Page 14 - Print.IT Reseller - Summer-2 13

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Last month Samsung Print Division
staged a reseller event at Silverstone
race track to demonstrate the
breadth of its product range.
The highlight was the company's first
NFC-enabled printers launched this month
and marketed with the clever 'Print on Tap'
slogan, but there was much else to see
including Samsung's new generation A3
MFPs and economical SMB devices.
NFC printing
NFC (Near Field Communication), which
initiates a wireless connection between
two devices in close proximity to each
other, has been used with print products
before, such as Cortado's Personal Printing
Essentials pull printing solution, which uses
it for print release. However, Samsung's
Xpress C410W and Xpress C460 series are
claimed to be the world's first laser printers
to be NFC-enabled from the box.
What this makes possible is supremely
simple printing (and scanning or faxing)
from most makes of NFC-enabled
smartphone and tablet running Android
4.0 or higher. Apple iPhones still don't
have NFC.
Users who
have Samsung's
MobilePrint App on
their device can print
simply by selecting
the document to be
printed and tapping
lightly on the printer.
Alternatively, they can
tap the printer to open the mobile printing
app on their device and then choose a
document and select print. If they haven't
already installed the app, tapping will
automatically take them to Google Play
where it can be downloaded.
To start with, Samsung is offering this
capability on consumer and SOHO devices
(4ppm colour/18ppm mono) in the hope
that its simplicity and ease of use will
encourage people to print photos and
documents that would otherwise remain in
digital form.
Jamie Mackenzie, head of product
marketing at Samsung Electronics, told
PrintIT Reseller
that once it was more
established, NFC printing could be
incorporated into business devices too.
“People need to know what technology
can do before they adopt it,” he said.
“NFC is a new concept. Let's see what
the adoption is and go from there. But
we do know businesses are adopting
more mobiles and tablets so as a leader
we have to assist convergence in wider
environments.”
In the meantime, users of Samsung's
wireless B2B devices are able to print from
any Android, iOS and Windows smartphone
over WiFi or WiFi Direct.
Samsung B2B
Samsung's main priorities in the business
market are to allay misconceptions resellers
might have about the strength and breadth
of its printer/MFP range; and to encourage
the channel to cross-sell other Samsung
products, if necessary in partnership with
resellers that have appropriate expertise.
Mackenzie said: “A lot of resellers who
haven't engaged with us before have the
perception that we have a smaller and
a lower end range than is the case. There
are a lot of misconceptions around what
Samsung can offer.”
The Silverstone event gave Samsung
the opportunity to show off the breadth of
its range. This extends from tiny desktop
printers to high-end mono and colour A3
devices and includes numerous embedded,
web and server-based print solutions.
As well as expanding its enterprise
solutions, Samsung recently strengthened
its core SME offering with the launch of the
Xpress M2875/2675 and M2825 series.
Designed to provide low running costs,
the 28ppm mono devices have separate
toner and drum units instead of all-in-one
cartridges. Until now, Samsung only offered
economical two-piece toner systems on
Segment 3 and 4 devices.
Touch and go
Technology convergence
Another aspect of Samsung printers
that Mackenzie is eager to highlight is
the extent to which they incorporate
technology from other Samsung divisions,
from NFC connectivity on its consumer
models to plasma ionisers (also used in
Samsung air conditioning systems) in its
latest A3 MFPs.
Mackenzie argues that the convergence
of technologies from different Samsung
divisions enables resellers to extend
conversations with customers beyond
print, potentially leading to new sales
opportunities.
“Resellers can leverage our cross-
selling capability with other categories. We
find ourselves engaging with big brands
talking about air conditioning, displays and
LED lighting and we can now talk about
the print element and how we converge
with other products. In the coming months
this will be a big focus,” he said.
Samsung is already using NFC
technology to deliver printing on tap.
Who would bet against it, at some point,
integrating gesture control from Samsung
Smart TVs to enable printing with a wave.
Samsung is asking resellers to take a fresh look at
its printer and MFP range
01732 759725
Print.IT Reseller
14
“People
need to
know what
technology
can do
before they
adopt it”