THE NEWS IN PRINT

HP's nearly perfect business printing technology, Edgeline, is regarded as a hot product in terms of speed and reasonable cost by HP and its sourcing partners. This printer will not go on sale in stores near you or in any online outlet. HP has strategically decided that the Edgeline printers would be available to businesses only on lease, directly or through channel partners.

We had earlier visited the technology behind the Edgeline printers: Any inkjet printer has two basic motions for its operation. The first movement involves pushing the paper through the printer and the second inculcates movement of the printhead across the page to cover the entire width. This dual movement slows down the printing process considerably. Getting rid of one of the movements on an inkjet printer will provide significantly faster prints. The printhead movement can be stalled by building a printerhead that is as big as the width of the paper. That way, the printhead doesn't have to move; only the paper does. This is the technology behind Edgeline technology.

Edgeline printers are known to print fast and there is a significant amount of cost saved as well. HP wants to latch on to these great features by charging businesses for every page they print. The fine print in agreement would vary from customer to customer, depending upon their needs.

HP has identified a few channel partners around the globe who have signed a contract to mediate between businesses and HP. It would be interesting to see if the big corporate would actually jump on the bandwagon of leasing printers for their bulky printing jobs.

Who would have thought that network printers could have been the source of network hacks? Well, Lexmark's regional product general manager feels that an insecure printer on a network is a gaping loophole on any secured network. He feared that hackers could gain access over the entire network through devices that print.

He also threw caution in the wind for companies to pro-actively fight security threats than to react after a hacker attack. He also claimed that Lexmark printers have been integrated with additional levels of security that should keep the network secure up to a certain extent.

According to Tran, Lexmark polled 71 delegates "” including senior IT decision makers "” who attended the Governmentware 2006 conference held in Singapore in November last year, and found out that 87 percent of the respondents rated document and print security as "important" to their organisations.

At a Black Hat security conference held in Las Vegas last year, a security expert warned that printers are a weak link in an organisation's network security.

A security expert from the United States has claimed that he was able to get access over an entire network by exploiting a weakness in the Xerox Docuprint printer. He got full access to the system and was able to map the internal network architecture.

It looks like the IT security teams across all organisations would be working their eyes off over the next few quarters to secure devices such as printers, scanners etc. Pro-active effort is the new mantra of modern security system.

via ZD Net

Internet is literally flooded with articles and blog posts based on the research conducted by researchers at Queensland University. It was concluded that laser printers emit tiny toxic particles that may be as dangerous as passive smoking. There are suggestions that they might have jumped the gun with a tiny sample of data. I had written on the statutory warning to be printed on laser printers before sale.

Independent experts have suggested that the Australian researchers might have jumped the gun with a tiny subset of data. It was opined that ultra-fine emissions may not be harmful. The argument says that laser printers generate tiny particles and the exact composition is yet to be ascertained.

Each particle, up to 1,000 times smaller than a dust particle, is small enough that it can get drawn deeply into the lung's tiny sacs, Hamers said, but what it does once it gets there depends on its chemical composition.

For example, cigarette smoke is dangerous not because it contains tiny particles but because those particles include cyanide and carbon monoxide.

It was stated in the Queensland report that a specific HP printer emitted tiny toxic particles in plenty. HP has reacted to this accusation by stating that all HP printers undergo rigorous emission testing and is trying to get in touch with the researchers to get more information on the process of testing.

Experts noted that the types of particles identified by the researchers can also be generated from simple activities such as burning a candle or making toast.

Charles J. Weschler, a chemistry professor at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, said if people are going to take precautions, they should worry about secondhand smoke or vehicle emissions, not printers.

via International Herald Tribune

Pretty soon in the future, printer companies have to start inserting a statutory warning on its laser printers stating that the use of laser printers could be injurious to health.

Scientists from Queensland University of Technology have researched and found out that laser printers at work cause as much damage as cigarettes. Certain printers emit ultra tiny toner particles into the air which can potentially cause respiratory infections to chronic illness.

Tests were carried out on 60 different machines. It was observed that the emission of particle levels increased five fold during office hours while it's being used. The emission increases whenever a new cartridge is being deployed and also when images and graphs are being printed.

The researchers have requested the government to step in and regulate the quality of air in offices. They have also asked firms to place printers in places that are well ventilated to increase particle dispersion.

via BBC

This may be news that the third party cartridge vendors may not like to hear. HP has successfully sued a German based InkTec GmbH Zentrale and PCE Group for patent infringement. These third party vendors were refilling HP cartridges with inks manufactured by them.

In October 2006, HP filed suit against InkTec GmbH Zentrale and the PCE Group in the District Court of Düsseldorf, Germany, after HP discovered that certain ink refill kits sold under the InkTec brand and distributed by InkTec and PCE Group contained infringing ink. HP asserted two patents relating to ink formulations and specifically accused InkTec refill kits used for refilling certain HP inkjet printer cartridges.

Both defaulting companies have pleaded guilty in the HP infringement suit and have agreed to pay HP an undisclosed sum to compensate for the losses. They have also made it clear that they wouldn't be selling the infringing inks in the countries where patent holds good.

via Press Release