Printer

With a view to promoting innovation in the desktop printers industry, Artefact design studio has unveiled its See What You Print (or SWYP) concept printer, operated via a touchscreen interface. SWYP aims to simplify and accelerate the task of printing by combining features of simple photo editing and immediate printing in one unit, which enables users to see exactly what the printed page will look like. Read More

Many companies have a hard time distinguishing themselves from the crowd at CES, so Polaroid played the celebrity card using Lady Gaga to unveil a series of products she actually helped design. Making up Polaroid’s new Grey Label line is a digital camera that prints out photos and a mobile printer – both using ZINK’s Zero Ink thermal printing technology – but the most obviously Gaga-esque product is a pair of sunglasses that feature a built-in camera for taking pics and vids and LCD screens built into the lenses for displaying them. Read More

The Internet allows us to connect with friends in every corner of the world, but sometimes a physical, tangible link in the communication can make its absence felt. A nightstand with embedded printer and scanner, John Kestner's Tableau puts a physical experience in networking with family and friends, and makes viewing and sharing photos via Twitter as simple and natural as opening and closing a drawer. Read More

Modern technology has advanced so quickly, so why shouldn’t it also advance our cake decorating skills. The Cricut Cake printer will do just that ... and it might inspire a new wave of neighborhood cake competitions and children’s parties. The printer is designed to make cake decorating as simple as printing a piece of paper, but instead of using paper and ink, it cuts shapes, words, motifs and decorations into frosting sheets, cookie dough, modeling chocolate and soft candies. Read More

HP’s web-enabled printers already featured touchscreen control panels and wireless printing but now the company has gone one step further by including a detachable 7-inch Android with its new Photosmart eStation All-in-One printer. While the prospect of a printer with a free Android tablet might sound pretty tempting, there are some caveats. Although it’s possible to browse (and print) online content using the device’s web browser, there’s no access to the Android Market with apps and widgets limited to customized print-focused offerings from the likes of Yahoo, Facebook and Snapfish. Read More

Earlier this year, Gizmag attended the Asia-Pacific press launch of HP’s web-connected printers. At the time we were hopeful that the company’s ePrint technology which, amongst other things, allows users to print documents by sending an email, would help cut down on printer hassles stemming from pesky printer drivers. After spending a bit of time with the HP Photosmart Wireless e-All-in-One Printer B110 we’re still hopeful for the future of cloud-based printing, but it seems there are still some kinks that need to be ironed out. Read More

Canon has recently announced the addition of two new PIXMA multifunction printers, the PIXMA MG8120 and PIXMA MG6120. Both feature intelligent touch technology and a Full HD Movie Print function which allows users to capture individual frames of recorded HD movies taken with compatible HD Canon EOS and PowerShot Digital cameras. Read More

Canon has announced the new SELPHY CP800 Compact Photo Printer, which will replace the SELPHY CP780. The CP800 features a tilt LCD screen, built-in voice guidance, and dye sublimation technology, which produces smooth and glossy prints that are reportedly similar in quality and look to traditional lab photos. Prints are dry and ready for handling the second they leave the printer, and a special over-coating provides protection from spills and splashes. Read More

Printers are one of the less exciting PC peripherals going around, yet they are one device that most PC users own. While the “paperless office” was predicted as far back as the mid 70’s history has shown the reverse to be true, with PC’s making it easier than ever to produce hard copies of documents. In my (thankfully brief) time working in IT support for a medium-sized business, printer problems were by far the most common reason for calls for help and of these calls, printer drivers were often the culprit. Anyone who has had to set up a printer has likely also encountered problems with sourcing the right driver for the right system. In developing new web connected and cloud aware printers Hewlett Packard believes it has hit upon a solution that could see an end to driver hassles and give printers much wider functionality, including making printing from mobile devices such as smartphones possible without the need for a PC at all. HP has seen the future of printing and is convinced it lies in the cloud. Read More