Gathered from Print4Pay Hotel Members from around the world and a few moles in very good places!Apple Computer is reportedly working on a product to compete with net book computers. The rumored new Apple Tablet, would possibly offer:
- price tag of $599
- resemble larger version of Apple iPod Touch
- surf the Web
- play movies
- Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray, predicts Apple could sell 2 million of the new product
In the new Microsoft operating system, Windows 7, is placed a fully licensed copy of XP operating system running in a virtual machine, allowing any program that absolutely has to run in XP, to do so at near native speed.
Former Microsoft executive, Michelle Hodges, has joined document management software company ReadSoft, as its Director of Channel Sales.
Fedex Office (fka Kinko’s), the print for pay chain, announced its last quarter revenues were down 12%. It also launched a web-to-print solution, allowing end users to place their print orders on-line, called the Fedex Office Design & Print Center.
Pantone, a division of X-Rite Corp, announced a new application for the Apple iPhone. Called, myPANTONE, end users can take a picture using the iPhone, and the software will match it up with the closest Pantone color. The company also confirmed that former Ricoh executive, Ron Potesky, is now Pantone’s Senior Vice President & General Manager. Prior to Ricoh, Ron worked 7 years for Canon.
Treeno Software, maker of enterprise content management (ECM) software, announced a new module that allows it to integrate with Salesforce.com, a customer relationship management system.
Dell Computer fights back against Hewlett Packard. Not to be outdone by arch rival HP buying Electronic Data Systems (EDS, founded by Ross Perot), Dell spent $3.9 billion to buy Perot Systems, which also was founded by Ross Perot. This will allow Dell to gain ground in the services businesses, including managed print services.
Kodak announced that is Creo IC-304 Plus print server has been approved and licensed by Pantone Corp. for use with Konica Minolta bizhub PRO C65hc production color system.
Kodak completed its acquisition of Bowe Bell & Howell (BBH) scanners:
- 50 employees were retained
- BBH had just released new scanners that use LED lighting
- One of BBH’s largest customers is Fedex, which has 2,000 of its scanners
- Kodak now has a product range from 20ppm to 400ppm
- MSRPs range from $495 to $99,995
Kodak announced it will offer software from MMR Information Systems Inc. as a bundling option with its scanner. MMR’s MyMedicalRecords software allows doctors to manage their electronic patient records.
Riso announced a new option for its high speed color inkjet printers. Details:
- Riso AR9100 option handles from 4”x6” to 10”x13” envelopes
- Handles card stocks up to 8.5” x 5.5”, and up to 110lb. index in weight
- Since there is no heated fuser section, it can handle window envelopes,
as the wax paper windows will not melt
- Base MSRP of $6295.00
- Works with the Olympus made Riso HC5500 and ComColor series
According to research firm, Qoucirca, only 20% of enterprises are using some type of managed print services.
A leading healthcare industry supply contracting company awarded a 3 year managed print services contract to WorkflowOne of Dayton, Ohio. Novation has more than 2500 members, including VHA, Inc., University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) and connected to the 14,000 members of Provista, LLC. The contract is expected to produce $1.5 billion over the course of the contract. The contract also includes forms, labels and marketing collateral.
Former Hewlett Packard executive claims his former employer spied on him. Karl Kamb Jr., formerly HP VP of Business Development & Strategy, claims that HP hired private investigators to impersonate him in order to obtain confidential home & cell phone records. He also claims that when he was at HP, the company ordered him to uncover details of rival Dell Computer printer products.
HP announced it won a 7 year managed print services contract from S.A. Vale, a large mining company with headquarters in Brazil.
HP’s CFO, Cathie Lesjak, told financial analysts that she expects the company to grow 3-5% in 2010, but printer and MFP sales only up 2%.
An interview with Hewlett Packard executive Tom Codd, Director of Enterprise Marketing, revealed more info on its new Canon relationship:
- “As the alliance with Canon evolves, HP will assess the possible extension into the channel space. This could include, but not be limited to, some select OPS partners that will be designated as agents”
- “Canon will provide servicing and support for their full range of MFDs. HP will remain the initial point of contact for the customer in support, break/fix and supplies replenishment situations”
- “Canon service personnel will be dispatched for the actual support work”
- “HP continues to sell the CM8060 and CM8050 MFPs with Edgeline Technology”
A major chain of print for pay franchises gives Konica Minolta a coveted award. Allegra Network (Allegra Print & Imaging, American Speedy Printing, Insty-Prints, Zippy Print, Speedy Printing, etc.) gave out its “Supplier of the Year” award to KMBS. Tim Wood, VP of Technology for Allegra said KMBS won the award because:
- “Receiving this award shows a dedication not only from the corporate staff at Konica Minolta but more importantly the technicians in the field”
- “Konica Minolta has put together a very strong program for our system and it is good to see this hard work is being recognized”
A man who invented way to make an inkjet printer assemble living human cells into skin, is awarded $900,000 in a court case. Researcher, Robert Kiebe, won a trial that forces his current employer, University of Texas Health Science Center, after a jury found that UTHSC caused him mental anguish after it tried to push him out of the University and profit from his invention.
According to Paystream Advisors:
- only 45% of Fortune 1000 companies have invested in document imaging systems for invoices.
- 44% don’t use OCR for invoices at all.
- Only 16% use OCR for more than 40% of their invoices
The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) announced new reporting rules that may impact the industry:
- FASB changed its requirements concerning companies that report the revenue of hybrid products, or “vertically integrated stack of hardware, software and service to customers” over
the life span of the product.
- Under previous rules, companies had to amortize hardware, software and services over eight quarters or a two-year period, which meant recognizing only 1/8 at a time (12.5%).
- Under new rules, hardware can be recognized immediately while software and service still amortized over life of product.
- Most firms will have to wait until fiscal years that start after 6/15/2010 to use the revisions.
According the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the high-tech industry shed 115,000 jobs between January and June of this year. From June of 2008, through June 2009, the total loss is 224,100 jobs.
Lenovo Group, which purchased IBM’s PC unit in 2005, announced a $16 million quarterly loss due to slow economy.
Okidata announced it is partnering with Dalian University of Technology in China to establish a joint research center on future print technology. One of the projects it will work on is an automatic printer connect to WiFi.
Kofax, maker of scanning/document management software, announced it has purchased ISV 170 Systems of Boston, MA., which develops workflow software for invoice processing. Purchase price was $32.9 million, and the acquired company had 150 customers (i.e. ADT, Con Agra Foods, etc.), primarily those using Oracle or SAP.
Kofax also announced a promo where it bundles its entry level “Kofax Express” software with selected Fujitsu scanners.
Panasonic stated it will suffer a loss of $574 million for its fiscal first quarter due to drop in demand.
According to PrintAudit, the following is to be considered when selling managed print services:
- 42% of global wood harvest is dedicated to paper production
- 5.4 million tons of paper are consumed annually by U.S. companies
- Up to $1000 per year is spent per employee for printing/copying
- 10,000 pages per year on average is printed by employees
- It would cost $150,000 to fill your car’s gas tank with inkjet ink
-=Good Selling=-
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