conditions Combining its fast lens with sophisticated software, Color QuickCam adapts to virtually any indoor lighting conditions at home or at work. The new Auto Hue feature automatically adjusts Color QuickCam to get the most natural colors possible in incandescent, fluorescent or natural lighting. Auto Brightness adjusts for different amounts of light, but all camera controls remain accessible to the user. Digital special effects special effects, in motion pictures, cinematographic techniques that create illusions in the audience's minds as well as the illusions created using these techniques. for mirroring, flip and landscape/portrait make Color QuickCam versatile for any application. Thousands of Uses On the Net, At Home and At Work A complete digital video solution, Color QuickCam includes all of the software a user needs to get started. Included in every Color QuickCam package are: QuickPICT(TM), an application for capturing color still images; QuickMovie(TM), an application for recording color digital video movies, and Apple Computer's QuickTime(TM) multimedia extension. Connectix QuickCam is already the most popular camera on the Web, and now includes a new Auto-Capture feature to enable automatic updating of live images to Web pages. Auto-Capture can even be set to take pictures only at certain times of day and days of the week. Home users trying to photograph a child will appreciate the new Self Timer A Self timer is a device on a camera that, when enabled, gives a delay between the pressing of the shutter release and the shutter firing. It is most commonly used to allow photographers to take a photo of themselves, hence the name. feature, which counts down a few extra seconds to allow him or her to pose for the picture. Home computer users can also create multimedia greeting cards See e-card. to send to friends and relatives on disk or via email using the free version of Connectix QuickCards Limited included with Color QuickCam. "I had the Color QuickCam installed in seconds and up and running in a few minutes," said Brian Chiko, a Color QuickCam beta tester from Saratoga, CA. "It's intuitive, supports all the key video and image standards, and integrates without a hitch with applications like Adobe Photoshop See Photoshop. ." Additional Software Applications for QuickCam Available Separately Businesses and home office users alike can use Color QuickCam to video conference using Connectix VideoPhone (1) (VideoPhone) A line of videophones (definition #1 below) from AT&T that were introduced in the early 1990s and later pulled off the market due to poor sales. The first models came with a price tag above $1,000, and a pair were needed. See Picturephone. (TM) (ESP (1) (Enhanced Service Provider) An organization that adds value to basic telephone service by offering such features as call-forwarding, call-detailing and protocol conversion. US$59 -- software only). "We built VIDEC compression into QuickCam so videoconferencing software wouldn't have to impose further demands on the computer to compress data, making it easier to run Connectix Videophone on more computers," said Roy McDonald, CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Connectix. Since its introduction in 1994, Connectix QuickCam has become the most popular digital video camera. The grayscale QuickCam has already: -- Sold over 250,000 units -- Attracted over 1,000 developers building QuickCam-based solutions US Pricing and Availability Connectix Color QuickCam for Macintosh is available now at many popular retail and mail order outlets throughout North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. . Color QuickCam carries a suggested retail price of $299 (US). Connectix estimates a US street price of $229 and offers a $30 direct rebate to all purchasers through July 31, 1996. Color QuickCam comes with a one year warranty and a 30 day money back guarantee. Connectix Color QuickCam for Windows has entered the beta testing (programming) beta testing - Testing a pre-release (potentially unreliable) version of a piece of software by making it available to selected users. This term derives from early 1960s terminology for product cycle checkpoints, first used at IBM but later standard throughout the phase, and is expected to be available for North America in May with the same pricing and similar features. More information will be available at that time. Founded in 1988 and based in San Mateo, CA, Connectix Corporation designs, manufactures, distributes and publishes award-winning personal computer enhancement products. The company's flagship products include QuickCam, RAM Doubler A software technique that compresses the contents of memory, thereby doubling (more or less) its available capacity. , Speed Doubler Refers to hardware or software that doubles the speed of its predecessor. For example, Intel's earlier Speed Doubler was the name given to the technology that allowed the clock speed to be doubled on its 486 DX2 chips. , and Connectix VideoPhone. For more information, contact Connectix at 800/950-5880, 415/571-5100 or fax 415/571-5195. The company can be contacted at http://www.connectix.com -0- Note to Editors: QuickCam, VIDEC, QuickMovie, QuickPICT and Connectix VideoPhone are trademarks of Connectix Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders. CONTACT: Connectix Corporation, San Mateo Don Pickens, 415/571-5100 quickcam@connectix.com or Wilson McHenry Company Wendy Barbour, 415/638-3400 wbarbour@wmc.com |
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