Oh, to be in England Now that Spring is Here

So what's on tap is this:

HP supposedly has the largest stand at the show, doubtless drawing a line in the sand as it stakes claim on an industry it hopes to lead, if not dominate. The big T-300 may take center stage, but expect it to share space with another sizeable machine or two.

Kodak will formally (and finally!) roll out its Prosper press, which still won't be available until some time in 2011. I'm looking for attendee reactions to the claims made and the print quality shown. And for insights into how Kodak is selecting the betas and the first real customers for this machine.

Océ is aggressively promoting its JetStream family of inkjet presses, which is perhaps the most comprehensive in the industry. On the economics front, Océ has a software tool that can predict the cost of jobs on these machines, which strikes me as kind of useful. Take a look at this video I caught at On Demand.

Ricoh/InfoPrint Solutions (IPS) will formally tie the knot of their marriage at Ipex and word is there are new product announcements coming for both inkjet and toner devices. IPS has a lot of its InfoPrint 5000 inkjet machines in place, so it will be interesting to hear about their next steps.

And Xerox, fresh from the launch of its new 800/1000 color printers at On Demand, will have its usual wide range of products and software, along with a technology demo that some experts think will be the company's response to inkjet. This could be very interesting. Xerox has had the time to evaluate market reactions to existing inkjet systems and see the good and the bad of inkjet, so a different approach may be forthcoming. Stay tuned!

Then there's Screen, which supplies the InfoPrint system, and Fujifilm, which is rolling out its big cut-sheet device. Lots to see.