Canon Debuts S600 Bubble Jet Printer; A Major Leap in Ink Jet Printing Technology

COSTA MESA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 9, 2001-- Canon U.S.A. Inc., a division of Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ), announced today its S600 Bubble Jet printer which the company believes sets new standards for performance in the mid-range ink jet printing market for small office/home office (SOHO) users.

The S600 printer, new to the company's broad range of Bubble Jet printers, boasts high-resolution four-color printing at 2400x1200 dpi -- 38 percent higher resolution than 2880x720 dpi printers -- and produces laser-quality text at up to 15 pages-per-minute (ppm) as well as stunning 8x10-inch photos on plain paper in approximately 90 seconds.

The S600 printer also includes the exclusive Canon ThinkTank System -- individual ink tanks for each color (CMYK) and a low-ink sensor -- an intelligent, economical system. For only estimated street price, the S600 printer offers a combined feature set that no competitive printer can match.

Ink jet printer resolutions are determined by dots per inch and the S600 Bubble Jet printer delivers 2400x1200 color dpi for 2.88 million dots. Compared with competitive printers that have 2880x720 color dpi -- only 2,073,600 dots -- the S600 printer delivers more than 800,000 more dots per square inch. This means the S600 printer places more ink on the paper and thus, extends the color gamut for deeper colors.

Most ink jet printers in this class have been able to achieve higher resolutions but must sacrifice speed. The S600 printer breaks the ink jet printer speed barrier delivering 15 ppm in black and 10 ppm in color. Photo prints at 8x10-inch size are created on plain paper in approximately 90 seconds, comparable to many photo printers at much higher prices.

The Canon ThinkTank System is a system that Canon pioneered more than seven years ago on its BJC-600 series printers. This individual ink tank system is a hallmark of Canon's Bubble Jet printer line and includes an optical ink sensor that detects when an ink tank is low and alerts the user in advance of the ink running out via an on-screen warning that virtually eliminates ink waste.

By only replacing the ink color that has run out, users have a more efficient printer as opposed to throwing out an entire ink cartridge when one color runs out as users experience with many competitive printers.

Canon's pigment-based black ink, the BCI-3e, creates laser-quality text and improved color inks, individual color ink tanks -- the BCI-3eM, BCI-3eC, BCI-3eY -- have higher optical densities and improved ink formulations for more vivid colors and enhanced brightness with no over-saturation.

In addition, Canon has tested its inks on Canon Photo Paper Pro (PR-101) for archival quality with results of prints that last approximately 25 years without fading.

The S600 printer has USB connection for both PC and Mac users, quiet operation at 39 decibels in the highest quality mode and a one-year limited warranty with InstantExchange Program. Shipping today, the S600 printer has an estimated street price of .