As far as printers go in the huge world of exciting technology, they're not exactly the most notable or what anyone would refer to as stunning (unless they're being paid). Epson's been brainstorming for months on end trying to establish how to make the printer sexy and stylish, and by jove I think they've bloody well done it. Rather than focusing on the mind numbing stuff like ink heads, gradation and printing speeds, Epson has gone for a more design led approach. I'm not disputing the above aren't important, but it makes printers a hell of a lot more interesting when the main focus is whether or not these machines would look good in your living room. Epson must be pretty chuffed with the new wireless PX700W and PX800FW printers - why else would they have flown an army of journalists to Barcelona to announce it?

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Cartridge World, the world's fastest growing ink and toner refilling retailer and franchisor in the $80 billion printer cartridge industry, announces the appointment of Tom Fricke as Chief Executive Officer.

Fricke, who most recently served as an executive for The Home Depot, will work closely with Cartridge World's franchisees to intimately align the company with its consumers, escalate the company's global standing through the development of a global management team and grow the brand organically by cultivating markets in which Cartridge World has a strong presence.

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Designed for both small to medium businesses (SMBs) and enterprise workgroups, the MFP delivers top-quality colour prints and claims to have low maintenance costs and easily integrates with the entire range of Samsung's printing solutions.

In fact, the MFP is claimed to print colour A4 pages as quickly as black-and-white – at speeds up to 38 pages-per-minute (ppm), ensuring that employees do not have to wait for the printer. Equipped with laser technology, the MFP's high-resolution prints (1,200 by 1,200 dpi effective output) and the unit supports colour scanning and faxing.

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The Epson Stylus Photo PX700W is a new all-in-one printer and scanner designed for your living room. With a black gloss finish, the PX700W features a 6.3 cm colour LCD screen, 2400 dpi scanner, and integrated Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity. Epson Claria dye-based ink produces better-than-lab-quality photos in just 17 seconds. Prints can be made by the PX700W on a variety of media from plain paper, high gloss photo paper and CD’s and DVD’s. The Epson Stylus PX700W will cost £199.99, available from today.

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Samsung Electronics America, Inc., a market leader and award-winning innovator in consumer electronics, has announced SAMSUNG RECYCLING DIRECTSM, its commitment to the take-back and recycling (TB&R) of Samsung-branded consumer electronics across all of its product lines. Beginning October 1, 2008, people will be able to drop off their Samsung-branded consumer electronics sold in the United States at convenient collection sites, including permanent drop-off centers in all 50 states, and at a wide range of recycling events across the country. Through this convenient recycling program, Samsung-branded consumer electronics will be accepted for no fee, and non-Samsung-branded consumer electronics will be accepted for a nominal fee paid directly to Samsung’s contracted recycling partners upon delivery of the e-waste.

“Since the 1996 launch of our global Green Management Initiative, Samsung Electronics Company has been a staunch advocate of preserving our environment and greening the consumer electronics industry,” said DJ Oh, President and CEO, Samsung Electronics America. “As a global enterprise, we have worked diligently to put our environmental responsibility philosophy into practice across our worldwide operations, among our suppliers and partners, and within our local communities. Today we are very pleased to once again affirm those philosophies by announcing that our SAMSUNG RECYCLING DIRECT 50-state take-back and recycling commitment extends across all Samsung-branded consumer electronics sold in the United States with the exception of home appliances. However, there will be a growing number of drop-off locations that will accept home appliances.”

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A German regional court has ruled in favor of HP in its action against Pelikan Hardcopy Deutschland, saying the ink and stationary supplier had violated the German law on unfair competition.

The Cologne Regional Court has ordered Pelikan to "cease labeling certain newly manufactured inkjet print cartridges as 'remanufactured'", according to a statement from HP on Thursday.

The U.S. company said it had discovered that Pelikan marketed and sold new print cartridges in packaging that claimed the new cartridges were remanufactured products from HP.

HP said it initiated the unfair competition action against Pelikan last summer after Pelikan "refused HP's request to voluntarily give an undertaking to cease its misleading advertising".

The cartridges at the heart of the action were sold under the designations H06 and H08 and were the subject of a patent-infringement proceeding brought by HP against Pelikan in Germany last year. Back in August 2007, a court in Germany ordered Pelikan to stop importing and distributing these cartridges following what HP called Pelikan's "admission of patent infringement". The legal dispute then continued with the unfair competition case.

Pelikan has been a supplier of ink and printing products in Germany for more than 150 years. The company sells a wide range of paper products as well as ink cartridges. It also sells a wide range of cartridges that can be re-filled, from companies such as Canon and Epson as well as HP.

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Razor-blade makers sell consumers the shaver at low prices and then make a killing selling replacement blades. Printer manufacturers do the same thing — selling their printers on the cheap and then making bank on expensive consumables like ink. It's a time-tested practice that's inspired a lively aftermarket of cheap ink from third-party suppliers.

The printer makers — the original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs — claim that their ink is worth the premium prices they charge for it. OEM ink, they say, creates images that are more accurate and colour-rich, and longer-lived. Third-party suppliers, on the other hand, say that their inks are just as good but cost a lot less. For example, HP charges US$18 for a black ink cartridge for its Photosmart C5180 printer, but the same cartridge remanufactured by Cartridge World costs only $8.75.

Who's telling the truth? To find out, PC World teamed up with the Rochester Institute of Technology, a respected research university known for its top-notch laboratory for testing imaging products. Using popular ink jet printers from Canon, Epson, Hewlett-Packard, Kodak, and Lexmark, we ran side-by-side tests of brand-name and third-party inks to compare image quality and fade resistance. We also tracked how many pages each cartridge churned out before running dry.

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A new computer program developed in our area could save paper and ink on big printing project, according to developers at Xerox.

Scientists at Xerox are showing off their '3-D visualization software' at the company's research center in Webster. It will show users exactly how their project will look when it's printed, everything from the texture, color, and binding, before anything is printed.

"3-D visualization helps prevent costly mistakes and re-work," said Rob Rolleston, a research manager at Xerox. "Seeing the finished piece before it is printed can cut out many possible errors - orientation, cutting, or even how a certain image sits on the page - and result in a great print the first time."

The technology isn't ready for the market just yet. Researchers plan on testing the product with customers.

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Xerox has a good range of office laser printers, both monochrome and colour, designed for SME and even corporate departments. Its Phaser 6180 comes in both V and V/DN variants and it's the V/DN model, with networking and duplex printing built in, that we're looking at here. Although, confusingly, Xerox uses the same Phaser name for its colour laser and solid-ink printers, this is a true, toner-based laser device.

The most obvious thing about the Phaser 6180V/DN is how tall it sits off the desk. The laser engine inside is mounted vertically, with the four drum and toner units fitted one above the other, so this is pretty inevitable. As it’s tall, it might be better to mount the printer on a purpose-made stand or trolley, than to sit it on the desktop.

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The Dell Workgroup Laser Printer 5310N is a 50 ppm, monochrome workgroup laser printer.Compared to other monochrome workgroup lasers on the market, it is midpriced at around $1,050.This unit prints at 1200dpi.

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Samsung is rigging its printers and misleading consumers in its quest to sell as many costly and profitable toner cartridges as possible, according to a class action lawsuit filed this week by Kabateck Brown Kellner, LLP in U.S. District Court in Trenton, NJ.

"This is 'razor blade' economics taken to a fraudulent extreme," said KBK Managing Partner Brian Kabateck. "Consumers are not getting the toner they're paying for because Samsung is rigging its machines. The victims in this case are entitled to use the toner they've purchased, but Samsung's malevolent programming is blocking the way."

Printer companies like Samsung derive more revenues and profits from selling toner and ink cartridges than they do by selling printers. (Some call this the "razor blade" model. Many razor companies make more money from blade cartridges than razors.) While cartridge prices remain high, printer costs have fallen along with the cost of other computer equipment, with many printers even being provided free to computer purchasers. Printers, in many cases, are simply vehicles that drive their manufacturers' true profit-centers -- toner and ink cartridges.

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Canon Inc., Japan's biggest office- equipment maker, fell the most in more than five months in Tokyo trading after Ricoh Co. agreed to buy Ikon Office Solutions Inc., the largest copier distributor in the U.S.

Canon lost 5.2 percent to close at 4,790 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the biggest decline since March 3. Ricoh added 2.9 percent to 1,777 yen, after gaining as much as 6.8 percent.

UBS AG said the acquisition may cause Canon's North America revenue to fall by as much as half, while Merrill Lynch & Co. estimates the company's overall sales would drop about 3 percent if it lost Ikon as a distributor. The purchase adds 400 sales locations for Ricoh in the U.S., Canada and Western Europe, markets that account for more than half of Canon's revenue.

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Review Roundup: Brother HL-2170W an Inexpensive Laser Printer As Long As You Don't Mind the Gaps

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Most inkjet all-in-ones (AIOs) have a particular set of features defines them as being for the office rather than the home. Typically, office-oriented AIOs have an Ethernet connector and an automatic document feeder (ADF); they can print, scan, and fax over a network; work as standalone copiers and fax machines; and send e-mail by launching an e-mail message on your PC and attaching a scanned document. Hewlett-Packard's Officejet Pro L7590 All-in-One Printer ($299.99 direct) offers all of these features, as well as high-quality output and fast speed, making it our new Editors' Choice winner.

Usually, the print engines found in office inkjet AIOs are indistinguishable from those found in AIOs for the home. They do a fairly good job of printing photos but not such a good job with text, even though the text output is usually good enough for most business needs. The L7590 is different. It prints text surprisingly well but falls down a bit when it comes to photos. The result is an AIO that's truly focused on office use, and squarely targeted at the small and home office.

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Lexmark has introduced three new additions to its Professional Series of wireless inkjet all-in-one multifunction devices, and two new all-in-one printers for home and student users.

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Brother International Corporation today introduced two new models to its "Professional Series" of color inkjet all-in-ones, adding breadth to the line-up that began with the introduction of the MFC-6490CW in July 2008.

The new MFC-5890CN and MFC-5490CN models provide robust printing, copying, scanning and faxing capabilities that businesses need every day. Both models represent the smarter choice for those seeking a color all-in-one machine at a great value.

"Brother understands the future of business," explained Steve Strauss, USA Today columnist and small business expert. "Not only do the all-in-one machines in Brother's 'Professional Series' line deliver high-quality printing, copying, scanning and faxing, but the added highlights such as compact size and even ledger printing make these models a must-have for today's small businesses."

The Brother "Professional Series" now consists of three strong models with key features:

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Printers — they're never terribly exciting. And the market for stand-alone printers, as distinct from multifunction devices (MFD), is one that's been steadily eroding, which isn't surprising when you see MFD devices in your local tech emporium for significantly less than $100. As such, any stand-alone printer (excluding portable photo units) has to work extra hard to stand out. The D4360's big claims in the design department rest around it being small and fairly cheap to both own and operate. To an extent this has appeal; if you genuinely don't need a scanner/copier/fax, then why waste desk space or money on one?

The D4360 measures in at 148x445x342mm, well below the size that most MFDs will take up, and its carrying weight of 3.5kg is moderate. We wouldn't want to lug it around all day, but it's certainly not going to snap your spine if you're moving it from site to site.

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Lexmark's X4650 all-in-one scanner, printer and copying machine allows many different applications for the user in one small package.

The printer company has provided wireless networking support with built-in 802.11n, giving "high-quality printing from virtually anywhere in your home over a secure wireless network" according to Lexmark, as well as supporting multiple computers.

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Canon announces the new imageCLASS D480 laser multifunction copier for small businesses and home offices. The new Canon imageCLASS model boasts print and copy speeds of up to 23 pages-per-minute (ppm) for letter-sized output, and delivers first print and copy pages in approximately nine seconds. This model comes equipped with a 250-sheet front-loading paper cassette. The device is also capable of copying up to 8.5 inches x 14 inches (legal) from the Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) or letter-sized using the platen glass or ADF. For optimal speed when printing and scanning, the new imageCLASS model provides a USB 2.0 Hi-Speed interface.

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A new line of inkjet all-in-one and printers was announced by Epson today, designed to meet any small and home-based business need, offering easy printing, scanning, copying and faxing.

The new line promises fast print speeds for increased office productivity and efficiency. Additionally, it also would provide high print resolution for sharp text and vibrant color graphics.

The all-in-one model of the new series named Epson WorkForce 600 is capable of printing up to 38 pages per minute and also offers inbuilt Wi-Fi, a tilt LCD screen, and inbuilt 30-page ADF.

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For $99.99, the HP Photosmart C4480 is a solid all-in-one printer, scanner, and copier. It’s pretty fast, and the printing software will help you conserve ink from the somewhat expensive cartridges.

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Epson is introducing its new Artisan brand and its first printer to offer a touch-screen interface.

The two new all-in-one units will offer built-in Wi-Fi and Ethernet networking and feature six color Claria ink and Epson’s DX5 print head technology, which creates five different ink droplet sizes as small as 1.5 picoliters. They will also feature memory card slots and PC free printing and copying.

New for these units, Epson will have its automatic photo correction technology turned on by default. Consumers can disable the feature if they want.

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In their Pre-Kina 2008 announcements Canon has announced 13! photo printers:

2 compact photo printers - Selphy ES3 and Selphy ES30
8 new photo Multi-Function Printers - MP190, MP240, MP260, MP480, MP540, MP620, MP630, MP980
and 3 photo printers PIXMA iP1900, iP3600, iP4600

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The Epson S20, the company's latest budget offering, has been described as a "useful" and "inexpensive" printer in a recent review by a computer advice website.

PC Advisor described the peripheral's ability to print a wide array of picture styles as "a breeze" due to the "solid driver setup" that aids the user in choosing the correct combination of stock, inks and paper size.

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Eastman Kodak announced that the company's consumer all-in-one (AiO) inkjet printers have received PC Magazine's 2008 Readers' Choice Award in the Printer Category.

"We're thrilled to learn that consumers have embraced our family of all-in-one inkjet printers and have truly benefited from the quality of our premium inks and revolutionary value proposition," said Susan Tousi, general manager of Kodak's Inkjet Systems Division. "We bring consumers intuitive products that provide superb-quality and allow them to save up to 50 percent on everything they print*."

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