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Exercise office equipment named worst gadget
31/12/2007 14:31
The most "evil" piece of office equipment for the year 2007 title has been awarded to a desk-based exercise machine.
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Portable printer 'perfect piece of office equipment'
28/12/2007 14:35
The value of portable printers as a piece of office equipment or home office machine has been extolled by an article in the American Chronicle.
Business people on deadlines and party hosts eager to print off fun-filled snaps for guests can benefit from a portable printer that meets their specific needs, wrote columnist Michael Jordan.
Many printers do more than print and have multiple functions, such as being able to scan documents and photos, in addition to acting as a fax machine.
These office machines can be attached by a lead to a single computer, integrated into a network or connected to a storage device such as a USB memory stick or digital camera.
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Samsung may build R&D centre for office machines
27/12/2007 15:32
Office equipment manufacturer Samsung Electronics could build a research and development centre dedicated to printers, it has suggested.
The proposed centre would be located in the Chinese city of Weihai in the Shandong Province and would focus on tailoring printer products for customers in China.
No financial information, such as the amount of investment and financing methods, were made available by the company, according to a report in the Korea Times.
Samsung's digital media division president Park Jong-woo made an unexpected personal visit to the Chinese printer plant recently.
A spokesperson for the office equipment company told the website: "We have been engaged in talks to create the research centre there with a strong focus on design.
"The centre, if completed, will be dedicated to helping produce tailored products for Chinese consumers."
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New office machines launched by Epson
27/12/2007 15:30
Office equipment manufacturer Epson has launched two photo multifunction printers (MFPs) onto its extensive portfolio of office machines.
The Epson Stylus Photo RX610 and RX 690 inkjet MFPs are aimed at heightening the opportunities for creativity and performance for photo enthusiasts, the company suggests.
Both printers are run by twin drivers, – the award-winning Micro Piezo print head and Advanced Variable Sized Droplet Technology (VSDT).
These innovations control speed and quality in printing, with consistency of quality during long print runs.
The RX 690 boasts speeds of up to 40 sheets a minute for black and white and colour, with draft colour prints produced in under 12 seconds.
Its ease of use makes it ideal for a professional or home office/personal setting, Epson says.
Epson has also introduced a new printing ink, Claria photographic ink, which it claims will provide high definition standards with a 200-year durability.
Claria operates using a cost effective six-cartridge system that allows replacement of individual colours.
Epson manufactures a wide range of office printer consumables such as inkjet and laser inks and papers.
Its Stylus Photo R2400 won the Amateur Photographer product of the year in 2006.
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HP announces new office machines
24/12/2007 14:01
Office equipment manufacturer HP has announced that is launching new office machines for the new year.
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Xerox office machines honoured
21/12/2007 14:41
Office equipment manufacturer Xerox received more than 190 awards and honours from the industry during 2007.
The company launched 39 new office machines in the last 12 months and accolades for its office equipment were received for products including the DocuMate 152 scanner and the Phaser 6180 colour laser printer.
All the awards were from specialist office supplies and office equipment industry and associated publications and independent testing and research organisations worldwide.
In addition, Xerox received the National Medal of Technology, awarded by the US president to America's top groundbreaking innovators.
Other areas of recognition were in knowledge management, innovation, diversity, ethics, family-friendly policies, environmental programs and leadership.
Ursula M Burns, president of Xerox, said: "More than two-thirds of Xerox's equipment revenue is from products launched in the last two years alone, reflecting our ability to accelerate time to revenue and generate a strong return on our investments in research and development."
Next year the company plans to present its new products at a number of industry events including Macworld Conference and Expo in San Francisco, Graphics of The America in Miami and drupa 2008 in Germany.
Xerox has just launched two presses in conjunction with Epson.
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Office furniture manufacturer posts results
21/12/2007 14:38
Steelcase has announced a net income of $31.3 million (£15.75 million) for the third quarter.
The global office furniture manufacturer, founded almost a century ago in Michigan and with offices in Strasbourg and London, included charges of goodwill to PolyVision worth $21.1 million.
Individual shares were priced at $0.22, the company said.
President and chief executive James P Hackett of the office furniture company remarked: "We continue to be pleased with the growth in our North America and international segments.
"Though the US financial markets have remained volatile, we have continued to increase our revenue consistent with our growth strategies."
In January shareholders will receive a special cash dividend of $1.75 per share in addition to a regular quarterly dividend of $0.15.
Financial advice website Motley Fool noted that the apparent fall in profits was due to the PolyVision goodwill spend and also that Steelcase had been "on a stock-buying spree".
One of the company's first products patented was a breakthrough in office equipment design: the steel wastebasket.
Prior to its 1914 patent, straw was the popular material - and potentially hazardous if a fire broke out.
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Trends for office equipment in 2008
21/12/2007 14:35
Office machine and office equipment manufacturers have revealed their predictions for trends in the coming year.
Colour laser technology, which is becoming cheaper, easier to use and increasingly faster, will become even more popular in the coming months, says Hewlett Packard's Canadian marketing manager of business printing Jean-Paul Desmarais.
Speaking to eChannel Line, Mr Desmarais said that even small businesses were adopting this type of office equipment.
His views were echoed by Joe Cadeau, vice president of dealer sales with Konica Minolta Canada.
"In addition to reduced operating costs, users are now starting to demand improved colour quality," said Mr Cadeau.
"The market would also like to see advanced features previously only available on high-volume systems introduced to lower-volume, lower-segment colour machines."
However, increased customer productivity was cited as a vital factor in decisions in the coming months according to Paul Patterson, marketing manager at Lexmark Canada.
Bucking the predicted colour trends somewhat, Brother International has just launched a new monochrome laser printer as one of its new office machines.
The HL-2170W features wireless and ethernet network interfaces for flexibility and the company claims it is the first to offer laser printer wireless connectivity at a low price.
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Convenient new option for creating office supplies
20/12/2007 14:45
Posters and signage can now be produced using a new office supplies printing facility at Sam's Club, the company has announced.
The service utilises Epson Fujifilm Stylus Pro 7800 wide-format inkjet printer equipment, provided by Fujifilm Hunt Chemicals for Fujifilm Frontier Systems, armed with the Frontier Photo Controller (PIC) version three and Fujifilm's Image Intelligence.
It is available for procurers of office supplies at more 580 locations throughout the US.
Thomas Curley, imaging division director of marketing for lab solutions at Fujifilm USA said: "We are always looking for ways to improve services and bring new revenue opportunities to our customers, and we're especially excited to be working with Sam's Club."
Michael Chaney, merchandise director at Sam's Club, which is a division of Wal-Mart, said that he was sure customers would find the new office supplies printing solution "convenient and superior in quality to similar production techniques".
Fujifilm says it is committed to environmental awareness in the design of its products, including office supplies, which could be of interest to those who want greener office supplies.
Its holds ISO 14001 Environmental Management System certification at 24 of its facilities in the UK and its green policy is available for scrutiny on its website.
At Paperstone we can supply your firm with a wide selection of office supplies.
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Laminators 'can help workers stay organised'
20/12/2007 14:43
A series of light-hearted polls have revealed the popularity and usefulness of laminators in and out of the workplace.
Conducted by GBC(R) Document Finishing Group of ACCO Brands found that jamming office machinery and office equipment is one of the biggest bug-bears of office life.
The company has recently launched a new range of office laminators that claim to be anti-jam.
Director of global brand marketing Kellie Glueck said: "A typical office worker spends 40 per cent of their time looking for information and loses one out of every 20 documents.
"By laminating important and frequently used documents, they won't be accidentally thrown away or lost in a mountain of paper."
The company says the end of the year is an ideal time to preserve well-used and important documents with a laminator.
However the poll also revealed that respondents would like to use a laminator to preserve a particular time in their life or stop the ageing process.
GBC also sells a broad range of home office equipment such as binding machines and paper shredders, as well as binders and folders to keep documents organised.
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Kodak office equipment wins award
20/12/2007 14:40
Three items of office equipment from Eastman Kodak have received honours at the Innovations 2008 Design and Engineering Awards held at the recent International Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
Its Kodak Easyshare 5300 all-in-one printer received an innovation award in the computer peripherals section, while the Kodak Easyshare V1253 won in the digital imaging category.
The Kodak Easyshare ZD710 received praise for energy-efficient design in the eco-design and sustainable technology category.
Independent industry designers, engineers and journalists chose the office equipment winners.
The awards are sponsored by the Consumer Electronics Association and approved by the Industrial Designers Society of America.
They aim to highlight superior design and engineering among most technologically-advanced products, including office equipment, launched during the year.
Included on the winners' list were a host of other items of office equipment such as a waterproof hard drive by Sentry Group, a fire and water resistant data safe from the same and a cordless telephone from Thompson that delivers news and information via a broadband Internet connection.
CES was marketed as making history as the largest carbon-neutral trade event ever this year.
At Paperstone we can supply your firm with a wide selection of office equipment.
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Office equipment boosts printer's turnaround
19/12/2007 18:09
Office supplies company Hewlett-Packard (HP) has helped a production firm boost its turnaround with the help of its Scitex TJ8300 printer, it has emerged.
Using inkjet cartridges that are UV-durable for up to two years, the office machines supplier said the printer can reach speeds of up to 400 sq m an hour.
Geneva-based Gobet Production used the Scitex TJ8300 printer to produce outdoor posters and was able to form a 400m2 building wrap using the office equipment, HP said.
The model uses printer cartridges capable of producing advertisements on coated and uncoated paper, self-adhesive vinyl, banner and paper-back flag, the office products supplier noted.
Gobet founder Yvan Gobet said: "We are now able to compete with large offset printers for short runs of 200 or 300 outdoor posters, which has meant we can now print complementary parts of the same campaign for clients knowing that the vehicle wraps and posters, for example, will be of a high quality with consistent colour replication."
Additional office products supplied by HP include desktop PCs, notebooks, multifunction printers and handheld computers.
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Antitrust lawsuit involving printer cartridges
19/12/2007 18:08
Office products retailer Staples and office equipment manufacturer HP have been accused of breaching antitrust laws based on the sale of third-party printer cartridges, it has emerged.
Based on the allegation that HP paid the office products supplier over $100 million (£49.8 million) to ensure that it refrained from selling cheaper, third-party inkjet cartridges, a US man has filed a lawsuit with Boston's district court.
Research behind the claim has not yet been revealed by Ranjit Bedi, who is suing this office supplies retailer for breaking marketing laws under the Sherman Act and Clayton Act, Reuters reports.
The filed suit refers to the use of "market development funds" in "an illegal agreement between competitors to stop competing", the news agency notes.
Third-party manufacturers of printer cartridges have been a thorn in the side of leading office equipment manufacturers since they are able to sell replacement cartridges for their printer models at a fraction of the price.
HP, Epson and Lenovo are among the office machines suppliers who have attempted to use either legal patents or the digital millennium copyright act to crush third-party manufacturers of inkjet cartridges, reports ars technica.
Brother recently won a legal case against Dynamic Supplies following the retail of printer drum units in the name of the former, despite the office products having a different specification to Brother's own-branded printer drum units, reports Innovative Solutions.
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Greener office supplies promoted
19/12/2007 18:06
An office equipment supplier was set a green mission this month after a summit meeting in Hollywood.
Yalmaz Siddiqui, environmental strategy adviser for office supplies company Office Depot, featured as guest speaker at an iHollywood forum to promote its vision for green office supplies.
The recycling of printer cartridges and technology office equipment, in addition to the purchase of environmentally-friendly office products were measures recently outlined by the company as initiatives that have helped to improve its own sustainability.
Held at the Roosevelt hotel in Hollywood, California, the green office supplies advocator formed part a forum that discussed methods for adopting environmental practices in paper distribution, marketing and printing.
"Creating a greener office is becoming increasingly attainable for today's business professionals and consumers," Mr Siddiqui said.
"Simple changes such as switching to recycled paper, printing on both sides of the page, recycling empty ink and toner cartridges, purchasing Energy Star-rated electronics and recycling old technology can make a big difference," he added.
Hollywood has been recognised in recent years for its efforts to tackle global warning through green initiatives within the music, broadcast, film and television industries, according to the Hollywood Goes Green website.
At Paperstone we can supply your firm with a wide selection of office supplies.
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Brother launches new wireless office machines
18/12/2007 18:42
Monochrome laser printers feature among a new range of office equipment supplied by Brother, it has emerged.
The office supplies manufacturer claims that its new HL-2100 range can help save money on printer cartridges through high-yield inkjet cartridges and a toner save mode.
A wireless laser printer that can be used in home and office-based environments, the wireless HL-2170W is available for $149 (£73) as the office equipment supplier looks to provide an affordable wireless printer device to meet growing demands for connectivity options, Brother noted.
The HL-2140 personal laser printer, available for $119, and the wireless HL-2170W both produce printing speeds of 23 pages per minute and hold up to 250 sheets of paper.
Kurt Scherf, vice president of Parks Associates, commented that the number of Wi-Fi connected households is expected to grow by 22.6 million by 2010 from around 18.1 million at the end of this year.
"By continuing to offer printers with popular features including small footprints, fast print speeds, and built-in networking capabilities, our products are ideally positioned to satisfy … customer's demands," said Linda Sanford, laser printers product manager at Brother.
Other office equipment made my Brother includes multifunction printers, fax machines and electronic labellers.
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Office equipment manufacturer releases CSR report
18/12/2007 18:41
A corporate social responsibility (CSR) report has been released by office machines manufacturer OKI.
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Office furniture manufacturers to exhibit at show
17/12/2007 18:25
Several leading Italian office furniture manufacturers will be displaying some of their most recent designs at an upcoming show.
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New colour office equipment from Ricoh
17/12/2007 18:23
Digital office equipment provider Ricoh has launched the GX2500 colour printer, aimed at small offices.
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TTP introduces software for office machines
14/12/2007 17:31
The Technology Partnership (TTP) has introduced a line of software and electronics for use in office equipment such as printers.
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