HP Unveils Portfolio of New Products

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL—HP began its pre-Drupa Press and Analyst Summit here March 9-12, hosting more than 100 journalists, analysts, partners and customers to an unveiling of several new technologies and products.

In HP’s most extensive graphic arts push to date, the pre-Drupa rollout included the introduction of the HP Ink-jet Web Press, Latex Inks, SmartStream Digital Workflow Portfolio and three new Indigo digital presses.

These latest offerings—which span high-speed ink-jet production and liquid electrophotographic printing, as well as wide-format printing—will debut (excluding the web press) at Drupa in HP’s mega booth in Hall 8A.

Causing quite a stir among the debuted products was the HP Ink-jet Web Press—the world’s first 30˝ digital ink-jet web press designed for high-volume production of books, transpromo mail, direct marketing materials and newspapers. The new web press, which prints at 600 dpi at speeds up to 400 fpm, will be available by summer 2009.

However, it was HP Indigo press that took center stage at the four-day event, with attendees witnessing firsthand the HP Indigo’s diverse printing capabilities. Press kits, postcards, name badges and hotel key cards, wine bottle labels and even bongo drums—all printed and personalized on Indigo presses for each guest—illustrated Indigo’s reach across an extreme range of printing substrates and applications.

Front and center was the new HP Indigo 7000, a cost-efficient digital press that produces top (photo) quality material at speeds to 120 four-color A4-size ppm, and prints on a wide range of media. The 7000 will be available in June.

Also new is the HP Indigo W7200, a high-quality commercial press designed for publishing, direct mail and transpromo applications. The new HP Indigo WS6000 label and packaging press, claims HP, “offers twice the productivity of the HP Indigo ws45000 press.” Both the W7200 and WS6000 are slated for availability in early 2009.