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PRESS RELEASE

ePOINT is Targeted by Arrow Media Solutions for New Photo Kiosk!

29 July, 2005 - Alloa, Scotland -  ePOINT Technology Limited of Alloa, Scotland today announced it has signed an exclusive four-year deal with Arrow Media Solutions of Lake Placid, New York to deliver a new photo kiosk solution to retail venues in the United States, Canada and Latin America. Based on ePOINT’s PhotoGenie counter top kiosk and PhotoPoint kiosk software, the new Arrow Point photo kiosk will provide a complete range of digital photo services such as printing, emailing, and archiving to the web, for retailers and consumers.

Making the announcement, Arrow Media confirmed that five hundred units have already been purchased from ePOINT in readiness for an aggressive installation plan of 1,000 units by the end of 2005 and a major rollout through 2006. Paul Scapatici, President of Arrow Media Solutions said, "We intend to provide unrivalled quality of service to our customers and to ensure they have a positive experience by delivering a simple and reliable product that is fun to use."

PhotoGenie, ePOINT’s counter-top photo terminal, which incorporates the world’s most advanced camera card reader, the ePOINT Digital Media Processor, will form the core of the Arrow solution which is packaged as a standalone unit, incorporating three photo printers, a scanner, and credit card reader. The whole system is managed in the field by AMS’s remote management and service solution.

ePOINT’s PhotoPoint application software will present a friendly, easily navigable way for consumers to select, manipulate and process their digital pictures for multi-size printing, archiving to the web or simply emptying a camera card to CD. ePOINT’s device management middleware, Universal Device Manager, provides easy links for the photo application to control and manage the consumer devices in the machine such as the Digital Media Processor, picture scanner, and credit card reader that allows consumers to complete the transaction without store staff assistance.

The key consumer interaction point in the kiosk, the camera card reader, is provided by ePOINT’s ultra-reliable, ‘retail-hardened’, Planar Digital Media Processor. The Digital Media Processor, in use throughout Europe by Sony, reduces retailers’ servicing costs, while its in-built photo-protection features will increase consumer confidence that their precious images are safe while in a public kiosk. Simple Digital Media Processor software upgrades that can be installed by retailers without service engineer involvement, guaranteeing that the PhotoGenie will always able to read the latest in camera card technology.

"With PhotoGenie, not being able to read camera cards will be a thing of the past," said AMS President Paul Scapatici. "Instead of worrying about upgrading hardware, software updates to the Digital Media Processor will provide our retailers with long term confidence that their kiosk will remain capable of reading the latest camera cards as they hit the stores. This, along with maximum uptime, a superior customer experience and a reliable, trust-worthy service partner, our customers can grow their brand and their ROI on their terms, complimentary to the focus of their business."

"By aligning our respective technologies and skills, both companies have created an outstanding product line-up that combines the best from both,” said ePOINT CEO Gordon Venters. “Our expertise in technology and technical sales support will be valuable in enabling Arrow Media Solutions to achieve a leadership position in photo kiosk solutions."

A recent study by InfoTrends / CAP Ventures revealed 37 per cent of digital camera owners purchased retail photo finishing services in 2004, up from just 14 per cent in this previous year. Arrow Point will enable retailers to deliver self-serve digital photo finishing services to consumers with greater reliability and confidence about being able to offer these services into the future.

Arrow Media Solutions will exclusively distribute the Arrow Point solution in North, Central & South America, and the Caribbean, with PhotoPoint software provided directly from ePOINT Technology, and PhotoGenie hardware supplied directly by ePOINT’s outsourced manufacturer, Flytech Technologies of Taiwan.

First customer shipments of the integrated photo-kiosk solution are scheduled for August 2005.

About Arrow Media Solutions
Arrow Media Solutions was formed to answer the market’s call for a high quality provider of innovative and flexible customer-driven solutions that are underpinned by an in-house commitment and capability for complete service and support within the digital photo kiosk market, something sorely lacking in the industry until now. AMS’s full service, turnkey solutions enable customers to embrace with confidence the total spectrum of services they have come to expect in the retail market, thus allowing AMS to earn their loyalty. AMS’s goal is to ensure a positive customer experience, and back everything they sell up with 100% support.

Arrow Media Solutions is a privately held company headquartered in Lake Placid, New York. AMS also has offices in California and Barbados.

About ePOINT
ePOINT creates interface solutions products for the world’s leading gaming and digital photo companies. Its unique middleware software enables companies to link, control and manage the complex peripheral devices used in interactive kiosks, gaming machines, and self-service terminals. Founded in 1998, Tthe companywas founded in 1998 and is the UK market leader in peripheral device management software with over 17,000 licences deployed, and include Sony Europe, Leisure Link Group, Argos and Jessops as its customers. Hitseadquartered in Scotland UK headquarters, ePOINTePOINT workss directly with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) throughout the world and with licensed has distribution partners in Europe, North America and Asia.

  

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