Ramsey, N.J. – February 23, 2010 – Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta), a leading provider of advanced imaging and networking technologies for the desktop to the print shop, today announced that BERTL® Inc (BERTL) has named Konica Minolta a 2010 Readers' Choice Award winner.  Earning awards in the Segments 1-3, 11-45 pages per minute (ppm) Division and Production Division, the bizhub®, bizhub PRO®, magicolor®, and pagepro® product lines were all recognized as part of the awards. Konica Minolta also received an award for overall excellence with the highest rating in Color Range.

Konica Minolta was awarded 2010 Readers' Choice recognition in the following key categories:

• Color Range – Overall Winner

• Output Quality – Laser MFP Color, Segments 1-3, 11-45 pages per minute (ppm) Division

• Product Reliability - Laser MFP Color, Segments 1-3, 11-45 pages per minute (ppm) Division

• Environment Sustainability – Laser MFP Monochrome, Segments 1-3, 11-45 pages per minute (ppm) Division

• Output Quality – Laser MFP Monochrome, Segments 1-3, 11-45 pages per minute (ppm) Division

• Workflow Integration – Laser MFP Monochrome, Segments 1-3, 11-45 pages per minute (ppm) Division

• Value for Cost – Laser Printer Monochrome, Segments 1-3, 11-45 pages per minute (ppm) Division

• Workflow Integration – Laser Printer Monochrome, Segments 1-3, 11-45 pages per minute (ppm) Division

• Environment Sustainability – Production Division 

• Value for Cost – Production Division continue reading...

Ramsey, N.J. – February 22, 2010 – Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta), a leading provider of advanced imaging and networking technologies for the desktop to the print shop, today announced that Buyers Laboratory Inc. (BLI) has awarded Konica Minolta three 2009 Fall “Pick” Awards for the bizhub® C360/C280/C220 Series of Color MFPs in the A3/Ledger Color MFP segments, as well as awarded an "Outstanding Achievement Award" for Konica Minolta's bizhub C552 Color MFP with Emperon Controller for outstanding energy efficiency.

BLI's semi-annual awards present special recognition in each category to those products that provided the most outstanding performances in BLI’s exhaustive lab tests. BLI recognized Konica Minolta with the following awards:

bizhub C360 – “Pick” award winner for “Outstanding 31- to 40-ppm A3/Ledger Color MFP”

bizhub C280 – “Pick” award winner for “Outstanding 21- to 30-ppm A3/Ledger Color MFP”

bizhub C220 – "Pick” award winner for “Outstanding 21- to 30-ppm A3/Ledger Color MFP”

bizhub C552 with Emperon® Controller – “Outstanding Achievement for Energy Efficiency in the 41- to 50-ppm A3/Ledger Color MFP category”

MFP and Environmental Testing

BLI’s twice-a-year “Picks” assess reliability in terms of the service and preventive maintenance calls required. Its comprehensive evaluation includes an assessment of copy and print quality, productivity, ease of use and economy, as well as connectivity issues such as feedback to workstations, administration utilities, print drivers, multitasking and scanning solutions. continue reading...

Las Vegas, NV,   February 22, 2010 — IBM (NYSE:IBM) and Ricoh today announced they have developed an advanced device and printing management system which infuses office devices with real-time tracking and monitoring to help firms significantly reduce their print-related costs, improve service and cut back on carbon footprints.

Through an Application Specific Licensing agreement with IBM, Ricoh will bundle the new system, which is based on IBM Tivoli software, with its multi-function products (MFPs) making the new systems available for enterprise clients.

While IT services have become more managed and optimized, most businesses still do not have enough insight into and control of their printing devices’ use and costs. These costs extend beyond the hardware and printers to include consumables, labor for repairs and system updates as well as the high cost of energy and resulting carbon footprint. Underscoring the need for better print-related cost controls is recent Gartner research data which indicates that organizations that manage their printer, copier and fax fleets can save between 10-30 percent of their print costs.

“This new, enterprise-class system will give our global customers complete visibility across their fleet of printers and MFP devices, helping them to better manage and optimize printing as an office function,” said Hede Nonaka, executive vice president, Marketing & Document Solutions and Services Division, Ricoh Americas Corporation. “The solution will also be a core technology for our Managed Document Services (MDS) offering.” Tivoli software can manage a range of assets beyond the datacenter including office equipment such as printers, office MFPs and production printing machines. Tivoli’s Intelligent Gateway manages policies to control end-user printing features and tracks energy usage and carbon footprint for print services, reporting at the device, department and individual level. continue reading...

Zaventem, Belgium – 19 February 2010 – EFI today announced the immediate availability of its newest upgrade to the EFI XF software series. Key features include comprehensive cutting-engine support and powerful RGB print workflow. This offers users a one-stop inkjet production solution. The latest spot color enhancements and extended support of the Epson WT7900 provides the packaging market with a high-quality, cost-effective solution. EFI XF v4.1 integrates seamlessly with EFI Web Control Center, EFI's web-based application for remote control and distribution of print jobs. These new features have been added to all EFI XF products: EFI Fiery XF for large to superwide format production printing; Fiery® XF for Rastek™, VUTEk® and Jetrion® as well as EFI Colorproof™ XF.

"Our goal is to help our customers become as profitable as possible," said Stefan Spiegel, general manager of EFI's Graphic Arts Solutions Group. "The new tools incorporated into EFI XF 4.1 are designed to do just that. We've added remarkable color output improvements, a dedicated cutting solution and updated PDF print engine and standards support that allow XF-driven printers to be more productive and deliver higher quality in any workflow."

Mario Levers, head of production for Toppack Summen & Bergs GmbH, a leading packaging prepress solution provider based in Ahaus-Wüllen, Germany uses EFI Colorproof XF with the Epson Stylus Pro WT7900 for packaging proofing. "This solution provides the most comprehensive and cost effective solution for packaging proofing in my opinion. The output quality in terms of (spot) color accuracy and dot quality on both transparent and metallic media, as well as XF's flexibility in handling white printing, is extraordinary," said Levers. continue reading...