Canon extends the “Your Print” programm that allows customers a chance to try the printing quality of Canon’s Pixma printers.

“You can test any one of Canon’s PIXMA range of home and office inkjet Printers and All-In-Ones with your own image and see the great results for yourself. Upload your image, select the PIXMA of your choice and wait for the superior quality results of a Canon inkjet to be delivered to your door,” reads the Canon Your Print microsite.

How to take advantage of Your Print scheme:

* Visit to the Your Print website and upload your own print (or selected from menu)
* Choose the printer you would like to trial (you can choose from the following PIXMA printers: MP990, iX4000, MP640, MP550, MP560, iP3600, iP4700, MX860, MP490, MP250, MP270, iP1900, iP2600, MX320, MX330)
* Receive a free print sample in the post.

On receipt of the print sample & promotional envelop, you will also receive a recommended list of etailers/retailers. Following the purchase of a PIXMA, customers are invited to tell Canon about their experience, in return for a free pack of photo paper.

The system is, however, quite limited in the pictures it accepts. Only files of between 200KB and 1MB are accepted – meaning that photos taken on even compact cameras will need to be downsized. JPEG is the only file type accepted and a minimum resolution of 512 x 768 is required.

Canon says with this size they are are able to offer a very good image which consumers are happy with. The company has prolonged the program until the end of May as a high levels of interest wa received.

If this scheme has made you a happy owner of a Canon printer, know that you can always find cartridges for Pixma inkjet printers at TonerCartridgeDepot.com

OKI Data Corporation, which markets its products under the OKI Printing Solutions brand, today announced it has received “Information Processing Technology Heritage” certification from the Information Processing Society of Japan (IPSJ) for its 2400B-type line printer. This follows on from “OKITYPER®-2000″ receiving an “Information Processing Technology Heritage” certification last year.

The Information Processing Technology Heritage program is hosted by IPSJ to certify historical products and achievements that have formed the foundation of Japan’s information processing technology together with information processing technologies and systems that have made a significant contribution to Japan’s economy and society. Through the certification program, IPSJ aims to make valuable heritage technology widely known, to put it to use as research and education material and to preserve the heritage of information processing technology in Japan. The certification program started last year.

“We are delighted that our 2400B-type line printer has received Information Processing Technology Heritage certification for the second consecutive year,” said Hitoshi Sekine, Managing Director and Chief Technology Officer at OKI Data Corporation. “The product forms the basis of our current product lines. Based on our long experience and extensive achievements, we will continue to design and provide products that contribute to the development of the information society.”

The 2400B-type line printer was developed in 1966 and has been widely used as a data transfer terminal and an output device for minicomputers by computer manufacturers and financial institutions across Japan. It was designed to ensure that characters would be visible immediately after they were printed and that printed sheets could be cut off after a few lines, enhancing usability and contributing greatly to office automation. Efforts have been made over time to make this system smaller, lighter, lower cost, and easier to operate – a valuable example of OKI’s commitment to Monozukuri (the Japanese approach to manufacturing).

Canon Inc. and Canon Marketing Japan, Inc. will be celebrating 20 years of practicing the recycling of toner cartridges this year.

According to the feature, the Canon Toner Cartridge Recycling Program was launched in 1990, then the first of its kind. Eight years earlier, in 1982, Canon came out with the first personal copiers that made use of replaceable all-in-one toner cartridges. In line with the company’s thrust towards “living and working for the common good,” as well as having gained awareness regarding environmental issues such as the reduction of waste and the effective use of resources, the Toner Cartridge Recycling Program was introduced.

In the twenty years since its inception, the Canon Toner Cartridge Recycling Program has expanded its reach, collecting empty cartridges in 23 countries worldwide. As of June 2009 Canon has reportedly gathered about 220,000 metric tons of used toner cartridges – tons saved from ending up in landfills!

The Canon Toner Cartridge Recycling Program is described as “a zero-landfill program in which every component of the used cartridges that the company collects is reused, recycled or recovered”. Canon manufactures its cartridges such that closed-loop recycling is possible; the product is designed with the concept of recycling in mind. Hence, reusing the components is facilitated and plastic components may be recycled to make new products with “equivalent levels of quality.”

Below are key milestones that constitute 20 years of cartridge recycling by Canon:

1990 * Start of toner cartridge return program (Japan, U.S.A., Germany)
1991 * Start of recycling at Canon Dalian Business Machines (China)
1992 * Canon wins Grand Prize at 1st Global Environmental Awards (Japan)
* Start of closed-loop recycling for plastic
1994 * No. of countries where toner cartridges collected increases to 21
1997 * Start of recycling at Canon Virginia (U.S.A.) and Canon Bretagne (France)
2001 * Start of Web-based cartridge return application procedures
2002 * Start of recycling at Canon Ecology Industry (Japan)
2003 * Collection volume of toner cartridges reaches 100,000 metric tons
* Zero-landfill recycling system realized through four global recycling bases
2005 * Start of Bellmark return program (Japan)
2006 * Canon wins 3R Award from Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry (Japan)
2007 * Canon wins 4th Eco-Products Awards Chairperson’s Award (Japan)
2008 * Collection volume of toner cartridges reaches 200,000 metric tons
* Canon wins FujiSankei Group Award at Global Environmental Awards (Japan)
2010 * 20th anniversary of Canon Toner Cartridge Recycling Program

Canon has just launched four new inkjet printers; the multifunction Pixma MX870, Pixma MX350 and Pixma MX340 and the single function Pixma iP2702. The new printers went on sale in February in the USA and are aimed at the home, home office and small business market.

The top of the range MX870 is an all-in-one device with print, fax, copy, scan and wireless connectivity as standard. Print resolution is up to 9600 x 2400dpi and Canon’s new software, Auto Photo Fix II, makes it even easier for amateur photographers to print quality photos. The built-in software automatically categorizes the images, then optimizes each one for brightness and colour balance to ensure accurate skin tones and optimal exposure. Also included are Easy Photo Print and Easy Web Print which, like Auto Photo Fix II, are standard across the range. Dual Color Gamut Technology optimizes original hard copies so that copies stay true and Auto Scan Mode automatically recognizes an original scanned document and saves the appropriate settings. Again, these are both included on all three models.

The MX870 can print a borderless 6in x 4in photo in as little as 39 seconds, compared to 43 seconds for the MX340 and MX350, both of which have a maximum print resolution of 4800 x 1200dpi. Automatic duplex printing and a duplex automatic document feeder feature on the MX870 and MX350 but, at roughly half the cost of the range-topping model, if you want the MX340 to print on both sides, you’ll need to turn the paper over yourself.

The Pixma iP2702 is a cheap and cheerful entry level inkjet printer which nevertheless features the Easy Photo Print, Easy Web Print and Auto Photo Fix II software and also looks pretty stylish. As you’d probably expect, all four printers will support Windows 7 and Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard.