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HP Innovation
Printer companies like to talk
about the evolution from hardware
to solutions, but HP still knows
the importance of products and
consumables.
Speaking at the unveiling of 10 new
LaserJets, a new scanner and two new
solutions at the company’s Sant Cugat
facility near Barcelona, Vincent Vanderpoel,
vice president of IPG Laserjet and Enterprise
Solutions EMEA, said: “We are still very
much a product company. We need
innovation at this level.”
Recent examples include Smart Install,
which removes the need for installation CDs;
built-in wireless connectivity including WiFi
Direct; HP ePrint driverless printing; auto
on/off, which HP claims “can reduce energy
consumption by 60-70% compared to some
competitors”; and large colour touch-
screens that give users of web-enabled
printers one-touch access to time-saving
apps.
Other innovations worth mentioning,
especially in the context of enterprise
printing and managed print services, are
FutureSmart firmware, which protects
customer’ investment in technology, and
the OXP translator that allows software
packages from HP and third parties to
be integrated with HP printers without
modification.
All these features are evident in the
first 10 printers launched in what Robert
Dinkelacker, Product Marketing Manager for
IPG EMEA, said would be HP’s “biggest year
of introductions for many years” (see panel
for product details).
Another recent example is HP’s TopShot
scanner introduced last year to meet the
needs of people who sell small items online.
The camera head that rises above the
scanning platform captures high quality
images of 3D objects and automatically
removes the background. It can do this
separately for three different objects placed
on the platen at the same time.
There is nothing as eye-catching as
TopShot in the latest tranche of HP printers
– with the possible exception of the HP
Officejet 150 Mobile All-in-One, the world’s
first portable MFP for mobile professionals
who need to print, copy and scan on the
move – but the accumulation of recent
improvements brings real benefits to
customers.
Print Solutions
So, too, do the company’s new print
solutions – HP Imaging and Printing Security
Centre and HP Access Control (AC) – though
these have also been introduced to make life
easier for HP resellers, as Marc Jongen, HP
EMEA LES Solutions Category Manager, told
PrintIT Reseller.
“Resellers will often work with third
party providers to integrate solutions with
HP devices through the OXP platform,
but channel partners had to talk to ISVs,
so one year ago we started to provide a
solutions portfolio through HP. We provide
the solutions, the tools, skills and support
partners need to get going in this business,”
he said.
HP Imaging and Printing Security Centre
addresses the complexity of maintaining
consistent security settings across fleets of
hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands
of devices by defining optimum settings
relating to network and data security and
automatically checking that all printers on
the network are compliant. If any settings
have been changed, the HP Security Centre
can be programmed to over-ride them and
revert to the original settings.
The software covers every aspect of the
process (defining security settings, adding
devices, assessing compliance, remediation
and reporting) and is designed to be easy
to use. It comes with the HP Best Practice
policy built-in and will advise administrators
of the impact of any changes on other
security settings, grading the effectiveness of
adjustments with colour-coded smiley faces.
12
Essential
viewing
HP underlines the importance of innovation as it refreshes
its LaserJet portfolio with larger touchscreens that make it
easier to interact with time-saving printer apps
“We are still
very much
a product
company.
We need
innovation
at this level.”
New for 2012
HP Officejet 150 Mobile All-in-One.
The ideal companion
for mobile salespeople who might need to print, copy and scan
contracts on the go. Key features include built-in Bluetooth and
a lithium-ion battery that can print up to 500 pages on a single
charge.
HP LaserJet 400 Series.
This series includes HP’s first web-
connected mono laser printer and MFP to have an 8.89cm
touchscreen for easy access to apps and functions. Suitable
for workgroups of 5-8 users, the 33ppm HP LaserJet Pro 400
M401 (printer) and HP LaserJet Pro 400 MFP M425 (MFP)
feature Smart Install, HP ePrint and HP Wireless Direct. The
MFP also has a dual-head scanner that can scan both sides of
a page in a single pass and a USB port for printing from USB
storage devices. The EcoSmart Console lets users maximise
energy savings, for example by changing settings so that the
MFP goes into ready mode only when paper is put on the
platen. The 400 series also includes the HP LaserJet Pro 400
Colour MFP M475dn and HP LaserJet Pro 400 Colour MFP
M475dw.
HP LaserJet 500 Series.
This series of enterprise MFPs
includes colour and B&W models – the HP LaserJet Enterprise
500 colour MFP M575 and the mono HP LaserJet Enterprise
500 MFP M525. To meet the needs of enterprise customers, the
40ppm devices have large 20.32cm full colour touchscreens.
Standout features include the ability to scroll through scan
previews, reorder or delete scans, add pages or change the
format (portrait or landscape). The touchscreen also gives
access to HP Quick Sets, a series of automated workflows that
can be activated with just two clicks. Another first on these
devices are encrypted hard drives as standard.
HP LaserJet M401
HP LaserJet M575