Lexmark have unveiled 3 new inkjet printers, the X4550, X3550 and Z1420, offering wireless printing options for as low as $79.99. Eight out of Lexmark’s 12 new inkjet printers being introduced in 2007 will have wireless capabilities. “Consumers are embracing wireless networking with the rapid adoption of wireless notebook computers and wireless routers. However, because of the high price of existing wireless printers and the complexity of use, consumers have been slow to adopt wireless printing. We intend to change that with new wireless printers from Lexmark that are affordable, easy to install and easy to use,” said Najib Bahous, Lexmark vice president and president of its Consumer Printer Division.

Kodak’s new All-in-One printers promise to save customers up to 50% on everything they print. PopPhoto have tested that claim and compared the Kodak 5300 printer to its main rivals.

“We have tested the new Kodak All in One Ink Jet Printer and compared them to others in their class. Our findings were surprising: Kodak has built a lot of hype around claims of 10 cent photo prints and 50% savings over it’s competitors, but after exhaustive testing and hundreds of prints, we found that to get the quality that Kodak claimed you could get for 10 cents a print, consumers would have to upgrade to more expensive paper and end up spending more than 35 cents a print (nowhere near the 50% savings they claimed). “

Website: PopPhoto - Kodak’s New Inkjet Printer—and Bold Claims—Put To The Test

Website: PopPhoto - All-in-One Printer Shootout

Luminous Landscape have published a user report on the Canon iPF5000 large format printer.

“This report will document my experiences setting up and using the printer over the last 4 months.  All of the significant problems that have been uncovered and documented on the Unofficial Canon iPF5000 Printer Wiki will also be included.  I believe that this will give the reader a better feel for what it is like to own and use the iPF5000 and avoid any unpleasant surprises after making a purchase.”

Website: Luminous Landscape - Canon iPF5000 User Report

Website: Read our Canon iPF5000 Review

Latest Prices / User Reviews

Pixinfo.com have published the very interesting results of an 11 month fade test of various printer and paper combinations, with the Vivera ink technology coming out on top.

“We have taped one of the copies from all prints to the south window of our office on the 9th floor (inside and facing to the sun, of course). This happened on April 24, 2006. The prints were in the window for 11 months when I thought that their time was up and removed them a day before I realized that it was a month too early. Since the images were already showing the results, I decided not to reinstall the prints to the window. We had the images printed on 7 paper types with 6 printers.”

Website: Pixinfo.com - Fade resistance test

PMA 2007: The new HP Designjet Z3100ps GP large format printer is aimed at graphic design houses, advertising firms, pre-press professionals and print service providers. The HP Z3100ps adds a new easy-to-use embedded Adobe PS3/PDF RIP and Advanced Profiling Solution. “With the new HP Designjet Z3100ps GP, graphic artists, advertising agencies, prepress establishments and print service providers can quickly turnaround standout prints, keeping the business and creative process moving.” said Enrique Lores, vice president and general manager, Inkjet Commercial Division, HP. The price for the HP Designjet Z3100ps GP 24” model is 5,100 euros and 8,000 euros for the 44” model, both available April 23rd 2007.

PMA 2007: Sony introduces three new dye sublimation photo printers. The top-of-the-range Sony DPP-FP90 has an extra-large (3.6-inch) screen with adjustable tilt position, whilst the Sony DPP-FP70 offers a fixed 2.5-inch TFT LCD. Both the FP90 and FP70 are powered by the Sony BIONZ processor, previously used in the Alpha DSLR camera. Face Detection technology automatically detects human faces in a scene, and contrast and colour values are adjusted accordingly. The affordable Sony DPP-FP60 features a 2-inch LCD screen and optional bluetooth kit. The DPP-FP90, DPP-FP70, DPP-FP60 and DPP-FP60BT will be available throughout Europe from May 2007.

PMA 2007: The Canon iP90v portable printer is available in two configurations – with or without a battery kit included in the box - and replaces the iP90. The Canon iP90v features FINE print head technology and the ChromaLife100 system and will be available from March 2007 for £199.00 / €299.00.

PMA 2007: The Canon iP1800 and Canon iP2500 printers have a distinctive cube design finished in deep gleam black with a reflective mirror finish. The iP1800 delivers a 10x15cm (4”x6”) borderless photograph in 70 seconds, and the iP2500 in 55 seconds. The Canon iP1800 will be available from March 2007 for £39.00 / €59.00 and the Canon iP2500 from March 2007 for £49.00 / €75.00.

Photo-i have started an interactive review of the Epson Stylus Photo 1400 A3+ six-colour photo printer.

“After my recent batch of review printers, it is nice to take delivery of a box that doesn’t require two people to lift it. This box can easily fit it in the boot of most cars, which is handy for next time you pop into your computer superstore. As with most printers, there isn’t a USB cable included - so make sure you pick one up at the same time. Nor have Epson included a starter pack of media. This is such a shortsighted, penny saving mistake. Surely once people see how much better a photo looks on Epson’s own brand media, they won’t settle for anything less.”

Website: Photo-i - Epson Stylus Photo 1400 Review

The number of consumer digital photo prints will increase from 13.2 billion in 2005 to 16 billion in 2009 according to a forecast from InfoTrends. “Household penetration of digital cameras will increase in the near term and then level out toward the end of the forecast period,” commented David Haueter. Ordering prints online and picking them up at retail as well as using photo kiosks will provide the most growth over the forecast period. Currently prints made at home account for the biggest share of the market.

HP today announced that its redesigned print cartridge packaging for North America will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 37 million pounds in 2007. This is the equivalent of taking 3,600 cars off the road for one year. Smaller, lighter packages with more recyclable and recycled content are now being used, allowing more cartridges to be be shipped per truck or freighter.

Polaroid is the brains behind ZINK (Zero Ink), a new process that allows you to print full color digital images without the need for ink cartridges or ribbons. Dye crystals are embedded in the ZINK paper and are activated by heat from a ZINK printer. The crystals then colorize, producing the final print. Later this year, ZINK Imaging’s partners will launch the first products using ZINK technology later in 2007, with mobile printing the first target.

Kodak All-in-One printers promise to save customers up to 50% on everything they print. For every £10 / $15 spent on colour ink and £7 / $10 spent on black ink, you can print the same number of pages at half the cost of other consumer inkjet printers. When the KODAK Photo Value Pack is purchased, a 4 x 6-inch photo costs as little as 7 pence / 10 cents per print. In the UK, the Kodak 5300 AiO will be available in May 2007; the Kodak 5500 is expected to begin shipping in June 2007. In the USA, beginning in March 2007, the Kodak 5100 and Kodak 5300 AiO Printers will retail exclusively at Best Buy, whilst the Kodak 5500 is expected to begin shipping in May 2007.

Update: We now have some photos of pre-production printers taken at the UK press launch in London earlier today. Kodak have spent $500 million and 3.5 years of development time to enter the inkjet market, aiming to provide quality and ease-of-use at up to half the cost of their rivals. Interestingly, Kodak don’t make money on their digital cameras, hence the move into inkjet printing. Expect to see more models in 2007.

PMA 2007: The Panasonic KX-PX20 and Panasonic KX-PX2 are easy-to-use, dye-sub home photo printers with print life of up to 100 years. The KX-PX20 features a 3.6 inch colour LCD screen, the biggest in its class. Both printers can read extra information that is unique to Lumix digital cameras from the recorded EXIF data, and both can print 16:9 wide aspect images.

Printerspot have just reviewed the new Canon PIXMA MP600 all-in-one device.

“The Canon Pixma MP600 turned out to be a very impressive all-in-one printer. It offers high quality, fast photo printing, plus copying and scanning capabilities for under $200. It does all this with an easy-to-use interface that makes complex tasks (like two-sided printing) a breeze.”

Website: Printerspot - Canon PIXMA MP600 Review

Latest Prices / User Reviews

Epson America has teamed up with ExpressDigital to introduce a new workflow and printing solution called the Epson Portrait Edition Series. The package includes either a Epson Stylus Pro 3800 or 4800 printer, ExpressDigital Darkroom Core Edition software, and a customized Web storefront. The Epson Stylus Pro 3800 Portrait Edition printer offers a complete large format in-house wedding and portrait printing solution for $1,495. The Epson Stylus Pro 4800 Portrait Edition is a high-performance printer featuring a built-in roll-feeder and paper tray cassette and is offered as a solution for $2,195.

The Fujifilm ASK-4000 and ASK-2000 are dye-sub digital printers aimed at studio, wedding and event photographers. An 8x10 inch print can be made in 40 seconds, and both printers feature color-correction software incorporating Fujifilm’s Image Intelligence technology. The ASK-4000 and ASK-2000 feature small footprints of 1.5 square feet and 1.3 square feet respectively.

Rob Galbraith reports that Epson Europe have made ColorBase 2 available as a free download. Epson ColorBase 2 is a utility for calibrating the company’s large format printers (2400, 3800, 4800, 7800, 9800) so that the print output from one unit more closely matches the output from the next. It can also reduce the differences in colour output from one Epson printer in daily use.

Website: Epson ColorBase 2 (Windows)

Website: Epson ColorBase 2 (Mac)

CES 2007: The Epson CX7000F all-in-one printer features a high-speed fax, DURABrite Ultra pigment ink for long-lasting prints, individual ink cartridges and high-speed printing and copying. It also features memory card slots and photo color restoration and OCR software. The Epson Stylus CX7000F is available this month around $150.

The Epson Stylus Photo 1400 is a new A3+ six-colour photo printer which features Epson’s Claria Photographic Ink (cyan, magenta, yellow, black, light cyan and light magenta) and provides offers 200 years of durability and archivability in album storage. The Stylus Photo 1400 driver supports Adobe RGB for a wide colour gamut. Connectivity options include Pictbridge, USB 2.0 and an optional Wireless Ethernet Print server. The Epson 1400 replaces the popular Epson Stylus Photo 1290s and will be available this month for £299.99 in the UK and $399.99 in the USA.