“The soil” of Canon is extremely fertile this month. Believe it or not, but here come three more multifunctions from that manufacturer - Pixma MX300, MX310, and MX700. As you may gather it from the word ‘multifunction’, these devices perform functions of printing, copying, scanning, and faxing.

Apart from the functions mentioned above, Canon Pixma MX700 features networking, two-sided printing, and an auto document feeder. The device prints and copies 30 pages per minute (ppm) for black text and 19 ppm for color documents. The printer employs 4 separate color cartridges (pigment black, cyan, magenta, and yellow) that are capable of producing 2-picoliter-sized droplets at up to 4800 x 1200 dpi in color and 600 x 600 dpi in black.

The printer also features a 1.8-inch LCD screen to helps navigate the menu, and supports PictBridge connection as well as memory cards. The MX700’s scanner has a CIS sensor to achieve 2400 x 4800 dpi; copy zoom ranges from 25 to 400 percent. For easier copying, scanning, and faxing Canon Pixma MX700 employs a 30-page auto document feeder.

Canon Pixma MX310 has the same basic design of MX700. Both the MX310 and the MX300 use one black and one combined color ink cartridge to print 4800 x 1200 dpi in color and 600 x 600 dpi in black. Both MX310 and the MX300 can print as fast as up to 22 ppm black and 17 ppm color. The printers are compatible with a PictBridge connection for direct printing from cameras, but don’t support memory card slots.

All in all, this month Canon has released 12 inkjet printers – 6 all-in-ones, 2 compact photo printers and 4 “men of mould” – regular color inkjet printers. Frankly speaking, I can’t imagine there is necessity for that many devices, however, there is surely someone at Canon who can. Wilson Rotham of Gizmodo.com is confused, too; in his acticle “Canon Launches 12 Printers, Only Needed To Launch 4” he tells why 4 printers would be enough and calls to put an end to this “product spam.”

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In January, 2007 Zink Imaging announced it was developing a technology that would enable mobile printing with out a drop of ink. The core of the technology was paper with incorporated color crystals that would be activated by heat of printhead. The resulting device should be similar to Polaroid cameras, combining photo camera and printer in one unit. Actually, both Zink and its innovation are successors of Polaroid. Zink started as a project inside Polaroid, now it’s an independent company employing some of ex-Polaroid specialists.

After the January announcement, there has been no news from the company, except for the purchase of a factory previously run by Konica Minolta. Now Zink shed some light onto what kind of products it’s going to release.

First off, a combined digital camera and printer. It turns out, Zink is not the first company (except Polaroid, of course) to try to combine the function of these two devices in one. FujiFilm and Olympus each released one model in late 1999. The Zink’s gadget is said to have 7MP resolution with 3x optical zoom, 2-inch LCD display and SD card slot. Images can be printed right away on Zink borderless 2×3-inch paper. An internal, rechargeable battery powers the device.

Another product is a standalone printer. It also prints on 2×3 borderless paper and uses battery power. The printer is said to be compatible with all Pictbridge cameras and camera phones with wireless connectivity.

While conducting a market research, Zink priced digital camera-printer for $199 and pack of 10 photo paper sheets for $1.69, but actual retail prices likely to change. Zink plans to release the products late in this year, that is 2007.

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In one of my previous posts I wrote about the results of a study done by Australian researchers. According to the study, laser printers seem to be emitting into air presumably printer toner particles hazardous to health. And it turned out that majority (12 of 13) of tested printer happened to be made by HP.

Soon after the results of the study were published, HP responded with a letter posted on Wired.com blog. The blogger Charlie Sorrel believes this response is only to pacify the public, though the matter definitely requires further careful investigation, and advises to sit away from your printer (inkjet printer owners may feel relieved

Here is what HP’s vice president of marketing for supplies Tuan Tran said:

After a preliminary review of the Queensland University of Technology research on particle emission characteristics of office printers, HP does not agree with its conclusion or some of the bold claims the authors have made recently in press reports.

HP stands behind the safety of its products. Testing of ultrafine particles is a very new scientific discipline. There are no indications that ultrafine particle (UFP) emissions from laser printing systems are associated with special health risks. Currently, the nature and chemical composition of such particles – whether from a laser printer or from a toaster – cannot be accurately characterized by analytical technology. However, many experts believe that many of the UFPs found in common household and office products are not discrete solid particles, but may be condensation products or small droplets created during thermal processes.

HP agrees more testing in this area is needed, which is why we’ve been active with two of the world’s leading independent authorities on this subject: Air Quality Sciences in the United States and the Wilhelm-Klauditz Institute in Germany.

Vigorous tests are an integral part of HP’s research and development and its strict quality-control procedures. HP LaserJet printing systems, original HP print cartridges and papers are tested for dust release and possible material emissions and are compliant with all applicable international health and safety requirements. In addition to meeting or exceeding these guidelines, HP’s design criteria for its laser printing systems incorporate guidelines from both the Blue Angel program in Germany and the Greenguard program in the United States.

Based on our own testing, HP knows that many variables can affect the outcome of tests for ultrafine particle emissions. Although HP is not aware of all of the specific methodologies used in the Queensland study, based on what we’ve seen
in the report – as well as our own work in this area – we do not believe there is a link between printer emissions and any public health risk. Specifically, HP does not see an association between printer use by customers and negative health effects for volatile organic compounds, ozone or dust. While we recognize ultrafine, fine, and coarse particles are emitted from printing systems, these levels are consistently below recognized occupational exposure limits.

HP hopes to learn more from the study authors about how products were chosen for the study, how ranges were determined given no standards exist, and many other factors that could have influenced the results.

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Printer makers just can’t stop pleasing their customers with new releases. Epson USA introduced three new Hi-Definition printers. Epson Stylus Photo R280 is a single-function photo printer capable of printing on wide media (up to 8.5″ x 44″) and CDs and DVDs. It features very fast speed – up to 38 ppm in black and 37 ppm in color at maximum resolution of 5760 x 1440 dpi.

Epson’s Stylus Photo RX595 and Stylus Photo RX680 are multifunctional printers that can copy and scan. Both printers have a built-in 2.5” LCD preview screen and support direct print from memory cards and PictBridge-enabled cameras. Stylus Photo RX595 perform as fast as R280, while RX680 is faster – it prints 40 ppm in black and white (color printing rate is that same). The printers also support maximum resolution of 5760 x 1440 dpi.

Printing speed put aside, the new devices seem pretty ordinary, so where “Hi-Definition” come from? The trick is in use of Advanced MicroPiezo printhead that produce ink droplets as tiny as 1.5 picoliter. Yet the printers utilize 6 individual color cartridges filled with Claria Hi-Definition Ink, a proprietary in by Epson to print smudge, scratch, water and fade resistant photos. The manufacturer promises that pictures printed with Claria inks will last as long as 200 years.

From Canon’s side, there is a trio of new printers, too – Pixma MP520, MP610, and MP970. All three all-in-one printers feature PictBridge and memory card direct print, reduced warm-up time and improved Easy Scroll-Wheel interface; they also support. Easy Scroll-Wheel now not only gives information on specific functions, but also takes the user to the specific function selected. All three models feature Auto Image Fix, a tool to adjust image quality.

Canon Pixma MP970, being the top-of the-line model, has a large, 3.5-inch LCD screen, uses seven individual cartridges and features a CCD in its scanner. Printing rate is 30 ppm for black, 22 ppm for color documents at 9600-dpi maximum resolution using 1 picoliter droplets. MP970 is network-ready device with a film adapter for both slides and negatives.

Pixma MP610 support the same speed of 30 ppm for black, 22 ppm for color documents at 9600-dpi maximum resolution with 1 picoliter droplet size. However, it uses only five individual cartridges (without photo cyan and photo magenta). The printer has a smaller, 2.5-inch LCD screen, and a CIS sensor in its scanner.

Canon Pixma M520 is low-end model with only 2-inch LCD screen. It utilizes four color cartridges to print Black text at 30 ppm and color text at 19 ppm. Supported resolution is 4800 dpi with 2 picoliter droplets.

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What do you think your inkjet printer can create? Pages of black text? OK. Documents with color graphics? All right. Photos of you having fun in backyard? Absolutely! Anything else? You surely feel puzzled, however an inkjet printer can do a lot more. And there are people who know what this ‘more’ is.

A UK start-up, Polymertronics, develops a method that combines organic semiconductor fabrication technology with ultra-violet (UV) curing techniques. Simply put, this means there is a way to print electronics on a variety on media including vinyl, plastics, glass and metal. In particular, using this method one can create embedded light emitting diodes (OLEDS) and touch sensitive panels. The crucial thing about the technique is that it implies using existing printing equipment. This automatically creates a sales market for Polymertronics products and makes them (products) more cost effective.

Printed electronics sounds exiting, but hey, what do you think of printed bones?

Researchers at the Tissue Engineering Department at the University of Tokyo Hospital have already performed several implantations of artificial bones in male and female patients, ranging in age from 10 to 54. The artificial bones were simply printed using 3-D inkjet printers. Actually, here is what that “simply” means.

Artificial bone is created in several steps. First, a 3D computer model of the bone is created using the patient’s X-ray and computed tomography scan data. Then, the 3-D model is sliced into tons of layers, and the data is sent to special 3D inkjet printer. The printer work similarly to regular inkjet printer, but it does not produce simply one layer of ink droplets on paper. Instead, it creates multiple layers by applying water-based polymer adhesive onto special powder, which then hardens. Repeatedly printing layers on top of one another, printer creates a replica of desired bone or its part, see photo (taken from www.pinktentacle.com).

Artificial bones are strong, light and porous; when implanted into body, they easily integrate with surrounding bones and get replaced by them over time as the natural bones regenerate. The researchers expect this technology to be commercially available by 2010. However, the printed bones are not yet strong enough to substitute weight-bearing bones, so don’t burst into carelessly breaking your arms and legs

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We are back in town! Two weeks of complete isolation from computer world have left me feeling hungry for news. Let’s see what has been going on in printing industry.

Canon announced two new models: imageCLASS MF4270 and PIXMA mini320. Canon imageCLASS MF4270 is a network-ready multifunction laser printer with a built-in duplex unit, designed for small and home offices. Apart from regular printing, the duplex print applies to incoming faxes and copying documents.

Canon imageCLASS MF4270 can print and copy at speed of up to 21 pages-per-minute (ppm) at up to 1200 x 600 dpi resolution. Fax unit feature 8 one-touch speed dial numbers, 100 coded speed dial numbers and 256-page memory capacity. The printer uses Canon Single Cartridge System, which means toner and drum are combined together in one unit.

Canon PIXMA mini320 is another compact photo printer “to bring to life those images captured at important moments”. According to Canon, this is the first compact photo printer in the brand’s model range to print images up to 5×7 inches. PIXMA mini320 feature 2.5” color LCD screen with wide viewing angles, and the Easy-Scroll Wheel interface. The printer uses Canon’s ChromaLife100 system that provides 100-year-lifespan of pictures printed with genuine inks.

Hewlett Packard respondes with introduction on a new multifunction inkjet printer. HP Photosmart C5283 All-in-One combines printer, scanner and copier in one unit, so it can scan, copy and print black-and-white and color images. Bundled HP software allows printing web pages without cut-off edges. Photosmart C5283 support print directly onto CDs/DVDs, and from most common flash cards. The printer is fueled with 6 color HP Vivera Inks in separate cartridges.

HP keeps on exploiting the idea of the Web being a storage for documents for printing. Now is the time for mobile phones to come into play. Having been developing for several months, one of HP laboratories gave birth to a new service named Cloudprint. This software makes it possible to share, store and print documents using a mobile phone.

Here is how it works. Users first “print” their documents to a HP server connected to the Internet. The system assigns them a code, and transmits that code via SMS back to user. Later, using the SMS, it is possible to retrieve the documents by entering the user’s phone number and the code on the Cloudprint Web site. The documents can then be retrieved in PDF format, ready to be printed at a nearby printer. The service will include a directory service that will show the location of publicly available printers on Google Maps.

Next is Epson reporting. The Japanese company launched three new printers ranging in features and prices. The first one is Epson CX9400Fax, a multifunctional printer that also copies, scans and faxes. The device features built-in 33.6 Kbps fax modem and 30-page document feeder. The Epson CX8400 can print borderless 4×6 images in 26 seconds and monochrome documents at the speed of 32 ppm. The basic model, CX7400, produces black text pages at 28 ppm and 4×6 borderless color prints in 27 seconds.

And now Epson presents something really interesting – world’s fastest laser-quality printer! Epson C120 is the fastest laser-quality document ink jet printer around. It can print as fast as 37 ppm for black and 20 ppm for color, obviously, in fastest (draft) mode. Epson claims that this performance makes the C120 leader among ink jet printers under $160 in terms of black and white printing, while offering about twice the speed of printers in the sub-$100 segment.

Priced for only $90, Epson C120 may seem a cheap purchase. However, beware of ink costs. Black ink cartridges for the C120 are currently selling for about $20, while a color cartridge is about $38. Black and color cartridges are rated to print 250 and 350 pages accordingly, and you can count on spending at least $200 on ink for every 1000 pages. These are the cost comparable to owning an economical color laser printer, so think it over before buying the printer.

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We are not afraid of “laser” in laser printers, because it is highly unlikely one would get burnt with it. Yet, laser printer is the device that may be a source of “phantom menace”.

A group of Australian scientists revealed that office laser printers could be causing as much danger to the lung as cigarettes do. It is all a matter of ultra-fine particles contained in printer toner. Lidia Morawska, a professor from Queensland University of Technology and one of the study heads, comments on the discovery:

Ultra-fine particles are of most concern because they can penetrate deep into the lungs where they can pose a significant health threat. These particles are tiny like cigarette smoke particles and, when deep inside the lung, they do the same amount of damage. The health effects from inhaling ultra-fine particles depend on particle composition, but the results can range from respiratory irritation to more severe illness such as cardiovascular problems or cancer.

The study was conducted in a typical six-story office building and showed that level of particulates in the office was lower than outdoors during off hours. However, during business hours level of particulates rapidly rose up to 500%. Sitting in an office like this is like being outdoors by a busy road.Further investigation narrowed possible sources of excessive particulates emission to laser printers. Having figured out the source of menace, the scientists monitored 62 laser printers including, for most part, HPs with a small number of Canon, Ricoh, and Toshiba printer. The monitoring produced these results: 37 laser printers didn’t emit a thing, 17 printers had high level of emission, while the rest of printers stuck in between the two groups. Yet, no clear pattern was found of how emission level relates with different machine makes, models, etc.

However, it was determined that larger amount of pages printed, as well as density of text and graphics on the page, increases the particulates emission level, since more toner is used. The age of the laser toner cartridge affects both amount of hazardous particles produced and their average size. The older toner cartridge is, the fewer particles it emits. This makes it sensible to use remanufactured toner cartridges for your laser printer and to ventilate your office well during business hours.

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