The source for news, reviews, and testing of printers, MFPs, All-in-Ones, software and solutions ...insight, experience, expertise

xPrintServer Provides Wireless Mobile Printing to Virtually Any Network Printer – No Apps or Print Drivers Required

January 9, 2012 - Lantronix has rolled out the first Apple iOS print server compatible with Apple iPad 2, iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch mobile devices, and virtually any device running Apple’s iOS mobile operating system. The new xPrintServer, which is about the size of an iPhone, provides an exceptionally easy solution for printing from Apple devices. Read more here.

Canon Inc. to Build New MFP Production New Facility in Thailand

January 6, 2012 - Sounding bullish in a new press release, Canon Inc. of Japan announced it will be building a new Thailand-based manufacturing company for manufacturing MFPs and their parts, noting, “The business-machine market has displayed steady growth, led by emerging countries." Read more here. 

Complimentary Hands-On Test Report – Lexmark X364dn Laser MFP for Small and Mid-Size Businesses

January 5, 2012 - Interested in Wirth Consulting’s hands-on printer and MFP testing? Download this complimentary test report to see how we take into account every aspect of a product’s performance, software, and feature set – not just speeds, feeds and specs - but an in-depth look at usability, installation, manageability, and much more – real world testing and evaluation from the experts at Wirth Consulting that you won’t find anywhere else. Download this 21-page report here. 

Brother Extends Color All-in-One Line for SMB with Two New 19-ppm Units, Start at $399.99

January 4, 2012 - Brother has introduced two new color All-in-Ones for small and mid-size businesses, the MFC-9125CN and  MFC-9325CW (right), which print in black-and-white and color at up 19 ppm, use the company’s toner-based LED imaging, and, depending on configuration, support mobile print and scan and wireless connectivity. Also new are two printer-only versions of the All-in-Ones, the HL-3045CN and HL-3075CW standalone printers. Read more here. 

Kodak Preparing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection, According to WSJ Report

January 4, 2012 - Eastman Kodak may be preparing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, according to unnamed sources at the company, reports the Wall Street Journal. Read the WSJ story here. 

Xerox Expands Managed Print Services Coverage in Canada with LaserNetworks Acquisition

January 4, 2012 -  Read more here.

Ricoh A3 MFP Series Features Smaller Footprint, Internal Finisher, Standard Hard Drive Overwrite and Encryption

December 29, 2011 - Ricoh has introduced its next-generation monochrome A3 office MFPs, the Aficio MP 2352/2852/3352 series, which feature a more compact footprint – 23.1" wide x 25.7” deep – as well as an optional internal document finisher that doesn’t increase footprint – a first for Ricoh’s A3 (11” x 17” media) models. The units, which range in speed from 23 to 33 ppm, start at $4,780. Ricoh is positioning them as space-saving models that will be ideal as part of a Managed Print Services engagement. Read more here. 

Brother to Invest $54 Million in New Ink-Jet Printer/All-in-One Production Facility

December 29, 2011 - Read the story here.

Epson Settles Nokia Anti-Trust Lawsuit for $80 Million, Will Post Extraordinary Loss for Third Quarter

December 28, 2011 - Printer and LCD maker Seiko Epson of Japan has agreed to settle an anti-trust civil lawsuit filed in the United States and United Kingdom by Nokia Corporation of Finland for $80 million. In its lawsuit, Nokia had accused Epson and other LCD makers, including Hitachi, LG, Philips, and Samsung, of price fixing LCDs (liquid crystal displays). Read more here. 

HP Releases LaserJet Firmware Upgrade in Response to Potential Security Risk

December 23, 2011 - Read more here.

A Look at 2011 U.S. Lobbying by Digital-Imaging Companies

December 22, 2011 - With 2011 nearly behind us, we’d thought it’d be interesting to take a look at money spent by digital-imaging companies on U.S. lobbying. Lobbying itself is the (legal) practice of seeking to influence and advise elected and regulatory government officials on issues concerning a special interest group, whether a company, non-profit organization, labor union, trade group, etc. Read more here. 

Ricoh Bolsters A4 Lineup with New 52-ppm A4 Aficio SP 5200S Series

December 20, 2011 - Ricoh has begun shipping its black-and-white A4 Aficio SP 5200S series, which it had previewed last spring, and which it says has a cost per page of under 1 cent. The new units boast a competitive feature set, including full-color scanning, large color touch screen, all-in-one toner cartridge, and optional workflow solutions.

Read more here. 

New OKI - Agiliant Partnership Will Add OKI Managed Print Services to Agiliant’s Managed Network Services

December 14, 2011 - OKI Data Americas and Agiliant, Inc. have announced a new partnership that will allow dealers to provide key elements of OKI’s Total Managed Print Services along with Agiliant’s Managed Network Services.

Read more here. 

Three Billion Pages Printed Every Day in Developing Markets, Reports IDC

December 19, 2011 - While office-printing in the United States and Western Europe continues to slow, pages printed in developing markets have increased 14 percent year-over-year, with most  of those pages printed by monochrome laser devices, according to market-research firm International Data Corporation (IDC). Read more here. 

New Test Report – Can the Ink-Jet HP Officejet Pro 8600 e-All-in-One’s Image Quality Stand up to that of Three Color-Laser Competitors?

See for yourself in this comprehensive new test report. We produced a variety of image-quality samples (right) from selected test targets under controlled conditions and compared the output for key image-quality attributes, with some intriguing results.

Access the comprehensive test report here (12.6 MB download). 

Xerox’s Global Imaging Systems Acquires Wisconsin Office-Products Distributor

December 16, 2011 - Xerox’s Global Imaging Systems has acquired office-products distributor Merizon Group Incorporated, which operates MBM, formerly known as Modern Business Machines (MBM), and which is based in Appleton, WI. Read more here. 

New Panasonic KX-MB1500 “Fit Anywhere” Laser All-in-Ones Start at $124.95

December 15, 2011 - Panasonic is launching two new “Fit Anywhere” laser All-in-Ones, the KX-MB1500 ($124.95) and KX-MB1520 ($149.95), which have been designed with an exceptionally footprint, thanks to a smaller print engine and an internal paper-output tray, and according to Panasonic, bring office-level capabilities, such as full-color scanning, to small and home businesses. Read more here.  

An Evening with HP @ New Work City

By Terry Wirth, President, Wirth Consulting

December 7, 2011  - Last night, Kathy and I attended a Hewlett-Packard event held at New Work City located at 412 Broadway, just off the intersection of Canal Street in New York. In this refreshingly casual setting, HP announced a partnership with New Work City that provides Officejet e-All-in-Ones for use by New Work City (NWC) mobile clients. What is New Work City? Basically, it’s a part of a new breed of work sites that foster co-working, and provide a workplace for freelancers, startups, or just people who want to connect with the community. Members receive everything from high-speed wireless Internet, a mailing address, use of meeting rooms, and of course, use of printers, and perhaps the most important workplace accessory, free coffee. Read more here.  

Worldwide Printer, MFP Shipments Up 1.6 Percent in Third Quarter, Reports IDC

December 12, 2011 - Market-research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) reports that the worldwide hardcopy peripherals market grew 1.6 percent in the third-quarter 2011 versus third-quarter 2010. According to IDC, over 31.3 million units were shipped in third-quarter 2011, versus 29 million units shipped in second-quarter 2011. MFPs continued to dominate the market, accounting for 66 percent of units shipped. Color-laser MFPs saw the biggest growth rates with year-over-year growth of 24.1 percent.  Read more here.

New HP Officejet Pro 8600 e-All-in-One Series Boasts New Ink-Jet Imaging System, Faster Print Speeds, Support for Enterprise Deployment

Hewlett-Packard recently sent us an early production unit for its new flagship Officejet Pro family, the Officejet Pro 8600 e-All-in-One color ink-jet series, for a hands-on review. The big news is a completely redesigned ink-imaging system that, among its benefits, is much faster duplex productivity and faster ink-drying time, as well as a new option to keep printing when ink is low, and new technology to make sure pages are completely printed when ink is low. Read more here. 

If Apple iOS 5 is Such a Big Improvement for iPad, Why Will My Next Tablet Have Android OS?

By Terry Wirth

Terry Wirth takes an in-depth look at the effectiveness of Apple's iOS 5 upgrade versus Android's Gingerbread OS. 

Read the story here. 

Lexmark Issues Update on Available Mobile Printing

December 8, 2011 - Lexmark recently issued an update summarizing mobile-printing options for its printers, MFPs, and ink-jet All-in-Ones, with the firm noting that mobile printing is the “‘now’ imperative.” Following is an overview of the firm’s current mobile-printing capabilities.

Read more here.  

Konica Minolta bizhub 223 Best in Latest Head-to-Head Comparison Report 

Cortado’s Instant Printer Prevents Laptop Users from Installing Unauthorized Print Drivers

November 18, 2011 - One security challenge many enterprises face is unauthorized print driver and software downloads, as these can result in security risks such as users inadvertently downloading viruses, Trojan horses, etc. along with software. However, many mobile laptop users may still need to print - typically using an unfamiliar printer when out of the office, and need to download print drivers in order to do so. These users may be in a hurry, and may inadvertently download the print driver from the first location that shows up in in a search, and the driver or the site itself may be rigged with a drive-by virus or Trojan horse malware. Read more here.

New Hands-On Test Report: HP Officejet Pro 8100 ePrinter

Download Wirth Consulting's Hands-On Test Report for Hewlett-Packard's latest full-color ink-jet printer, the OfficeJet Pro 8100 ePrinter. This new ink-jet printer features HP's newest ink-jet imaging system, as well as mobile printing with HP's ePrint and support for Apple's AirPrint, amd faster, streamlined installation.   

Lexmark Talks Solutions at New York Conference

November 7, 2011 - Wirth Consulting wasn’t able to attend a Lexmark briefing earlier this week in Manhattan thanks to a five-day power outage in the Northeast, but some folks at Lexmark were kind enough to give us access to some of the day’s interviews and thoughts from the firm’s top executives. Read more here. 

New EFI PrintMe Mobile for Driver-Less Printing from Apple, Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Mobile Devices

November 4, 2011 - Electronics for Imaging (EFI) has introduced a new mobile printing solution, called PrintMe Mobile, that enables users of Apple, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile smartphone and tablet PCs to print to any networked printer or MFP, regardless of brand, without installing software. PrintMe Mobile addresses two challenges – easy deployment for IT staff and ease-of-use for users, as well as high-fidelity file conversion, so that fonts and layout are preserved, and printed output best matches what’s on the user’s screen. Read more here. 

Ricoh Releases Managed Document Services 2.0, Reports on MDS Progress

October 27, 2011 - As part of its $300 million investment in a global Managed Document Services infrastructure announced last January, Ricoh Company has introduced its latest version of Managed Document Services, version 2.0, which includes a new global Web site for its Managed Document Services (MDS) program. Read more here. 

New App Enables Apple iOS Users to Use HP ePrint & Share

October 20, 2011 - Hewlett-Packard today announced a new mobile app for Apple iOS 4.2 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch users that enable these mobile users to use HP’s ePrint & Share for mobile printing to HP Designjet wide-format printers, which are typically used in engineering, construction, and architecture. From their iOS device, users will also be able to access and share files stored in their ePrint & Share online library.

Read more here.  

Lexmark Print Release Now Available as a Cloud-Hosted Subscription Service

October 20, 2011 - Lexmark is now offering its Print Release on a software-as-a-service subscription basis via cloud-hosting. With this subscription-based alternative, Lexmark remotely deploys and manages Print Release in a secure data center.

Read more here. 

Xerox Launches PrintBack Mobile Print App and First Wireless MFP

October 11, 2011 - While Xerox of late has been concentrating on enterprise and office printing and imaging, it's just introduced two new solutions that it says target small and mid-size business users - a mobile print solution called PrintBack for printing from Android and Apple iOS mobile devices, and its first Wi-Fi enabled MFP, the WorkCentre 6015. Read more here. 

For more news, visit our News Blog page. For the latest on ink-jet printers and All-in-Ones, visit our Think Ink! page.