DIGITAL digest

Demand is Building Again

PHILADELPHIA—"Traffic seems to be up" was a common refrain heard at the recent On Demand Conference & Expo, where more than 24,000 attendees visited the combined event (the printing expo was again co-located with the info360: AIIM Expo + Conference).

During the opening day of the expo, market research firm InfoTrends announced the results of the fifth annual On Demand Best of Show Awards program. Winners were named in eight categories:

• 1:1 Communications—Pageflex Campaign Manager 7.5, Bitstream Inc.;

• Bindery/Finishing—Sterling Doublebinder, Spiel Associates;

• Color Digital Printing Equipment—bizhub Press C8000, Konica Minolta Business Solutions;

• Innovative Use of Technology—GMC PortalBuilder, GMC Software Technology;

• Monochrome Digital Printing Equipment—bizhub Pro 950, Konica Minolta Business Solutions;

• Print MIS/ERP—CRM Microsoft Outlook integration, Avanti Computer Systems;

• Web-to-Print Solutions—Printgroove v1.5, Konica Minolta Business Solutions; and

• Workflow Solutions—WebCRD, Rochester Software Associates.

With the Ipex 2010 international printing exhibition looming, major product introductions weren't expected, but some vendors opted not to wait.

Beat Ipex to the Punch

Designed to offer a price and volume point below the iGen 4, the new Xerox Color 800/1000 digital press models output 80 and 100 pages per minute (ppm), respectively. Their key feature highlights include use of EA toner and an optional fifth station for flood and spot application of a clear dry ink. They can be driven by the Xerox EX print server, which is powered by the faster, next-generation Fiery System 9 R2 platform, based on the Adobe PDF Print Engine version 2, EFI introduced at the show.

Konica Minolta publicly launched the bizhub Press platform—which was shown by invitation only at PRINT 09—with the initial C8000 model (slated to ship this summer) rated at 80 ppm and handling a 13x19.2˝ maximum sheet size. The company says its Simitri HD+ toner and image processing technology produces quality rivaling offset printing.

Presstek opted to save the formal introduction of its new 75DI digital offset press model for Ipex, but did note the new format (maximum 31.02x23.62˝ paper sheet size) on its On Demand booth signage. The first showing of the 75DI press in North America is scheduled for Graph Expo in October.

Having completed its tender offer and acquired a majority of Océ shares, Canon Inc. stated at On Demand that the Dutch company was now officially one of its subsidiaries, but continued to be a publicly traded entity. Canon featured an expansion of its imageRUNNER Advance platform—the 8000 and 6000 Series monochrome lines, offering models with top speeds of 105 and 75 ppm, respectively.

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