Prodigal son returns to HP

Mike Jamieson has been appointed national retail sales manager for inkjet and web solutions in HP Australia's imaging and printing group. He will focus on promoting the new Photosmart range of printers, including the HP ENVY110 and the Photosmart 7710 e-All-in-One, while continuing to develop the consumer market for HP's ePrint technology and Print Apps.

Spiceworks Automates $3 Billion in Printer Ink Purchasing

Spiceworks announced that IT professionals at small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) can now manage and automate printer ink and toner purchasing directly within the Spiceworks social network for IT. The new social commerce feature will make it easier for the 1.6 million IT pros in Spiceworks to keep their printers up and running, while giving ink and toner suppliers access to more than $3 billion in refills every year.
Spiceworks users, who are responsible for managing and maintaining 10.9 million printers for over 1 million businesses worldwide, will now be able to track ink and toner usage levels on networked printers, receive automated alerts when levels run low, and then easily purchase refills -- all within the Spiceworks network. The streamlined approach, which helps IT pros to more easily manage the technology purchasing process, is one of the first examples of automated buying within a social business network.
"Today, we're taking a big step forward in helping businesses automate the last link in the IT management lifecycle -- the buying process," said Scott Abel, co-founder and CEO of Spiceworks. "By facilitating connections between IT pros and technology vendors, we're creating a passionate community where marketers and decision makers can interact and help each other do their jobs. Whether it's ink, computer warranties or cloud services, our goal is to make Spiceworks the place for everything IT for technology buyers and sellers."
The new printer ink and toner buying capabilities are currently available to Spiceworks users in the United States. In the coming months, Spiceworks will deploy the features in additional regions around the world.

3D Systems Launches Next-Gen 3D Printers at TCT Live

3D Systems Corporation showcases three of its latest 3D printers at TCT Live 2011, September 27-29th, 2011 at the NEC in Birmingham, UK in stand H11. 3D Systems exhibits its complete 3D content-to-print portfolio including its FOC Collection masterpieces, Alibre design productivity tools, next-gen 3D printers and on-demand custom parts services. The company will also demonstrate its new 3DTouch desktop 3D printer and its revolutionary ProJet 1500 color personal 3D printer, a sleek new office printer that delivers high resolution, durable plastic parts in 6 vibrant colors. Also on display at TCT Live; the company's new flagship ProJet(TM) 6000, a productive high-res professional 3D printer.

Hackers disguise malware as emailed docs from smart printers

Hackers have developed a new ruse designed to trick recipients into opening malicious email messages that come loaded with malware. The trick involves sending emails that pose as scanned documents from office printers or scanners, forwarded by a work colleague. The unlikely source of attack is liable to fool many users, net security firm Symantec warns.
"The idea of an office printer sending malware is perhaps an unlikely one, as printers and scanners were not actually used in these attacks, but perhaps this sense of security is all that is required for such a socially engineered attack to succeed in the future," said Paul Wood, Senior Intelligence Analyst, Symantec.cloud (formerly MessageLabs).

Matthews Marking Products Premieres New High Resolution Printer

Matthews Marking Products introduces a new high resolution printer that meets the market requirements and demands of today and into the future. The new PC-based print control module, with a large, color, touch screen interface, runs on a real-time operating system and provides standard integration to plant databases. The system is scalable, having the ability to control one or as many printheads as required, for single-source control over multiple production lines or groups. This new high-speed printing solution, along with iDSnet code management software, provides intelligent coding solutions for your operations, and gives a complete window into plant marking and coding operations.

3D Systems Debuts Latest Bits From Bytes Color 3D Printer

3D Systems Corporation announced the immediate availability of its latest Bits from Bytes 3D printer: the 3DTouch. Starting at $3,900, the 3DTouch is the most affordable color 3D printer in its category and will be on display at TCT Live 2011 from September 27th-29th, 2011 at the NEC in Birmingham, UK, in stand number H11.
The 3DTouch is packed with new features including multiple print heads for greater color and material choices, a new intuitive touchscreen for enhanced user experience and USB storage. This innovative 3D printer is easy to set up, simple to operate and capable of printing multiple materials and delivering more complex print geometries.
"The 3DTouch, makes personal manufacturing much easier," said Andy McLaren, Director of Sales and Marketing, BFB(TM) Products, 3D Systems. "Enhanced printability together with a better tablet-like user experience and USB storage makes the 3DTouch easy to operate and economical to own. Every new BFB 3D printer we bring to market underscores our commitment to democratize access and accelerate adoption of our 3D content-to-print solutions for the benefit of professionals and consumers alike."

First car built by 3D printer goes on display

A car that was created using a 3D printer has gone on show in Canada. The printer uses a computer model of the car, called the Urbee, to build up the real-life object layer by layer. 3D printers have already been used to make chocolate and bicycles but this is the first time they've been used for cars.

Mac Trojan poses as PDF

Multiple security companies are warning that they have received samples of a new Mac Trojan. It seems that the Trojan has yet to be seen in the wild. Dubbed Revir.A, the Trojan poses as a PDF file. Masking an executable as a document is a well-known trick. When run, Revir.A does display a PDF. According to Sophos, the Chinese-language document is about the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands, which are the subject of a territorial dispute between China and Japan.

SWYP: a super simple touchscreen printer concept

It doesn’t matter how simple a printer is advertised as being, they all end up having annoying software to install, an LCD that is too small to be of any real use, and require a PC and other software in order to get the image or document into the correct state for printing. Artefact, a design partnership focused on “creating a preferable future for humanity” has realized this and decided to do something about the state of printers. Their answer is the SWYP, short for See What You Print.

PATTCO to offer new line of thermal barcode printers

Source Technologies​, developer of innovative specialized thermal barcode and MICR printing solutions and PATTCO Printer Systems, known as the source for enterprise print devices, today announced their partnership.
Joe Van Patton, President, who started PATTCO Printer Systems in 1983 said; "We've been looking for a printer that serves this niche, PCL and the near edge market for a long time. PCL opens the world to additional print enterprise applications while the near edge printing allows us to serve markets requiring printing on different media and different thicknesses. Source Technologies provides a family of thermal barcode devices that serves the vast number of software applications with a PCL printer designed to withstand the industrial marketplace."
PATTCO Printer Systems is always looking for new technologies to open market opportunities in support of its base of commercial, manufacturing, warehouse and industrial clients. The Company's capability to integrate technology specifically suited to their customers' business requirements played a large part in their decision to partner with Source Technologies. The unique methodology behind Source Technologies' new Performance Series thermal barcode printers that seamlessly integrate with industry leading software helped to identify Source Technologies as the kind of organization with which PATTCO likes to partner.

QuickLabel Systems Enhances Its Vivo! Touch Intelligent Color Label Printer

QuickLabel Systems, a brand of Astro-Med, Inc. announces several enhancements to its Vivo! Touch digital color label printer product, including an updated touchscreen user interface, a new web server, and a new enterprise printer driver for NiceLabel software. "We will continue to improve, evolve, and enhance the Vivo! Touch label printer system," said Eric Pizzuti, Vice President and Worldwide Sales Director. "We'll continue to add features and functionality. It's only going to keep getting better and better."
QuickLabel has updated the touchscreen interface of its TouchPrint stand-alone printing mode, through which Vivo! Touch users can print color labels without a computer. The TouchPrint screen now has a new folder structure to name, store, manage, and modify label print jobs. Users can also export and import label print jobs from other media. TouchPrint stand-alone print mode is ideal for production line environments, where production managers need to ensure that operators will not accidentally alter label formats, but retain their ability to choose label formats, enter print quantity, verify the number of labels printed, and re-print previous jobs.
QuickLabel Systems and Niceware have partnered to develop an intelligent printer driver for the Vivo! Touch color label printer that enables users to print color labels from NiceLabel software. Because NiceLabel provides the ability to interface with so many production systems and data sources, this new NiceDriver opens the door for Vivo! Touch enterprise users to print variable information labels on the fly directly from SAP and other ERP systems. The new Vivo! Touch NiceDriver is unique in that it is the first to support full color label printing using native printer language. The special version of NiceLabel software with Vivo! Touch NiceDriver is available from QuickLabel Systems, and complies with numerous industrial requirements to meet a variety of industry standards such as those in chemical, food and beverage, healthcare, logistics and beyond.
Web Server Status Interface for the Vivo! Touch Color Label Printer

Ristech's book2net Book Scanner Distribution to Expand to Brazil

"When we met the professionals at NetScan at a recent library conference in Brazil, and were immediately impressed by their extensive experience, technical expertise and market knowledge, making this partnership an ideal fit," said Robb Richardson, president, book2net, North American Operations. "We look forward to expanding our digital scanning operations more globally and working with the Netscan team in Brazil."
Netscan Digital has been a Kodak Authorized Reseller for nearly two decades, and has been named the company's best microfilm dealer and best digital products reseller several times. The company excels in technology, training and information management and was interested in expanding its products and services.
The Book2net Spirit is the first entry-level high-resolution scanner designed for fast and simple public use, and the Book2net Kiosk is a scanner that includes a high-resolution, single-shot 40 Mp camera that can scan up to 2,000 pages per hour and is still gentle on books.
Both are great options for scanning delicate and older books that need to be reproduced or archived. These book scanners can save time and energy and eliminate supply costs.

Whitman at HP? The Idea Distresses the Tech World ‎

As speculation swirled Wednesday that Meg Whitman might be brought in to save the troubled Hewlett-Packard, the tech world rendered a verdict: You have got to be kidding.  "The notion that HP can be fixed by adding a celebrity chief executive is laughable," said Roger McNamee, managing director of Elevation Partners, an investment firm. Whitman would be "an unmitigated disaster," said Charles House, a longtime HP engineer who is chancellor of Cogswell Polytechnical College in Silicon Valley. "Her style is so arrogant it gags."

Origo 3D printer for kids is the coolest thing

Think back to when you were a kid, and the vast, limitless reaches of your imagination. Think about lying on the floor with a sketchpad, drawing crazy things you wished were real. Now think about how incredibly, ridiculously cool it would be if you could actually create the things you imagined and drew. Soon, with the magic of 3D printing technology, that might well be possible.

Some Canon Pixma printers will soon be AirPrint compatible

It’s been a slow trek, but it looks like Apple’s AirPrint technology is about to get another boost from a third-party printer company, and this time it’s a big one — Canon. Canon has just announced that some, but not all, of their Pixma printers (MG5320, MG6220, MG8220) can now take wireless print requests from the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch using Apple’s AirPrint technology. Canon now joins HP and Epson as the only companies currently taking advantage of the AirPrint technology. But the question remains, who prints anymore?

Oce Arizona 360 GT First Flatbed Printer to be Installed at Printing Industries of America Headquarters

Oce, a Canon Group Company and an international leader in digital document management and printing for professionals, announced today that it will be placing an Oce Arizona® 360 GT UV flatbed printer at the Printing Industries of America headquarters in Sewickley, PA. The printer will be used for market education, member training and internal production.
"The convergence of markets and technologies due to digitalization in the graphics industry provides new spin-off opportunities for commercial printers," said Sal Sheikh, Vice President of Marketing for the Wide Format Printing Systems division of Oce North America. "The capabilities of flatbed-based UV printers enable commercial printers to capture new business and enter new markets - from traditional graphic applications to imaging on manufactured goods to packaging applications."

The Oce Arizona 360 GT model will be the first flatbed and first digital UV printer to be installed at Printing Industries headquarters. The facilities at Printing Industries headquarters include state-of-the-art prepress, workflow solutions, printing facilities, post press, testing laboratories, libraries, and classrooms that provide a world-class platform for innovative digital and offset research, while producing leading-edge publications and instruction.
"The addition of the Oce Arizona 360 GT printer complements what we're doing here with our offset and digital printing presses," said Dr. Mark Bohan, Vice President, Technology and Research for Printing Industries. "We want to show our members how wide format digital printing can fit in partnership with traditional printing presses. With the Oce Arizona 360 GT printer on-site, we have the capability to educate our members on what is possible, to open their eyes to new business opportunities."
In addition to demonstrating an array of applications to its members, the Oce Arizona 360 GT printer will be used for training members on wide format print production. It will also be used for internal production of banners and signs for the conferences and programs produced by Printing Industries. Further, the ONYX® ProductionHouse software RIP that drives the printer will assist staff in educating members on wide format color management techniques.

Software That Can Split and Merge PDF Files

Working with different type of formats available for document nothing is as beneficial as Portable document format. The format provides its user with different benefits that is very hard to ignore. In fact, what’s more unique and special about the portable document format is it maintains the universal data formatting even after you transfer file from one system to another. Besides this, sharing of PDF files over network is also easier and quite faster than sharing of any other type of documents. Situation gets tricky when one has to deal with number of pdf files and require read or publish the information from the PDF file containing several pages. Consequently, to deal with and manage several PDF documents properly it is always advised to select a PDF split and Merge utility. By making the proper and instant use of Kernel for PDF Split and Merge tool the user could split and merge PDF files and further make it more manageable. The software possesses great proficiency to act as standalone PDF Split-Merge software and so doesn’t require Adobe Acrobat, or even Acrobat Reader to carry out its operation. In addition, the utility is very much flexible and provided with self-explanatory functions to conduct the PDF split and merge functions instantly.

No. 1 copier working on a paper-free world

The trend of becoming “green” in the workplace has taken most companies, both in the developed and developing world, quite literally by storm. The frequent typhoons in the Pacific and hurricanes in North America remind everyone of the phenomenon now known as global warming, all caused by the world’s seven billion people not paying attention when their gradeschool teachers taught the three Rs-reduce, reuse, recycle-in class But the people behind the brand “Xerox” are determined to turn offices and homes around the world has paper-free and environmentally friendly as possible.

Employee charged with theft of 23,000 printer cartridges

A printer and photocopying business in the Sydney suburb of Homebush Bay has seen an employee charged with theft, after the man stole some 23,000 printer toner cartridges and on-sold them privately. Police allege the thefts occurred between 2005 and September this year, whilst the 35-year old was employed by the business. Upon searching the man’s unit on Eve Street at Erskineville, where they allegedly seized 313 stolen toner cartridges.

Buildatron Systems to Present new 3D Printer

Buildatron Systems announced the international launch of the Buildatron 1 3D printer which will "Build a Revolution" through affordable 3D printing. Their offering represents a new paradigm in 3D personal manufacturing technology and will be exhibited at the World Makerfaire in New York City on September 17th and 18th. Buildatron's exhibit at the Maker Faire will showcase both the fully assembled Buildatron 1 3D printer based off the with metal and plastic cases as well as the un-assembled Buildatron 1 social network driven DIY (Do It Yourself) 3D printer kit. In addition to highlighting their machine they plan to give demonstrations and to convert the thousands of Maker Faire attendees to the RepRap Community and the rapidly growing capabilities of 3D prototyping and the effects both can have in shaping and changing lives.
Buildatron will be the latest and most exciting addition to the World Maker Faire's 3D printer village which has grown to include 22 hobbyist and 8 commercial vendors with varying focuses. The Maker Faire is an event created by Make Magazine to "celebrate arts, crafts, engineering, science projects and the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mindset". This year the two-day festival will open in the New York Hall of Sciences in New York (Queens), on September 17 and 18th. Like its more serious counterparts, it is a gathering of geeks, but with the addition of do-it-yourself enthusiasts, back-yard scientists, garage tinkerers, artists and crafts people.
Buildatron seems to embody the direction and needs of the 3D printer and DIY movement. Buildatron's opening of the 3D printer market to millions at industry shattering prices makes no bones about the impact they will have in the United States and abroad for home inventors and DIY enthusiasts.

Ricoh Introduces New Aficio SP 4310N Black & White Laser Printer

Ricoh Americas Corporation announced the availability of the Aficio SP 4310N monochrome laser printer, engineered for busy offices and workgroups. Advanced features and workflow tools, such as genuine Adobe PostScript3, a 4-line LCD panel with an integrated 12-key alphanumeric keypad, and an optional 80 GB Hard Disk Drive (HDD), contribute to better productivity and improved security with a reduced total cost of ownership.
The Aficio SP 4310N is one of Ricoh's mid-volume B&W printers that fit into the company's overall Managed Document Services (MDS) strategy. Ricoh MDS is designed to address customers' document management needs for greater energy and cost savings by guiding organizations through a transformation process that, among other things, establishes effective print practices designed to help improve workflow and increase productivity.
The Aficio SP 4310N replaces the Aficio SP 4210N in Ricoh's monochrome laser printer product line. The SP 4310N uses Ricoh's premier GW Architecture Controller to quickly process every job in the user's choice of genuine Adobe® PostScript that supports 136 Adobe fonts, PCL 5e/6, or XPS page description languages. In addition, the SP 4310N supports a number of host-print environments. Like its predecessor, the networked SP 4310N maintains first print speeds of seven seconds or less and an output speed of 37 pages per minute (Letter) at resolutions up to 1200 x 600 dpi. Windows and Mac compatible, the SP 4310N is equipped with a 466 MHz CPU and 256 MB RAM (expandable to 512 MB).
The Aficio SP 4310N is also designed to maximize uptime in a user-friendly manner.
The printer incorporates a redesigned 4-line LCD panel with an integrated 12-key alphanumeric keypad. The larger LCD allows for at-a-glance supply monitoring and more informative system status messages; the keypad makes it easier to enter network settings and numerical values.
Paper sizes are easily adjusted up to 8.5" x 14", and users can add one or two optional 500-sheet Paper Feed Units to the standard 500-sheet Tray for a maximum paper capacity of 1,600 sheets (including the 100-sheet Bypass Tray) to minimize interruptions in busy workgroup environments. Further, the SP 4310N uses Ricoh's 15,000-page All In One (AIO) print cartridge supplies that can be changed in seconds and deliver low cost per page factors.
The Aficio SP 4310N also boasts energy-saving features that help to further reduce total cost of ownership. ENERGY STAR compliant, the SP 4310N includes a Toner Saving Mode that helps increase print cartridge yields, N-in-1 print modes that combine multiple pages onto a single sheet of paper, and optional Automatic Duplexing that outputs two-sided prints.
A solution-ready printer, the Aficio SP 4310N can be expanded to meet an individual account's unique workflow requirements with optional Embedded Software Architecture(TM) (ESA) applications, IPDS printing, or upgraded security functions. Support for multiple user authentication modes and 128-/256-bit SSL data encryption protect print jobs and passwords from theft, while the new Printer Driver Editor allows administrators to enforce printing rules by setting and locking driver settings for individual users.
Increased security can be achieved with an optional 80 GB Hard Disk Drive (HDD) which includes a HDD Encryption Unit and the Data Overwrite Security System (DOSS). The HDD Encryption Unit supports secure local document storage for up to 9,000 pages and an easy to use Locked Print feature for confidential documents, while DOSS when activated automatically overwrites the HDD after each job.

Solving the Puzzle Behind the Price

Shopping online for cheap ink or toner--how hard could it be? I’m not talking about buying third-party options--the do-it-yourself refill kits and remanufactured ink cartridges that PCWorld’s Serial Refiller has tried. I shop for the vendor’s own ink or toner cartridges, because I'm trying to get representative selling prices for the consumables of a specific printer I'm reviewing. I go online, I check a handful of national retailers, and I'm done--or so I thought. When I delved a little deeper, I found it takes more than obsessive due diligence and healthy skepticism to get the best deal--not to be confused with the best price

Fixing printer setup problems in OS X

Setting up printers in OS X is generally fairly simple and straightforward; however, in some instances people have found that after upgrading their systems or otherwise modifying their setups, their printers have stopped working properly. In some instances bugs in a software update can cause problems, as was the case with the OS X 10.6.8 update causing print jobs to pause, but at other times the problem may lie in the printing system's configuration.

ID Printer Cleaning Kits from ID Card Group

ID Card Group is now offering a cost-saving line of cleaning kits for all name-brand ID printers. The company has assembled a set of printer cleaning kits that work as well as the name-brand kits, but cost up to 60 percent less. "We know printer cleaning and maintenance are easily overlooked," says Mark Soeth, ID Card Group president. "We see it all too often - cleaning is skipped and the result is degraded print quality, expensive repairs, or early replacement. The truth is a regular cleaning regime only takes a few minutes. We created these value-priced printer cleaning kits to help our customers extend their ID printer's performance and card printing quality at a reduced cost."
Each value-priced printer cleaning kit is designed to be specifically compatible with a name-brand printer. Cleaning kits are available for top brands such as Magicard, Zebra, HID/Fargo, Evolis, and Datacard. Each cleaning kit product description lists all compatible printers, so customers can be sure their model is covered.
In addition to keeping an ID printer free of debris that can build up and cause expensive damage, regular cleaning extends the life of the printer's critical parts, such as the thermal printhead, transport rollers, and magnetic encoder.

Monotype Imaging Licenses XPS Printer Driver Solution to Microsoftolio Announced

Monotype Imaging Holdings Inc., has licensed its XPS-to-PCL(TM) 6 and XPS-to-PostScript vector conversion filters to Microsoft Corp. for use in the next version of Windows. Monotype Imaging's XPS-to-PCL6 and XPS-to-PostScript driver technology enables printer device manufacturers to quickly and easily support XPS (XML Paper Specification) without modification to their PCL6 or PostScript printers.
"Printer OEMs gain a straightforward, vector-based solution for transforming XPS to PCL and PostScript," said Dave McCarthy, vice president and general manager of Monotype Imaging's Printer Imaging group. "Working closely with Microsoft, they have included our XPS conversion filters into the next version of Windows, providing a streamlined platform for OEMs to address their driver requirements. We're firmly committed to the success of XPS printing and offering device manufacturers a simple path that effectively strengthens their ability to print."
Monotype Imaging's XPS solution enables device manufacturers to create PPD (PostScript Printer Description) or GPD (Generic Printer Description) files to support families of PCL6 or PostScript devices. Both inbox and vendor-supplied drivers can be created from the Windows solution using Monotype Imaging technology. In addition, the company offers a full suite of XPS products including XPS raster print drivers for Windows, XPS-to-XPS scalable consumption print drivers for Windows, and XPS embedded systems solutions.
Monotype Imaging is exhibiting at Microsoft's "basecamp" at the BUILD Partner Expo, Sept. 13-16, 2011, booth 40, at the Anaheim Convention Center in Los Angeles. Expo attendees are invited to speak with Monotype Imaging at basecamp, which is a central location for Microsoft partners that are developing solutions for the next version of Windows.

Polaroid and Lady Gaga Launch Instant Mobile Printer

Forget cramming into a photo booth to capture moments in a minute – print your pics anytime, anywhere with the Polaroid GL10 Instant Mobile Printer. Designed by Polaroid and Lady Gaga, the GL10 Instant Mobile Printer lets you print photos directly from your mobile phone or digital camera so you can share stories from your soirees in an instant!
This stylish gadget is the first product in the new Polaroid Grey Label line and features a portable, slimline size, easy-to-use features and ZINK Zero Ink Technology to free the hundreds of digital images trapped on your mobile phone, PC and digital camera.
Polaroid Creative Director, Lady Gaga, says every day digital photos capture, memorialize and shape our lives, but they are not given the chance to inspire us because they die on cell phones or digital cameras.
"I created the GL10 because everyone loves to take photos with their mobile phones – and the next evolution is to combine digital images with instant photography, bringing photos to life in vibrant colours that you can share, from the palm of your hand,” she says.
The GL10 produces Polaroid Classic Border and full bleed 3x4'' photos in less than one minute. Fusing the instant accessibility of today's digital images with the original Polaroid instant experience and ZINK's second-generation thermal technology, the GL10 delivers photo-lab quality prints that emerge fully developed and protected by a smudge-proof, water-resistant coating.

HP hungry to develop web-connected printers

Hewlett-Packard (HP) is planning to make greater use of cloud-based technologies in printing machines, prompting the world's largest technology firm to write the next chapter in the e-printer market. Unlike conventional printers, HP's web-connected models will be fully connected to the web, complete with their own email addresses that users can access from anywhere in the world to send documents for printing.
HP's price is $79 per unit, down from $99 for a previous model. "The conventional printer market is mature and has low margins because of price wars, but this is a new business model," said Vyomesh Joshi, executive vice-president for the imaging and printing group of HP. "We aim to capitalise on this new market opportunity worth US$55 billion."

Canon and Océ launch two new production systems

Canon Europe and Océ have announced the next milestone in the journey of Canon and Océ to becoming the global leader in the print industry with the launch of two co-developed production printing systems: The Océ Varioprint DP Line (pictured top right), a series of compelling black-and-white systems based on breakthrough technology and the Canon Imagerunner Advance C9000S Pro, a next-generation, light production colour printer.
The co-development of new technology is further evidence that Canon and Océ are stronger together and better positioned than ever to ensure that their customers have access to the broadest and most advanced portfolio of professional print solutions.

Will HP's New Scanning Technology Cause Scanner Envy?

HP has announced the launch of a whole batch of new printers, including some consumer-oriented all-in-one inkjet printers (including some new offerings in the Photosmart family) as well as a new LaserJet Pro. The number of new machines is impressive, and perhaps part of HP's plan is to make other manufacturers jealous--in fact, one of the new printers is the $249 Envy 110. The updated envy is quiet and wireless--and its AirPrint functionality allows wireless printing from iPods, iPhones, and the iPod Touch.

Kodak plays Hero with new printers

We all know how Kodak is synonymous with photographs, but they do have some digital cameras as well as printers that you might want to take note of – not because those are special in any way, but rather, it is another source of revenue. Well, Kodak might be taking the printer line more seriously with the latest release of printers that are all Cloud Print-friendly – not to mention being all-in-one devices.

HP Announces New Printers, 3D Scanning

HP has announced new printers, multifunction printers (MFPs), and scanners at its annual global Imaging and Printing Conference in Shanghai, including an MFP capable of scanning 3D images. The company also announced that sales of its Web-enabled printers have exceeded 10 million units. The HP TopShot LaserJet Pro M275 ($349 direct) is a desktop color multifunction printer (MFP) geared to small businesses or home offices. It is equipped with HP TopShot Scanning, a technology that captures six separate images of a document or 3D object and produces one final seamless image. With this technology, SMBs can quickly produce images for immediate use in printed materials or on the web.

Need to print from your iPhone? Breezy’s app finds nearby printers

Mobile printing application Breezy announced that it is releasing an iPhone app and a GPS printing tool that can seek out nearby partnered printers and send out a print request. Those in desperate need of a quick print job can choose a printer from one of Breezy’s thousand-ish partners that will print out the document. Some partners charge for print jobs, some don’t, but the user will have to pay whatever the partner charges when they pick up the document, Breezy chief executive Jared Hansen told VentureBeat.

3D Systems Enhances Online Presence for Production 3D Printers

3D Systems Corporation announced today the immediate availability of its new production 3D printer website designed to democratize access and accelerate adoption of its complete line of production 3D printers, precision engineered print materials and leading partner solutions. The new site integrates 3D Systems' production printers, including SLA, SLS and SLM printers into a contemporary, intuitive destination serving customers, prospects and partners with a secure, 24-hour online presence.
3D Systems invented the first 3D printing technology 25 years ago, changing the way people develop products across marketplaces from transportation, education, energy and recreation to healthcare and consumer goods. Through continued innovation, 3D Systems' content-to-print solutions have transformed entire industries as these powerful tools reach well beyond new product design and rapid prototyping to the on-demand, rapid manufacturing of end use parts and custom products.
"We are pleased to offer our constituents a compelling online destination that represents our entire portfolio of production 3D printers and solutions," said Cathy Lewis, Vice President, Global Marketing for 3D Systems. "This new site underscores our commitment to technology leadership and showcases the high value, low volume 3D printing applications that leverage our first mover advantage in this exciting shift to on-demand, rapid manufacturing."

Printing Dollar Bills For 60 Cents At Lexmark

Lexmark, the Lexington, KY-based printer maker, is an unloved, misunderstood cash generating company priced for attractive returns in the coming years with limited downside. LXK is the only major, fully integrated printer company focused solely on printers. When I mentioned LXK to one of my colleagues, he remarked, “There’s no money in printers.” This is exactly the misunderstanding; for LXK, the money isn’t in the printers, it's in the ink. Cartridge refills for inkjet and laser printers and other supplies provide a recurring, high margin revenue stream. The printer and ink business is a classic case of the “razor and blades” model perfected by Gillette.

Polaroid GL10 Instant Photo Printer

The Grey Label line of Polaroid products, first announced at CES early this year, seemed promising. Apart from those sunglasses, anyway. The GL10 printer is the first real fruit of that design effort, and with the sunglasses and camera no-shows as yet. Unfortunately, it doesn’t set a very promising precedent, at least as far as print quality is concerned. The products of the printer are really the most important thing, so I may as well just come out and say that they’re pretty bad. Unless you want to take a few tries correcting each image for the shortcomings of the colors and contrast in these prints, the results are likely to be unsatisfying.

Xerox UK & Ireland hires Waggener Edstrom to lose the 'just a copier' tag

Printer and copier maker Xerox has hired Waggener Edstrom as its UK PR agency, dropping incumbent Grayling in the process. Xerox head of international communications Jennifer Wasmer told PRWeek: ‘Waggener Edstrom will work with Xerox to change perceptions about the company and communicate about today’s Xerox – the world’s leading enterprise for business process and document management.'

Ricoh kicks off new partner programme

Printer maker Ricoh has unveiled a new partner programme with a view to increasing its presence in UK distribution. Steven Hastings, IT channel distribution manager at Ricoh, said: "We wanted to extend our channel programme to offer the best possible deal for our resellers." Under the programme, resellers will be assigned as Approved, Preferred or Solutions partners, following an assessment and discussion of their fleet and service requirements.

OKI Develops Passbook Printer

OKI today the development of the FP21X, a new passbook printer for financial institutions in China. The model was exhibited at the China International Exhibition on Financial Banking Technology & Equipment 2011 (CIFTEE) in Beijing. The new passbook printer meets growing demand for automated terminals at Chinese financial institutions. It also offers a page mark reading function, the first available in China. The product will be available from December 2011.
"The trend to automate reception tasks at financial institutions in China in recent years is expected to drive growing demand for automated terminals," says Shinya Kamagami, Executive Officer and General Manager of Systems Hardware Division at OKI. "Previously, we achieved significant success with the FP21A, a conventional passbook printer. In response to growing demand for automated terminals, we developed the FP21X, a new passbook printer that offers page mark reading functions and is capable of handling high-resistance magnetic stripes. This passbook printer is the first in the Chinese market to offer page mark reading."
The FP21X reduces the processing time and offers improved reliability over conventional models. The newly developed print head incorporates printing technologies previously applied only for high-end and high-speed models and a print head pin drive optimized for high-speed print throughput.
OKI manufactures electronic parts such as printing head, sensors and motors, as well as major parts such as power units and page mark reading units. For this reason, the overall quality of the device, from components to final product, can be centralized, resulting in a high-quality product. Also, fewer maintenance parts improve maintainability while maintaining high quality.

Beware the Office Multifunction Printer

Cybercriminals are always looking for easy ways to break into your network, whether at work or at home. In a talk at this summer's DefCon 19 conference, security researcher Deral Heiland demonstrated various ways to compromise Internet-ready consumer-grade multifunction printers. These include printers that can scan to a file, scan to email, and fax documents, and the vulnerabilities he found are similar across all vendors.

Epson Unveils WorkForce Pro Line of Business-Class Printing Solutions

Epson America, Inc expanded its business printing solutions with a new product line-up – the Epson WorkForce Pro WP-4540 and WorkForce Pro WP-4530 all-in-ones and WorkForce Pro WP-4020 ink jet printer. Ideal for small offices, departmental workgroups and vertical markets such as real estate, the WorkForce Pro series delivers ink cost savings of up to 50 percent compared to color lasers, while providing the world’s fastest auto two-sided print speeds, efficient and hassle-free paper handling and all-new extra-large ink cartridges to ensure small businesses are always running at full speed.
The robust feature set included in both the WorkForce Pro WP-4540 and WorkForce Pro WP-4530 make the all-in-ones ideal printing solutions for high-print volume, multi-tasking businesses that require maximum speed and flexibility.  Both printers deliver high performance and productivity features including blazingly fast single- and double-sided print speeds – 16 ISO ppm black and 11 ISO ppm color single-sided; 9.2 ISO ppm black and 7.1 ISO ppm color two-sided. Business users will also benefit from Epson’s new extra large ink capacity cartridges, capable of printing up to 2,400 pages black; 1,200 pages color as well as a robust monthly duty cycle of up to 20,000 pages.

HP Patents Ink Cartridge Vending Machines

HP is apparently thinking about a way to increase the number of locations where its customers could obtain new printer cartridges, give back old cartridges and refill their used cartridges. ZoomA patent filing outlines the idea of ink cartridge vending machines. According to HP, a vending machine could be an alternative to expensive cartridges that are ordered online. It could also make the refill process of a cartridge much more convenient (and, of course, makes sure that HP gets the sale and not a third-party ink provider). HP envisions those boxes as one-stop solutions for ink cartridge needs

Create PDFs for Free With PrimoPDF

PrimoPDF (free) is a printer driver that creates PDF files from your documents, rather than printing them to paper. After install, whenever you choose the print option from an application, PrimoPDF will be listed along with your physical printers, print to file, etc. It's extremely easy to use and produces excellent PDFs--without the watermarks that some programs add.

Review: Card Scanner Pro

The good folks over at Readdle (makers of my favorite PDF App for iPad – PDF Expert) have released a business card scanner App for iDevices. As a public presenter I get my fair share of business cards handed to me at events. When I get back to my hotel room or home if I don't deal with them right then and there I will have no idea later why I even have that person's card. I'm a Contacts freak! I'm always maintaining and updating my Contacts on a regular basis (one of the keys to my success).

Printers Fine Tune Color Quality with AVT Solutions

Abril Grafica, located in Sao Paulo, Brazil, now has an AVT MicroColor remote ink control system and four ColorQuick closed-loop color control systems installed on their publication and commercial web offset presses.
MicroColor/Mercury is the next generation of remote ink control and updates. It offers proven digital accuracy, consistent color quality and dramatic make-ready time savings, and delivers considerable waste reductions. MicroColor has a new fully touch-screen control and a more efficient graphical user interface. In addition, the installed systems are now updated to the newest ColorQuick/Clarios modules. This newest spectral color control tool provides several new views of print conditions that help printers react more quickly and correctly to print conditions as they arise on high-speed web offset presses. It also provides web offset printers with an automated solution for closed-loop color measurement and control. The system makes fast, automatic color moves during make-ready and maintains tight control on color consistency during production.
Marcelo Tobo, Printing Manager at Abril Grafica in charge of the 24/7, three-shift printing department, commented: "Abril Grafica believes in AVT and their products and we are pleased that they are working well. This advanced automation allows our presses to work at faster speeds and offers us the ability to take advantage of more opportunities." Mr. Tobo will be travelling to Drupa in Germany next year to continue his search for printing solutions.
Amir Deckel, Vice President of Marketing for AVT, stated: "Publication and commercial printers like Abril Grafica now have AVT systems that provide them with new levels of process control and automation solutions that drive production excellence. These systems also help printers cope with today's pressroom challenges that include both tough economic conditions – with the rising costs of paper, ink and plates – and more demanding customers and end-users. These new generation systems allow shorter turn around, faster press speeds, faster overall operation, and dramatically increased ease-of-use. These added-value solutions and their resultant quality and efficiency increases, together with cost savings, achieve 30-50% faster make-readies and 10% waste reductions. The combination forms the strong foundation for optimum web offset printing."

Canon India Aims for $1 Billion Revenue by 2015

The Indian unit of Japan's Canon Inc. plans to focus on printing services and launch medical equipment as it aims for $1 billion in revenue by 2015 in Asia's third-largest economy, its country head said. Canon makes low-end, low-priced compact digital cameras and assembles printers at its overseas factories in countries such as Vietnam. But it prefers to use Japan for its more expensive high-end products that require advanced technology it is keen to protect, such as single-lens reflex cameras.