BPC -- bottles per cartridge

Printers are getting better and becoming more User Friendly.
Next... our customers are going to begin asking... How many bottles per cartridge will I get?

Earth Day 2014

Have a wonderful and safe Holy Holiday

Mini Mobile Robotic Portable Printer Launches on Kickstarter

Israeli company ZUtA Labs has launched the world’s first robotic printer, the Mini Mobile Robotic Printer, on Kickstarter. The Mini Mobile Robotic Printer, which can be had for a pledge of $180 plus delivery, is essentially a battery-powered black-and-white portable inkjet print head set on wheels – there’s no paper input or output trays, or paper-feeding mechanism – that runs left and right across a piece of paper to print. The printer is based on an omni-wheel system that allows it to accurately turn and drive in any direction.

It measures just 4″ high and 4.5″ in diameter, and weighs about 0.6 lbs. It can print on any size media at up to 1.2 ppm (or about 40 seconds for an A4-size page), uses one black ink cartridge, and features wireless connectivity, and Bluetooth and Bluetooth BPP interfaces. It supports Android, iOS, iOX, Linux, and Microsoft Windows operating systems, and there are apps for printing from iOS and Android smartphones and tablets. The printer uses a Lithium battery that can run for up to an hour, and the printer is charged via a USB port. The black ink cartridge is good for about 1,000 pages; ZUtA is planning a model with color inkjet printing for the future.

Using the Mini Mobile Robotic Printer, the user places it on the top left corner of the page (selecting the paper size when they send their print job). What happens when printing several pages? The printer will stop will stop when it gets to the bottom of the first page, and will wait for the user to place it at the top of the next page. Once the printer is placed on the next page, the user taps on the app, and it will continue to print.

Source: Wirth Consulting

The Gap Between Inkjet and Laser Printers for Business is Narrowing

PC Pro reported that a survey it conducted on 502 of its readers has indicated that inkjet printers could become more popular with businesses after respondents were able to pinpoint the advantages of using inkjet devices over laser printers.

71.50% of respondents, which included IT professionals, IT technicians and senior managers, "identified that an Epson WorkForce Pro inkjet gives lower costs per A4 mono page than an HP LaserJet"; while 68.30%, when shown a mono text sample from both a laser and an inkjet printer, "judged that the bolder print-out came from an inkjet rather than a laser".

In addition, 206 of the 502 respondents chose incorrectly when asked to guess whether two photos had been printed from a printer aimed at businesses or a consumer inkjet printer.

While Tim Danton, Editor-in-Chief of PC Pro, admitted that those undertaking the survey had had access to whitepapers on the difference between modern lasers and inkjets and on how a Burger King franchise had switched to using Epson WorkForce Pro printers; he noted that "what's clear is that people are starting to judge printers on what they can do for their business rather than resorting to the old 'laser good, inkjet bad' attitude".

Source: The Recycler

Hackers Steal Printer Cartridges from FBI and Other US Agencies

The Washington Free Beacon reported that printer cartridges worth $1.5 million were stolen from FBI, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and General Services Administration (GSA) through the placing of false contract orders; with law enforcement officials reportedly stating that such cases are "increasing".

GSA alerted vendors that the crime had been committed against itself, the FBI and EPA since July 2012, with a series of fraudulent orders placed online to GSA vendors from hackers posing as federal contracting officials. The orders were for HP toner cartridges, and were placed by individuals using official employee credentials but fake email addresses and telephone numbers as well as stolen credit cards.

Some of the orders totaled as much as $20,000 worth of printer cartridges, with Scott Orbach, President of EZGSA – a company that facilitates GSA contracts – commenting that officials should beware of "unusually large quantities or high-value orders" as well as shipments to "unusual addresses".

Source: The Recycler

Printer Supplies in Top 10 Most Counterfeited Products in US

Computers and accessories were the seventh most counterfeited products last year, 3% of all seized goods in the USA.

FreeP reported on the growing costs of counterfeiting to the US and global economies, with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) noting that counterfeited products cost the global economy around $250 billion a year.

The US Customs and Border Protection Agency (USCBP) reported that the value of counterfeit goods seized has actually increased by 38.10% from 2012 to $1.7 billion, with only a "fraction" of all counterfeit products successfully seized. The computers and accessories product category was said to have seen a cumulative seizure value of $47.7 million, with over 1,000 shipments seized last year, a 37.50% higher amount than in 2012.

The top nine product groups that suffer from counterfeiting in the United States meanwhile saw computers and accessories (which includes both printers and printer cartridges) in seventh place, with a 3% share of all counterfeit products seized in the USA in 2013. In ninth place came optical media with 2% of products seized; labels and tags came eighth with 2%; footwear sixth with 3%; and pharmaceuticals and personal care product fifth with 5%.

The top four starts with clothes and accessories with 7%; third was consumer electronics and parts with 8%; second was watches and jewellery with 29% ; and first was handbags and wallets with 40%. The CBP stated that China's role in manufacturing, added to its "intellectual property rights framework", may contribute "to the country's high level of counterfeiting, with $1.2 billion of the $1.7 billion seized in the USA originating in China.

However, it added that "the process and methods of detecting these counterfeiting operations is constantly evolving", with an increased number of seizures last year "explained in part by new collaborative efforts between CBP and various partners" such as China Customs, with the CBP noting that the success has "resulted in a measurable increase in the number and value of seizures and the ability to target and intercept shipments of knock-off products".

Source: The Recycler

Happy April Fool's Day

- I've just printed it!
- hmm... April Fools?!?!
- No seriously, I DID print it !!!!