New App Transforms Your iPad into A Scanner, Copier and Fax Machine

With things becoming increasingly more digital these days, the need for things like printers, scanners and copiers is decreasing. However, there are still those times when you absolutely need to use one or more of these devices. The problem is that these things are expensive and not many people want to fork over the money if they are only going to use the device a handful of times a year. Fortunately, there is a new app out for the iPad that is drastically cheaper than buying one of these devices and gives you the same benefits.

The Scanner Pro app, which sells for $6.99, uses your iPad or iPhone camera to take a high-res picture of documents and other things. Naturally, the larger screen of the iPad makes things easier but if all you have is an iPhone then you can use that too. Once you take a picture of the document you can send it to the cloud via Evernote, DropBox, Google Docs, etc... to store it. Your scanned document can then be printed at any printer that supports Air Print, turning your iPad or iPhone into an inexpensive portable printer/copier.

In addition to that, documents can be sent directly to any computer via local WiFi network, which makes getting PDFs into a computer faster and simpler. Scanned documents can also be faxed over the web for $0.99, which is just like making an in-app purchase. You can manually enter the fax recipient or you can pick one from a list of contacts and the fax is then sent in a few seconds once the payment transaction goes through.

When you take a picture of a document with the app, which also supports multiple pages, the app automatically determines the document borders before saving. Each page is clearly marked on the document and can be easily moved by touch, which is an important feature, as it provides you with a nice way to limit a copy/fax to only some of the scanned pages if need be.

The app itself can save pages as JPEG images or PDF documents and it is also possible to open the scanned image in an appropriate app for handling the selected document type from directly within Scanner Pro. This allows you to further tweak the pages and documents whenever you need to. If you occasionally need to scan, copy or fax something and you don't really feel the need to have an actual copier around gathering dust, the Scanner Pro app is definitely something you should check out. For $6.99 you really can't go wrong.

Source: ZDNet - Turn your iPad into a scanner, copier, and fax with Scanner Pro

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Kofax Sets Up Complete Capture Solution for U.S. Military

Kofax plc has just announced that a branch of the United States Military has selected the company for its capture solutions, setting up a contract worth more than $300,000. The military branch will implement Kofax Capture, Kofax Transformation Modules, Kofax VRS Elite and Kofax Monitor to automate the capture and processing of 1,000,000 personnel health forms, medical lab reports, EKG results and other medical documents that it receives every year. Kofax's solution will allow the branch to route the resulting images and data to a Microsoft SharePoint app, allowing for easy access by employees.

According to Executive Vice President of Field Operations for Kofax Alan Kerr, "Kofax solutions enable government organizations to leverage the secure, automated, capture enabled processing of documents to reduce costs and paper, improve service and become more efficient."

Kofax Capture provides scan-to-archive capabilities by scanning documents and forms in order to create digital images, extracting index data for retrieval purposes and delivering those images and associated data to a plethora of different repositories and applications. By doing things this way, customers of Kofax can greatly reduce the cost of retrieval while also improving upon regulatory and compliance efforts. Kofax Capture is also very flexible and scalable, allowing customers to determine where and how images are captured and indexed.

Kofax VirtualReScan Elite, or VRS, is the patented image enhancement and perfection software used by the company. This software reduces the time it takes for manual document preparation while also enhancing the quality of scanned images. This drastically improves manual scanning productivity as well as the efficiency of document capture processes. High quality images are vital because they can greatly impact the success of downstream data extraction and retrieval needs.

The Kofax Transformation Modules add things like classification, page separation, data extraction and validation capabilities to the Kofax Capture. All of this is incorporated to run diverse capture-to-process applications. Kofax Transformation Modules are able to significantly reduce labor costs, improve information quality and accelerate business processes by automating tasks that are usually labor intensive, error prone and time consuming.

The last piece of the contract includes Kofax Monitor, which provides real time monitoring and performance capabilities. This ensures the operational health of Kofax Capture and advanced recognition and communication systems. In addition to that, it monitors the systems' components, which includes scanners supporting Kofax VRS and its business service viability. This provides real time access to operational information, which also allows for immediate corrective action to be taken.

The name of the exact branch of the United States Military that is incorporating this system from Kofax plc has yet to be released, though whichever branch it is, they sure are getting quite the setup from Kofax. However, Kofax isn't exactly lacking in the deal either; $300,000 for a single contract sounds pretty good to me.

Source: Office Product News - Branch of U.S. Military Selects Kofax For Its Capture Solution

New HP Printer Manufacturing Plant to Go Up in China

HP recently signed an agreement to start up a new printer manufacturing facility in Chongqing, China, which is expected to produce 60 million inkjet and laser printers every year after completion.

CEO for HP Meg Whitman was present during the signing ceremony and met with Chinese officials according to Chongqing's economic and information technology commission. Foxconn, the notable Taiwanese electronics manufacturer behind some of the biggest pieces of tech in the industry including Apple's iPad, is set to build the manufacturing facilities that HP is investing a currently unreleased amount in.

This new facility is expected to take two to three years to complete and will be completed in three stages. It is expected that, by 2015, the facility will produce 40 million inkjet printers every year, as well as 20 million laser printers and 150 million ink cartridges. The value of these products is also projected to produce $25 billion annually according to the commission.

HP, which ranks as the leading PC vendor in the world, already has facilities in Chongqing, which include a desktop and notebook manufacturing plant. HP announced last year that it would be expanding its manufacturing base in Shanghai while also building a regional China headquarters in the city as well. In addition to that, HP is looking to improve its enterprise business in China by investing more in delivering cloud computing products.

Other PC vendors, like Acer and Asus, also have manufacturing and operations facilities in Chongqing as well. Chongqing is also striving to become a major hub for technology in China. However, the city has recently become linked to a political scandal involving the city's former party secretary Bo Xilai, who has since been removed from his position. Zhang Dejiang, who replaced Bo Xilai, met with Whitman on Tuesday and welcomed HP's investment in Chongqing, noting that the new manufacturing operation was helping to develop China's western region.

Source: PC World - HP to Build New Printer Manufacturing Facility in China

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Toshiba Tec Develops Erasable Ink Copier

Going green has been the song and dance of many a company over the past several years. With growing concerns about the environment and the planet, activists and celebrities have been relentlessly trying to get the world to cut down on pollution and wastefulness. Thankfully, many companies have adhered to this new way of thinking, challenging themselves to build better, more eco-friendly and efficient products.

One of the big things that can help with this is cutting down on paper usage. A lot of companies are reducing their physical paper usage, opting for digital documents instead. However, there are still times where physical paper is a necessity. That is why Toshiba Tec has designed a printer that makes use of a specially designed erasable toner. This special toner can be easily erased from the paper, allowing you to reuse the same paper over and over again in the same printer. The best part is that you don't need a special kind of paper either, traditional copier paper works just fine.

Basically, the special toner used by Toshiba Tec is of a specific design that loses its color when heat is applied. All you have to do is take your already printed paper and feed it into the copier. The copier will then heat up the paper to erase the ink, giving you a blank sheet of paper to reuse. Even though the ink is gone, however, the imprint of the printing process is still there, meaning you should avoid sticking anything sensitive or private into the copier.

You should know that only papers printed from this device will be able to be erased by this device. That means you can't reuse those annoying fliers you find on your windshield after coming out of the mall. You will also need to remember not to leave your documents in hot environments either because, obviously, heat makes the ink disappear. You can check out a video of the copier in action below, but tell us what you think. Is this something you would be interested in?



Source: Ubergizmo - Toshiba Tech copier system uses erasable ink
The Gadgeteer - Concept: Toshiba's Erasable Toner Copier

Short-throw projectors only require half the projection distance of traditional projectors. The projector can be placed just a foot or so from the screen. This is nice because it keeps the projector and screen near each other instead of having a long throw projector that people can accidentally block.

Xerox Debuts New Series of Light Production Devices

Xerox has just unveiled its newest series of light production devices known as the Xerox D95/D110/D125 Copier/Printer and D110/D125 Printer. What's more is that Xerox is also touting these things as excellent office products capable of delivering sharp black and white image quality with both speed and efficiency.

All of these devices were built to handle very print-intensive environments and make it easy for people, like educators, to create curriculum materials, student directories, course packets and bound materials. In addition to that, productivity can be increased with archiving and stamping software, which also allows legal, insurance and healthcare customers to store documents electronically while guaranteeing authenticity with numerical markings.

Commercial, fast and franchise printers can meet tight turnaround times in the print-for-pay market and can also offer more applications and services, like newsletters, on-demand book publishing and customized dialogues. These new copier and printer models from Xerox are available in a variety of speeds, including 95, 110 and 125 pages per minute with the D110/D125 printers available in speeds of 110 and 125 ppm, perfect for the transactional print environment.

According to Group Director at InfoTrends Jim Hamilton, "The faster scanner and the simplified graphical user interface should make these new products popular in light production environments where ease of use and affordable productivity are key."

The Xerox D95/D110/D125 Copier/Printer and D110/D125 Printer are available now with list pricings ranging from $53,400 to $86,350.

Source: What They Think? - Xerox Launches Fast, Efficient Light Production Series

Short-throw projectors only require half the projection distance of traditional projectors. The projector can be placed just a foot or so from the screen. This is nice because it keeps the projector and screen near each other instead of having a long throw projector that people can accidentally block.

Canon Debuts New Technologies for the Healthcare Industry

Canon U.S.A Incorporated has a long history of providing copier and printer solutions for electronic medical and healthcare records needs. Well, Canon has just confirmed that it will be showcasing some new state-of-the-art products at the 2012 Healthcare Information Management Systems Society Conference (HIMSS), taking place at the Venetian Sands Expo Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

These new products, according to Canon, are specifically geared towards separate constituents within a healthcare office and the company's booth will display examples of how Canon's imageFORMULA document scanners and imageCLASS laser devices can address the unique needs of the different healthcare environments, such as billing, admissions, nurses' stations, back offices, physicians' offices and IT desks.

Attendees to the conference will also have the opportunity to experience a hands-on demonstration of the latest Canon interoperability and workflow solutions. Canon also plans on exhibiting successful interoperability with electronic health record applications at the Nuance booth, as well as in the HIMSS Interoperability Showcase, by sending scanned documents with an HL7 CDA from imageRUNNER Advance multifunction products using the embedded Nuance eCopy ShareScan v5 software.

According to a statement from Vice President and General Manager of Marketing and Business Imaging Solutions Group for Canon U.S.A Sam Yoshida, "Canon is dedicated to providing efficient imaging technology that plays a key role across all departments within a healthcare organization. As a leader in digital imaging, Canon is uniquely positioned to offer a diverse portfolio of solutions to streamline separate healthcare workflows, which will inevitably generate cost savings and, most importantly, improve patient care."

Source: Market Watch - Canon U.S.A. Showcases Advanced Imaging Solutions for Healthcare Workflow and Interoperability at HIMSS12

DVD Video Projectors are exactly what they sound like, a combination unit that combines a DVD media player with a video projector, cutting out the need for multiple pieces of electronics and wiring.

Brand Keys Awards Kinoca Minolta MFP Office Copier of the Year

Konica Minolta U.S.A. has just announced that it was recently awarded first place in the 2012 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index in the category of "MFP Office Copier". This marks the fifth consecutive year the company has won this award. Every year, Brand Keys publishes its Customer Loyalty Engagement Index, which surveys 49,000 Americans in order to determine how brands rank in customer loyalty. This year's index examined customers' relationships with 600 brands in a total of 83 categories.

Brand Keys' 2012 research accurately shows the category drivers that engage customers, engender loyalty and drive profits. The company's methodology, which considered a plethora of competitors, surveyed customers and asked them to characterize their perfect product in the MFP Office Copier category. This set the standard for excellence and identified Konica Minolta as a leading brand for customer loyalty in this category when measured against the "ideal" office copier.

According to a statement by Senior Vice President, Marketing, Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A. Kevin Kern, "Being recognized by Brandy Keys for the fifth straight year is a great accomplishment and one that we value highly given the results are based on customer feedback. We strive to ensure that customers can always count on Konica Minolta for the innovative, advanced document management solutions they need, and earning this top ranking again confirms our commitment to this goal. Our award-winning product, solution and service lines consistently prove to be among the most distinguished in our industry and we look forward to continuing this success in 2012."

Robert Passikoff, Founder and President of Brand Keys, added, "Customer expectations continue to grow, particularly when it comes to technology. To compound the difficulty tech brands face, brand reputation has become a more vital differentiator when it comes to perceived brand value, reliability, and quality. Konica Minolta has managed to keep up with both the technology and consumers for the 5th straight year, which is how they continue to have the most loyal customers in the MFP Office Copier category."

Source: PR Web - Konica Celebrates Fifth Consecutive Year as Brand Keys' #1 Brand

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WonderFoil Business Cards Available from 4OVER4.com

4OVER4.com, a printer and online printing company out of New York, has just started an all new WonderFoil stickers printing service for its customers. This service basically gives customers really awesome color options for printing on high grade, durable paper that creates an interesting first impression and lasts a long time.

4OVER4.com also provides digital and offset printing for online printing, personalized label printing, postcard printing, online print services, poster printing, company signage printing and customer specific printing applications. 4OVER4.com provides vinyl decal printing, brochure leaflet printing, brochure printing and brochure tri-fold printing as well.

4OVER4.com has just begun offering WonderFoil stickers printing in UV-protected 16pt high-gloss label with sizes ranging from 2" x 3.5" and 4" x 6" to 5.5" x 8.5". All of these also come with the option of having the corners rounded or standard and customers are able to purchase quantities of 500 and 25,000 prints at a time.

According to a statement from 4OVER4.com Principal Taso Panagiotopoulos, "WonderFoil printing stands out like never before because WonderFoil gives you an unlimited range of color choices coupled with 16pt high-gloss UV coating for products that are simply irresistible to behold."

The high-gloss UV coating and nearly unlimited color range should prove to be very attractive to existing customers of 4OVER4.com as well as new and future customers too. The fact that you can order them online along with all of the other products 4OVER4.com has to offer just makes it that much more accessible.

Source: PR Web - Online Printing Business 4OVER4.COM Introduces New WonderFoil Stickers Printing Service for Businesses
Digital Journal - New York Printing Company 4OVER4.COM Introduces WonderFoil Business Cards Printing Services for Businesses

Security Camera Solutions

USB Security on Lexmark Printers and MFPs

Go out and buy a computer today and you will find that it is nearly impossible to find one that doesn't have at least one USB port. These ports allow you to pop in a flash drive or some other compatible technology, which opens up the possibilities for both you and your computer. However, USB drives are not solely restricted to computers. A lot of copiers, printers and multifunction devices have USB support as well. What you may not know is that in order to have USB support, you have to have a slight measure of security exposure because anything that can be used for good can also undoubtedly be used for bad.

A plethora of Lexmark laser printers and multifunction printers have support for USB drives so it is definitely necessary to look at all the potential security consequences that come with such support. A full whitepaper from Office Product News talks about all the security considerations that you should take into account if you are looking at a printer or MFP that has USB support. In addition to that, the whitepaper explains all the different protective measures that have been incorporated to address such concerns.

USB devices are used to connect an infinite amount of devices to different technologies and are able to perform a lot of different interactions once connected. Unfortunately, the USB ports that are found on Lexmark devices are a lot more limited than ones you would find on computers or laptops due to the amount of security risks that arise from putting USB support on a copier, printer or other multifunction device.

When you use the USB drives on Lexmark devices this happens:

The device finds and displays all the image files and flash files by name that are located on the flash drive when it is inserted into the Lexmark device.

If you select a flash file to print, the firmware in the printer will update as long as the firmware updates are allowed in the security settings.

Lexmark devices also allow you to scan data to the USB drive directly if the drive is available in a supported scan format.

This definitely gives you something to think about, especially if you have a printer with USB support. Internet and document safety is becoming more and more important, especially with the recent rise of hack attempts on big name corporations and government websites. If you want to check out the full whitepaper, you can do that here.

Source: Office Product News - Security and USB Ports on Lexmark Devices

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Merizon Group Incorporated Acquired by Xerox

Xerox Corporation, one of the biggest manufacturers of copiers, printers, multifunction devices and related products in the world (and one of the most well-known), has just announced that its Global Imaging Systems subsidiary has acquired Merizon Group Incorporated, a copier and printer distributor, in the latest in a series of office services company acquisitions. The terms of the deal have yet to be disclosed by either company.

Xerox stated that the purchase built on the company's strategy of quote "creating a nationwide network of locally-based companies focused on improving document workflow and office efficiency." Xerox's Global Imaging Office Technology Division is responsible for the selling of printers, copiers and other office products for Xerox and has bought multiple companies in states like Iowa, New York, Illinois, Virginia and Florida this year alone.

Merizon's MBM division, which is based in Appleton, Wisconsin, is responsible for the distribution of Canon, Samsung, and Kyocera Mita brand printers, copiers, multifunction devices and other office products. The MBM division will start offering Xerox's printing products, as well as the company's print services, to its customers said the company in a recent statement.

Xerox is definitely looking to expand its business, especially with these recent purchases in Iowa, New York, Illinois, Virginia, Florida and now, most recently, Wisconsin. If Xerox keeps it up, we can expect some pretty big things from the company come 2012.

Source: Bloomberg Businessweek - Xerox buys Merizon for undisclosed sum

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