Mariner upgrades Paperless document management software

Mariner Software has released Paperless 2.0, the latest upgrade to its comprehensive digital document management software for home and business. Formally known as ReceiptWallet, Paperless lets you scan or import receipts and other paperwork, using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and other data entry tools to help recognize and categorize receipts and documents as PDF files.

Konica Minolta, Kodak in global printer sales tie

Japanese  printer maker Konica Minolta and Eastman Kodak jave agreed on a global cross-distribution deal in digital printers for professional use, the Japanese company said on Thursday. The two companies are battling Hewlett-Packard and Xerox for share in the market for high-volume digital printers, which is expected to grow as firms switch to the more flexible technology from analogue offset printers.

3D Systems Brings to Market New Dental Printer

3D Systems announced the immediate availability of its 2011 ProJet DP 3000 3D printer, a new dental CAD/CAM 3D printer for wax-up production that provides measurable financial returns and a proven ROI for the dental lab. The new ProJet DP 3000 printer features an expanded ultra-high definition build area that delivers up to a 60% productivity improvement, enabling dental labs to dramatically ramp up production volumes for both crown and bridge work as well as partial frameworks. In addition to the increased capacity, the new ProJet DP 3000 is equipped with remote email notification, making it even easier to track printer operation and performance. 3D Systems also announced the immediate availability of an upgrade kit that extends the same value proposition to existing users, protecting their investment.

5 Ways Cloud Printers Will Make Your Small Business Soar

A new wave of Web-connected printers from the likes of HP and Lexmark are changing the way we dole out documents. Instead of dumb single-purpose devices, a modern multifunction cloud printer like the HP Photosmart eStation can print any document from nearly any device, anywhere you have an Internet connection. It’s a quantum leap forward in terms of flexibility, and every small business owner knows you need to stay flexible and adapt to the needs of your customers if you hope to succeed.

New Xerox Printers Target SMBs

Xerox has released two new laser printers and a multifunction model, all aimed at helping small and medium-sized businesses create professional-looking documents at an affordable price point. The $299 Xerox Phaser 6010 color laser printer (pictured) boasts a small, lightweight design and can print up to 12 color pages per minute (PPM) and 15 black and white PPM. It has a paper capacity of 160 sheets and can handle a variety of custom media and sizes, including labels, card stock, and envelopes.

Primera’s RX900 Color RFID Printer is Now Shipping

Primera Technology, Inc., a leading manufacturer of specialty printers, today announced its new RX900 Color RFID Printer is now shipping. RX900 is the world’s first and only full-color, on-demand label and tag printer that also has built-in RFID encoding technology. The RFID reader/encoding module is supplied by Intermec®, a global leader in RFID technology. It is compliant with EPC Global Gen 2 Class 1 and ISO 18000 –b and –c specifications.
“Until now, on-demand RFID labels and tags could only be printed in monochrome,” said Mark D. Strobel, Primera’s vice president of sales and marketing. “With RX900, you can add color coding, high-resolution color graphics and even photo-quality images to RFID labels and tags as they’re being printed. We are confident this capability opens up an entirely new set of exciting and cost-effective applications for RFID technology.”

OKI Introduces Bioplastic in Printers and MFPs Part

OKI Data Corporation, an OKI Group company specializing in the printer business, today announced it will introduce a bioplastic part consisting of at least 25% (by weight) of plant-based renewable biomass resources in all its printers and MFPs. Products manufactured from March 2011 onward will incorporate bioplastic, marking the first effort among OKI Group companies to use bioplastic in products. OKI Data is currently active in 120 countries, selling approximately 1.1 million printers and MFPs annually. Today's introduction of bioplastic is expected to reduce its annual CO2 emissions by three tons.
"Plant-based renewable bioplastics reduce environmental impact by reducing CO2 emissions and the petroleum resources consumed," said Harushige Sugimoto, President of OKI Data. "OKI Data is proactively developing products and technologies to reduce environmental impact. The company has long considered using bioplastic in its printers and MFPs. However, compared to traditional plastic, bioplastics offer formidable challenges in the areas of flame resistance, strength, heat resistance, and formability."
The bioplastic announced today is based on polyactic acid, a plant-based renewable resource. It offers enhanced flame resistance, strength, heat resistance, and formability, as well as high transparency and ease of processing, qualities that allow use of the product to form elements ranging from exterior components to mechanical parts. It is widely used in stationery, electrical home appliances, and office equipment. Cost competitiveness and the procurability of this bioplastic for overseas manufacturing facilities were key factors in its selection.
OKI Data is firmly committed to reducing its CO2 emissions, having set a goal to cut emissions by 6% relative to 2007 levels by 2012. Introducing bioplastics is one of the ways it intends to achieve this goal. Where possible, the company plans to replace traditional petroleum-derived plastics with plant-based renewable bioplastics in its future printers and MFPs.

Lexmark, AccuWeather Offer Printer-based Weather App

In a world drowning in information, weather forecasts might be among the most ubiquitous content out there. TV and radio stations offer frequent updates--particularly during drive time--and sites like Weather.com are easy enough to check on your computer or iPhone. But Lexmark and AccuWeather are betting there's one more place you need to check the seven-day outlook--the humble office printer.

Canon U.S.A. Displays Full Line Of Input To Output Devices

Helping to elevate the art of wedding and portrait photography, Canon U.S.A., Inc will showcase various imaging products at this year’s Wedding & Portrait Photographer International (WPPI) Convention at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas at the Canon Booth (#401). On display will be the new imagePROGRAF iPF6300S large format printer, the award-winning EOS DSLR camera line, professional video camcorders and PIXMA Pro-series inkjet printers in addition to live demonstrations of various professional product solutions designed for specialty applications. With the Company’s complete line of image-capture equipment, Canon looks to provide end-to-end solutions, helping wedding and portrait photographers produce high-quality prints for clients to cherish and relive those magical moments.
"As professionals adopt new digital technologies into their workflow, such as HD video, we see an increase in the demand for high-quality, input to output solutions in the wedding and portrait photography market" said Yuichi Ishizuka, executive vice president and general manager, Imaging Technologies and Communications Group, Canon U.S.A. "Thanks to a wide array of photo-imaging solutions, it is now easier to generate beautiful, emotionally-compelling images and footage both the bride and groom will appreciate"
Helping to reproduce that perfect portrait, the new 24-inch Canon imagePROGRAF iPF6300S large format printer provides wedding and portrait photographers with an affordable, 8-color option for printing high-quality images in a shorter amount of time than Canon’s 12-color, imagePROGRAF line up. From the vivid colors of the bride’s bouquet to the neutral grays in a monochrome image of a couple’s walk down the aisle, the printer’s new 8-Color LUCIA EX ink system helps deliver wide color gamut and achieves excellent shadow detail, deep black density and amazing scratch resistance. The printer boasts improved speed over previous models, producing 24" x 36" documents in roughly 35 seconds in a single pass economy mode, and full quality photographs in approximately four minutes. This new imagePROGRAF printer also includes a Plug-In for Adobe Photoshop, providing further support for the proofing and 64-bit printing environment. If a photographer is looking for even greater color gamut, the award-winning, 44-inch imagePROGRAF iPF8300 and 24-inch imagePROGRAF iPF6350 would be the quintessential choices. For an enhanced color spectrum and wider color gamut, both printers feature a 12-Color LUCIA EX pigment ink set, producing expressive and crisp blacks, smooth color gradations, and the capability to reproduce the finest details in the shadow areas of photographs.

Old ink-jet printers could soon be making human skin

With the simplest of modifications, a normal ink-jet printer becomes a high-tech 3-D printer, able to build replacement skin for those desperately in need of grafts. The latest breakthrough saw a plastic "ear" being printed out over just a half-hour...and it's only a matter of time before we can do that with skin as well. A couple research teams have been working on this idea, with a Wake Forest team attracting substantial attention.

Use a Tablet, Save a Tree

Ironic, isn’t it, that Hewlett-Packard touts wireless printing as one of the TouchPad’s big selling points, when the tablet form-factor to some extent obviates the need to print. By providing us with an easy, intuitive way of viewing and editing documents, tablets are reducing printing demand in the consumer and enterprise markets. And by increasing demand for e-books and digital magazines and newspapers, they’re doing the same thing in the commercial printing market as well. In fact, Morgan Stanley expects a decline of up to two percent in printer supplies revenue in 2011 and a two percent to five percent decline in 2012.

Canon Announces New ImagePrograf Large Format Printers

Two new large format printers from Canon are ready for their big close-up at the Wedding & Portrait Photographer International (WPPI) Convention in Las Vegas this week. The 24-inch and 44-inch models of Canon's imagePrograf line of large page printers have a new 8-color system (cyan, magenta, yellow, black, matte black, photo cyan, photo magenta and gray) and Canon's "Lucia Ex" ink-set, which can achieve greater details in shadows, deeper black density, and improved scratch resistance.

ezCheckPrinting Adds New QuickBooks MICR Check Printing Feature

Halfpricesoft.com released its new version of ezCheckPrinting software, which allows user to print QuickBooks compatible pre-printed MICR blank checks easily over network. ezCheckPrinting?s intuitive interface guides users step-by-step through entering bank information and setting up checks. Since ezCheckPrinting comes with the sample database, most users can test the first check in minutes after they install this check software on a Windows machine.
There is no frustrating learning curve, and checks can be printed as soon as a business owner installs the check printing application. One of the main goals of ezCheckPrinting software designers is to make sure that the product is easy to use - even for people who may not have much experience. The software can also serve as a check management system that ensures that check information is stored and organized in one secure place. Generate a printed report for the checks paid for a particular customer, or use the report export function to help prepare for tax season and itemize those valuable deductions and business expenses.

Tactile Printers Allow the Blind to "See" Photos

While Braille, text-to-speech software, and other features designed to help the blind read and use computers, a researcher has designed a program that allows tactile printers to print out raised images that the blind and visually impaired can "see" with their fingertips. According to an article in Discovery News by Alyssa Danigelis, Printed Photos the Blind Can 'See,' Baoxin Li, an associate professor of computer science at Arizona State University, was behind the idea, which keeps major facial features but not all, to keep the image relatively simple.

Canon to enter commercial photo printer market

Canon Inc. of Japan said Tuesday that it has developed a commercial inkjet printer for photographs, its first foray into the segment. The DreamLabo 5000 will hit the market this September, priced at 50 million yen (US$597,100) plus tax. Targeted at photo shops and printing companies, it is equipped with Canon inkjet technology derived from the firm's expertise in home-use printers and other products. The print controller directs high-density heads to lay down ink quickly and precisely. The new printer can churn out 44 photos sized 89 x 127mm in a minute, using seven colors.

Future Xerox Printer Uses New Ink, Heats Paper

Xerox on Monday offered a glimpse into the future of its printing products, announcing a high-speed inkjet printer that employs a new type of liquid-free ink to produce higher quality prints while reducing costs. The new printer uses a granulated formulation of resin-based ink, which feels much like sand to the touch, said Wayne Buchar, a product engineer at Xerox.

PDF Expert 2.1 transforms iPad into portable PDF form filling tool

Readdle releases PDF Expert 2.1, the latest version of its cutting edge iPad application for editing PDF forms and annotating PDF documents. Now both small and large companies can equip their employees with the iPad and PDF Expert to take customer orders, fill out insurance forms, legal documents and prepare inspection reports on the go.
In addition to standard PDF forms, PDF Exert 2.1 handles electronic forms created in Adobe LiveCycle that are heavily used in enterprise, government and educational sectors. This lets organizations replace laptops with the iPads for different types of tasks related to filling PDF forms. 'Two month ago we introduced a new version of PDF Expert with the ability to fill Adobe Acrobat forms directly on the iPad. Since then we have got a number of requests from large businesses, including banks, insurance companies, universities and governmental agencies willing to handle their day to day operations with our application. With PDF Expert 2.1 we can finally fulfill these requests and help them transform the iPad into valuable business tool,” says Alex Tyagulsky, Readdle CMO.
When opened in PDF Expert, a PDF form behaves exactly like within desktop PDF editor. Text fields, check boxes, radio buttons, and other interactive elements are fully supported. In case the form contains a “Submit” button to send filled data via email or upload directly to the corporate server, it also works as expected. Thus organizations can save considerable amount of money on training employees using the application.

Faxage Adds Local Fax Number Coverage in Seven Additional States

Faxage has recently announced availability of local fax numbers in seven additional states. With this addition, the company offers local Internet Fax numbers in 31 states, as well as toll-free fax numbers covering all 50 United States and all of Canada. Local fax number availability has been added in: Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, South Carolina and Wisconsin.
Faxage offers both incoming and outgoing Internet Fax services. Faxes sent to a subscriber’s local or toll-free Internet Fax number are translated into PDF files and emailed to the subscriber. Electronic documents - such as Word, Excel, PDF, TIFF, JPEG, and other common file formats - can be emailed by clients and then are faxed out to any traditional fax machine in the United States or Canada. Due to economies of scale, Faxage able to offer these services for far less than the cost of a fax machine and phone line – with plans starting from as low as $3.49 per month.

Multi-function printers on the rise

The local market for hardcopy peripherals (HCP), which is composed of printers, multi-function peripherals (MFP) and digital copiers, is projected to be driven by a wider end-user preference for inkjet and laser MFPs, and laser single function peripherals (SFPs) in 2011. As a result of the narrowing price difference between inkjet MFPs and SFPs, research firm IDC noted that there is an increasing partiality of the market, especially among home users, toward inkjet all-in-one devices

HP Scitex Latex and UV Printers boost productivity

After a three-year-long reduction in its use of solvent ink devices, Inkjet International has boosted efficiency and productivity using HP Scitex Latex and UV large-format printers. The Dallas-based company invested in new printing systems during a challenging period for the graphics industry, but is now primed to grow faster than competitors as the economy recovers. With three HP Scitex XP5300 UV ink printers, an HP Scitex FB6100 flatbed UV ink printer and an HP Scitex LX600 latex ink printer, Inkjet International is one of the few area firms that has aggressively adopted advanced, non-solvent printing platforms.

EFI adds AirPrint to corporate copiers and printers

AirPrint is wonderful for those of us who can use it to print to home printers, but until now the technology has been useless for most corporate copier / printers. That's all set to change, now that EFI is providing support for AirPrint to its signature Fiery print servers. The PrintMe Connect software enables direct wireless printing from any iOS 4.2 mobile device. The software is free to download, and works for printing to any Fiery-driven printer.

Augmented reality helps you fix your printer

Augmented reality (AR) company Metaio will show a demo at this week’s Mobile World Congress in which AR on your mobile phone shows you how to change a printer toner cartridge. Augmented reality overlays digital information over your view of the physical world in a mobile device’s camera view

Lexmark Settles Over Ink Cartridge Patents

Lexmark International Inc. said it reached settlements with 10 of 24 companies it sued over alleged patent violations. Terms of the settlement weren't disclosed, nor were the statuses of the other 14 suits. Technology corporations have been aggressive in going after alleged patent infringement to protect sales and ward off potential competitors.

3D printer makes tiny Gothic cathedral

If you haven’t seen MakerBot’s 3D printer in action, you’re missing out. The $1225 MakerBot Thing-O-Matic is a humble, almost DIY, looking device that can “print” objects up to 4×4x6-inches large automatically after you give it the necessary instructions and a spool of plastic.

Discount on Post It Notes

Companies looking to print customized Post-It Notes for their office or to use as promotional items will be pleased to learn about the February discounts offered by Baslerco Inc. The custom printing shop in South Dakota is offering end quantity pricing on 3”x4” one and two color sticky notepads. To take advantage of the pricing, which can result in up to 45% savings, customers must order a minimum of 500 custom printed notepads. The 3”x4” Post-It Note is growing in popularity due to its ability to hold more information than the standard 3”x3” square. This size is also ideal for custom printing since a longer marketing message can be customized on the sticky notes. Service industries, medical offices and universities are all finding new ways to market their company thanks to custom sticky note printing.

Printer Masco to close

The Masco Support Services commercial printing business in Cumberland (Indiana) will be closed this summer, costing the jobs of all of the 65 workers at the plant. President Brian Bruning said today "it was a corporate decision" by the Taylor, Mich.-based parent Masco Corp. The Far-Eastside printing shop primarily supported the manufacturing and distribution operations of other Masco divisions, such as Carmel-based Delta Faucet.

BT Office Introduce the New Actiu Winner

Leading office furniture supplier BT Office introduces the new Actiu Winner office chair to their already extensive collection of office furniture.  The Winner chair's bespoke design and technical aspects combine to offer the user the best in comfort and style. The chair now sits amongst the other high quality brands on the BT Office site.
The Winner chair not only offers the user the best in style it also adapts to the user's shape, making that long day at work go a little quicker. The Winner chair features a membrane back and a moulded foam seat as well as an adjustable armrest, back rest and seat position. Adapting the chair to the user's body can ease the pressure on the back, neck and legs. The chair also has engraved symbols and Braille on all levers for those with sight problems.
The Winner chair is available in a range of colours and castors allowing it to complement nearly every design of office. Not only is it good looking but it's also hard working as it also comes with a 5 year guarantee. To assure each customer, BT Office offer a minimum of a 2 year guarantee on a large number of their products as well as installation and the removal of all packaging upon delivery.
Derek Flood, Managing Director of BT Office said, "We are dedicated to bringing our customers the best products and the Actiu Winner chair is certainly one of the best. This chair not only has health benefits but looks good and can also be easily customised to suit individual tastes."

Memjet develops printers for India

Memjet, a provider of high-speed color printing technologies, has joined forces with WeP Peripherals Ltd., a print service provider, to offer color office printers in India. A new WeP printer, which uses Memjet parts, prints up to 60 pages per minute.“We are delighted to bring multiple benefits of quality color, speed and affordability to our customer base,” said Ram N. Agarwal, managing director and chief executive officer of WeP.

Reader X spoils new PDF attack, or not?

Reader X, last year's upgrade that features a "sandbox" designed to protect users from PDF exploits, stymied a recent attack campaign, researchers said Thursday. But they're not sure why. 'I don't want to take anything away from Adobe -- after all, a win is a win -- but this particular exploit appears to be designed with previous versions of Reader in mind," said Chris Greamo, who heads the research lab at security company Invincea of Fairfax, Va. "What appears to have happened is that the exploit breaks, but we don't have a good sense if the sandbox was able to contain it.'

Liberals spend $300,000 in three weeks on printer ink

It has been dubbed "toner-gate" - a three-week, $300,000 splurge on printer ink by Liberal MPs to stock up on office supplies for the pending federal election. After being told in September 2009 that a strict finance cap would be introduced from October 1 that year, Opposition members ordered $267,288 worth of printer cartridge toner, according to documents obtained through Freedom of Information. With the election almost a year away, some Liberal figures claimed they were told by party HQ to be "ruthless" ordering taxpayer-funded supplies ahead of the campaign

Lexmark Profits on Higher Sales

Lexmark International Inc. last week posted decent fourth quarter 2010 earnings per share of $1.29, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.11 and its own guidance range of $1.03–$1.13. The outperformance was attributable to strong demand for laser printers and higher margins. Lexmark’s fourth quarter revenue of $1.10 billion increased 2.9% from $1.04 billion reported in the year-ago quarter, but came in slightly below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.11 billion. The improvement was driven by an 8.0% year-over-year growth in Laser Printer revenue

Apple updates Lexmark printer drivers

Got a Lexmark printer of any of a number of models? You’ll want to run Software Update and grab the latest version of Lexmark printer drivers for Mac OS X. Released on Wednesday, Lexmark Printers v2.4 for Mac OS X Snow Leopard includes the most recent drivers for Lexmark-branded printers

Google Cloud Print Beta Is Limited but Evolving

The Google Cloud Print service promises to make Web-based printing--free of driver requirements and physical connections--a reality for anyone with a Gmail account and Internet access. (HP's ePrint service launched earlier, but ePrint works only with a small group of HP printers.) We tested Google's first publicly available Cloud Print beta last week. Its capabilities are still extremely limited. Within those restrictions, however, it has proven more reliable so far than the service we saw during our first forays into HP ePrint

Printers Adapt to World of the Web

Now that you can view maps on cellphones, send pictures directly from a digital camera to photo frames and use a smartphone’s screen as a virtual airline boarding pass, who needs to print any more? A lot of us, apparently. While you may no longer be printing long business reports and have found that it is cheaper to have Costco or Walgreens make your photos than to do it yourself, “the amount of printing has not changed,” said Stephen Baker, a vice president at NPD, a research firm. “Ink volume sales are stable. We’ve seen no drop-off in sales."

HP Inkjet Web Presses Produced 1.46 Billion Pages in 2010

HP Inkjet Web presses produced 1.46 billion letter-size pages in the 2010 calendar year, printing for some of the world’s leading book manufacturing, print fulfillment and commercial printing businesses. 'Last year, HP Inkjet Web Presses set new, record levels for productivity, exceeding our expectations with flying colors,' said Aurelio Maruggi, vice president and general manager, Inkjet High-speed Production Solutions, HP. 'With more than 20 presses installed worldwide and new installations underway, a growing number of progressive companies are seeing the extraordinary value HP Inkjet Web Press technology offers.'

Ink Refills Help You Save Big

Everyone knows that buying new, brand-name printer cartridges from the original equipment manufacturer can be expensive. But are third-party alternatives really a better deal? As PCWorld's Serial Refiller, I've set out to try third-party options--including remanufacturers, refill services, and do-it-yourself refill kits--and tell you whether the savings seem worth the hassle

BulletScan M40 Photo Scanner Scans and Uploads Photos, Business Cards

iVina announced that it has enabled its BulletScan M40 mobile scanner to scan and upload color photos, business cards and receipts to document and photo sharing sites without any PC by simply plugging in the pre-configured Eye-Fi card into the scanner’s USB port or SD Card slot. To add this valuable feature to the BulletScan M40, registered users may go to http://www.bulletscan.com, select the M40 product and click on downloads to update the M40 to the latest firmware at no charge. With this new innovative capability, users may scan quickly and easily their color photos and documents to over 25 of the most popular photo sharing and document sharing websites.
“Scan and send documents and photos up to 4” x 8” to such popular sites such as Costco.com, Evernote, facebook, Flikr, Picassa, Shutterfly, SnapFish and walmart.com without any PC required,” said Murray L. Dennis, president and CEO of iVina, Inc. “With almost ubiquitous access to Wi-Fi at airports, hotels, restaurants, Starbucks, corporate offices, personal residences and public facilities, the BulletScan M40 is becoming one of the most intelligent, easy-to-use, compact and cost-effective solutions for capturing, storing and sharing your most important photos, business contacts and receipts anywhere you go.”
The BulletScan M40 Photo Scanner is for the person who needs to quickly convert photos or paper files to digital files anywhere. Ideal for archiving family photos or reliving favorite memories, the BulletScan M40 helps bring favorite photos into the digital age where they can be easily stored, found, viewed and shared with others. Scanned images are automatically cropped and straightened without any software to install. Scan a 4” x 6” photo at 300dpi in color in under 7 seconds. Offering the ultimate in portability, the BulletScan M40 automatically scans photos directly to USB Flash drive, SD or MicroSD card – there is no PC required in order to capture photos, business cards and receipts digitally.

3D Printer Prints in Titanium

Just as scientists have figured out how to print 3D figures made from glass, PCWorld.com reports that you can also print in 3D with titanium. In fact, i.materialise.com enables you to upload a 3D file and print a model made from your choice of titanium, stainless steel, epoxy, and other materials in different surfaces and colors. The concept seems similar to Shapeways, only with different materials.

Turning PDFs Into Microsoft Office Docs

PDF files are a very mixed blessing. They're excellent for distributing good-looking documents with all the layout and text properties you want. But they're problematic as well, especially if you need to extract text from them, or to edit PDF documents. There's simply no easy way to do either. Solid Converter PDF ($80, 15-day free trial), offers an excellent solution to the problem. It takes PDF files, and converts them to Word documents--and does a superb job of it.

Inkjet printers may be the future of solar cells

The next generation of cheaper, thinner and better solar cells could come courtesy of a technology found right in our homes and offices: inkjet printers. As their name implies, inkjet printers squirt ink onto a material, such as a paper document or the silicon of a solar cell. The well-controlled, contactless deposition of inkjetting should make possible solar cells that are half as thick, yet more efficient at, soaking up the sun's rays than today's industry standard.