Kodak Unveiled a Number of New Printers at CES

Kodak unveiled several new products at the Consumer Electronics Show 2010 in Las Vegas.

The new ESP 7250 All-in-One Inkjet Printer makes sharing from smartphones easier. It features the latest 802.11n Wi-Fi technology, easy wireless set-up, an intuitive control panel. The ESP 7250 Printer can print documents and photos directly from Wi-Fi enabled Blackberries.

The new ESP Office 6150 All-in-One Inkjet Printer introduces Kodak's revolutionary ink to SOHOs. The ESP Office 6150 Printer offers improved productivity, premium-quality printing and low total ink replacement cost.

Key words: Kodak, CES, all-in-ones, WI-Fi printers

Hit the jack-pot with HP: a new campaign in Latin America

HP is now running a campaign in Latin America to attract the local customer to buy more HP original cartridges. The campaign does also mean to discredit the advantage of alternative printing solutions. The website in Spanish targeting local users explains that remanufactured products are nothing but waste of time, ink and paper and that remanufactured cartridges may damage printing equipment.

HP also offers some statistical information to compare the advantages of the original cartridges vs. non-genuine ones.
In terms of volume, original HP cartridges print 119% more pages than generic brand cartridges. In terms of reliability, HP cartridges give 0.0% of failure, whereas generic cartridges: 29.2%, and refilled cartridges: 41.8% average failure rate.

Besides the "frightening" information, HP offers users to take part in the Jackpot game. By buying genuine cartridges users can find a promo code on the box. After introducing the code, they can create accounts, play the game and, if lucky, get pricy prizes. The game can be found at the website www.hp.com/la/jackpot . The promotion targets consumers in Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.

This campaign is the second of the type, which have taken place recently. We already mentioned the one in Oceania. HP seems to be testing the campaign in strategically less important regions, before putting it out at a larger scale.

Key words: HP, ad campaign, Latin America, cartridges, inks, remanufacturing

A new stream jet technology from Kodak

Kodak came up with a new ink-printing technology promising to push laser printing in the market. The new Stream Inkjet Technology was announced in 2008, but no printing devices used it until June, 2009. The Kodak Prosper S10 Imprinting System, using this technology, was released a couple of weeks ago. It represents a monochrome continuous inkjet printhead designed for inline digital printing on high-speed web devices.

The commercial introduction of the Kodak Prosper S10 Imprinting System follows the worldwide customer beta installations that demonstrated the technological and commercial benefits of Stream Inkjet Technology. Kodak stated that all its stream-based products will go under the Kodak Prosper name, as if showing the new opportunities the new technology can bring to corporate clients.

The Kodak Prosper S10 Imprinting System integrates seamlessly with web offset presses and web finishing equipment to add variable data to offset printed materials. Operating at 1,000 fpm (305 mpm) with a resolution of 600 dpi, it allows users to print variable data inline, saving time and money over a traditional, two-step process that combines offset pre-printed forms and offline laser imprinting.
With a print width of 4.16 inches (10.56 centimeters) and pigment-based inks that offer fade, scratch and water resistance, the S10 Imprinting System increases throughput and eliminates the need for additional standalone print devices.

Source: www.kodak.com

Key words: Kodak, ink streaming, printers, cartridges, inkjet, markets

Calculate your printer ink costs

After investigating the high cost of original inks for inkjet printer, the American Consumer Institute (ACI) introduced a calculator aimed at helping customers select a printer that is most cost-effective over a course of three or more years.

The ACI has already criticized printer manufacturers for not disclosing ink costs on packaging. “It’s not a lot to ask to put a value on the box to let customers know how efficient it is,” says Steve Pociask, president of the institute. “And once people buy these printers, they are trapped because the cartridges are not interoperable.”

The link to the calculator is here.

In fact, the institute found that over the useful life of a printer, the actual cost of the hardware may be as little as one-tenth of the cost of the ink, according Mr. Pociask. Accordingly, the ink price per page is the most important information for consumers to consider when buying a printer.

The new calculator enables customers to pick an inkjet that delivers the lowest ink costs based on their printing practices. If you enter three variables: the number of black-and-white pages you print a week, the number of color pages and the number of 4-by-6-inch photos, the calculator will return results that include printer models, cost of the hardware, and estimated cost of the ink. It provides estimated ink costs for three, five and seven years of use.

The calculator makes its decisions based on 17 printers in its database. While this number is a bit limited, the ACI says the calculator relies only on tests from Quality Logic, an independent testing lab that employs industry-accepted ISO standards.

If you’re shopping for an inkjet, the new calculator provides a good estimate of what you can expect to pay.

For example, if you plan to print 50 b/w pages, 5 color pages and 1 photo per day in average during 3, 5 or 7 years, here are the probable costs involved:


Source: New York Times

Key words: inks, printer, color, cost, ownership

Inkjet-printed memory made from gold

Techradar.Com informs the Japanese Nissan Chemicals developed the technology of printing memory from a printer.

Using inkjet technology for creating not just photographs and A4 prints, but physical objects is not a new idea, but the notion of printing computer memory in that way is certainly novel.

Japan's Nissan Chemical Industries has developed a way to print memory from an inkjet device that uses nanoparticle-sized gold dust and polystyrene.

To make it work in an electronic circuit, Nissan Chemical has also managed to print tiny transistors that connect to relatively conventional electrodes in devices like IC tags.

The resulting memory can be incorporated in just about anything, such as product packaging, making it an ideal replacement for the silicon-based memory in RFID chips. The researchers say that it's also just 10 per cent the cost of silicon memory.

Early prototypes have a problem with low data density – just 2.5kbits per square centimeter at the minute – but Nissan Chemical says it will improve that in time for commercialization by 2011.


Chips like this could soon be squirted from a printer

Source: www.techradar.com

Key words: inkjet printing, technology

New all-in-One Pixma inkjets from Canon

Canon added two new modes to its office all-in-one lineup. The Pixma MX860 and Pixma MX330 combine color inkjet printing with copying, scanning, and fax capability and a flock of convenience features.

Priced at USD200, the MX860 includes automatic duplex copying, printing, and two-way paper feeding, for two-sided copying or scanning of letter-sized documents without the need to flip and re-feed pages. The unit can also scan and print at the same time during copying jobs and combines 802.11b/g wireless with Ethernet and USB connectivity for multi-PC sharing.


Pixma MX850 - the model previous to MX860

The USD 110 Pixma MX330 features slightly lower scan and print resolution, with a four-color, two-cartridge ink system and a 1.8- instead of 2.5-inch color LCD control panel. In addition, the MX330 offers an Auto Scan Mode that recognizes the type of document being scanned so it can be saved quickly in the right format; the ability to save scanned JPG and PDF data directly to a flash drive or memory card; and Auto Photo Fix red-eye correction and brightness and contrast optimization.


Pixma MX310 - the model previous to MX330

Source: Hardwarecentral.com.

Key words: Canon, technology, inks, printer

HP recycling program ad

HP has recently launched a new recycling program for inkjet cartridges. Have a look of how it is presented: inkjet printers are compared to home pets:

Inkjet Refilling Machine

An amazing video with lots of details.

Refill kit for Canon BJ5, BJ10, BJ20, BJ30

Source: http://www.daascom.com

Stylus D92 from Epson

Epson announced it launched a new color inkjet printer for home users. The new Stylus D92 is a low-end product meant for home users willing to print photos (up to A4) at home. The new device works on 4 cartridges filled with Epson DURABrite Ultra inks.



The printer uses Epson Micro Piezo technology and is supplied with Epson PhotoEnhance function to automatically correct image defects. The printer makes 25 prints per minute in b/w mode and up to 13 pages in color mode. The max resolution is 5760 x 1440 dpi.

The printer is in sale in the CIS from July, 2007.

Source: www.epson.ru

Desktop ink refilling machine

Interesing desktop refill machine:

Some how-to instructions from InkTec

HP56


BC-1, BC-2, BC-X Canon cartridges


BC-20 Canon cartridge:


BC-05 Canon cartridge:

Epson's strategy now and in future

During its press conference held in June in Spain, Epson informed about a new launch of inkjet printers to be done in August 2007.

As it is well known, after HP, Epson grew interested for the market of color ink printing. All the efforts are done to replace low-end monochrome laser printers with cheaper color inkjet all-in-ones. Within this framework, Epson makes an emphasis on inkjet devices. The main benefits of inkjets pointed out by the company are:
>> their lower price;
>> less energy consumed;
>> more environmentally friendly.

From these it is quite clear that the interest for and profitability of inkjets will be the moving force for the research in the area and we can expect a lot of new printing devices based on inkjet engines. Laser seems to reach its peak in terms of technology and development. Constant price slumps for laser devices and high prices of components make the production of laser devices not quite a profitable enterprise. This is the answer why the OEMs like HP and Epson look at inkjets as a good opportunity to earn the big buck.

Working with inkjets has a number of advantages:
First, new models with improved properties are released at the same price;
Second, developments in inkjet printing technology allow to have the same print speeds as in laserjets...

So, there is no mistaking that inkjets will slowly replace all low-end laser printers.

This is what, probably, people from Epson think.

He who pays the piper, calls the tune...

I have always belived in the truthful meaning of the saying "He who pays the piper, calls the music", when reading and analyzing results of ordered surveys. The first question coming into my head is "who is behind the research?". If there is some company, it is 100% sure that the results of the survey or research will fully reflect the standpoint of the customer. Yes, it is logical since "how on earth would dare I present the information, which tells about drawbacks of my customer, read the one who pays for the research?"...

Here comes an interesting example from Epson.

On June 12-15, 2007, Epson held a press meeting in Spain. The company presented its strategy and developement plan. It also gave an insight into the range of new products to be launched in August. I will write about it tomorrow. Today, I would like to show the presentation made to prove Epson inks are less harmful for the environment and more efficient in printing.

In the presentation independent experts from Germany "proved" Epson's inks are way better than similar products of the closest rivals Canon and HP and much much more efficient than the inks of the newly comer into the market - Kodak.

To have a look at the presentation click this link. The document is a powerpoint presentation wrapped into a pdf document.

The main stream inkjet printers from Brother, Canon, Epson, HP, Lexmark and Kodak are in the focus. The quality of the inks is compared. The authors also claims the
multicolor cartridges are less efficient and are already "yesterday's" technology.

Epson is the winner throughout the presentation. I wonder who would have been the winner if the survey had been done for some other OEM company?

He who pays the piper, calls the tune...

Epson released a new inkjet all-in-one in Russia and Ukraine: Stylus CX4300.

The new product from Epson: Stylus CX4300 was released on the CIS market in July'07. The device's speed is 25 ppm (pages per minute) for A4 paper and 89 sec. for one 10x15 photo.



The printer uses a system of separated cartridges and waterproof inks Epson DURABrite Ultra. The printer prints well on both special and normal pape. The maximal resolution is 5760 dpi.

The in-built technology Epson Easy Photo Fix allows repairing old and faded photos.
The printer is sold in Russia and Ukraine at the price of 115 USD.

Source: www.epson.ru

3 printers in the 100 top products for 2007

PC World made an interesting top list of the most outstanding technologies in 2007.



Along with the mastodonts like Apple iPhone and Google Maps, three printers entered the list. These are:







Source: PC World