Printing Industry News Digest No.89, February 25, 2012

Welcome to Printing Industry News Digest (PIND) issue 89, providing a summary of major news items from the printing, publishing, packaging, digital, and communications technology sectors. PIND incorporates brief summaries and links to the week's key news stories so that you can look up that all important detail, digging deeper behind the headline. Do also take a look at our automated Twitter-based GenesisNews #Print Daily publication; why not take out a free subscription for a daily digital delivery!

Open house season is upon us in the UK and the Apex Digital Graphics event is already in place - the Spring Open House takes place on March 13 and 14. As well as the expected Ryobi press products, the event will feature a host of other equipment suppliers, and a free to attend seminar on ISO12647-2 accreditation being hosted by Sun Chemical and BPIF. You can follow the build-up and the event via the #ApexMarchOpenHouse hash-tag on Twitter.

The exhibition season is starting even sooner, with the packaging world descending on the UK’s NEC this coming Wednesday/Thursday for the annual Packaging Innovations event. Benson Group will be taking centre stage with its Split-it green packaging product.

As an update regarding the recent Manroland coverage, the web operation is singing loudly about the products that it will focus on for Drupa. In the UK, however, the administrators of Manroland GB have announced a number of high profile redundancies as talks stall re a sale.

We note with interest the news from Print Monthly that the digital pricing for The Times and The Sunday Times is to double this week – as of March 1^st. Get in quick if you want to subscribe at the cheaper price!

Are you talking to me? Intelligent ads are about to hit the streets of the UK. A poster that can “read” who is passing by is beginning to sound a bit spooky to us!

Apps take over the world: the Guardian takes a look at how apps are now the way forward for software developers. Apple’s web site has a rolling total of its app sales that increases by 500 a second!

Our favourite syncing software, Dropbox, has been spending some of the $250 million it recently raised with the further development of its Android app. If auto syncing your photos from your Android phone causes you sleepless nights, this is the software for you.

Meanwhile Microsoft’s syncing solution, SkyDrive, is also upping its game, with a desktop app imminent. This might even enable it to catch up with the above Dropbox. There is also talk of very reasonable costs for expanding the already handy 25Gb of free space.

Lifehacker offered us a real neat little hack for showing up to the minute search results on Google. Give it a try: it will certainly cut out those tiresome suggestions from last century!

Almost finally, we have found the ultimate kitchen-based product for every geeky college student: our friends at Engadget have shown us the way for the next Apple product – an iPhone branded gas stove!

Finally, do keep checking back to see what will be featured in our next edition, PIND 90. For an RSS feed of PIND, copy this link into your feed reader; and click here for the GenesisNews #Print Daily – you can even take out a free subscription for this daily news update on print, publishing, packaging and associated technology!

PIND089

Missed Issue 88, including details on The Sun on Sunday? Then simply click here!
Issue 87: More info on Manroland Sheetfed
Issue 86: Manroland Sheetfed sale
Issue 85: Kodak update; used presses; ultrabooks



Get Your Print News Every Day!

Got friends that might like GenesisNews? Tweet them now: click here!

Printing Industry News Digest No.88, February 18, 2012

Welcome to Printing Industry News Digest (PIND) issue 88, providing a summary of major news items from the printing, publishing, packaging, digital, and communications technology sectors. PIND incorporates brief summaries and links to the week's key news stories so that you can look up that all important detail, digging deeper behind the headline. Do also take a look at our automated Twitter-based GenesisNews #Print Daily publication; why not take out a free subscription for a daily digital delivery!

The Sun on Sunday comes back into the headlines this week. We first recorded this suggestion way back in July 2011, just after the announcement of the closure of the News of the World. No actual date slated as yet, but it does at least give the business a focus for the immediate future. At the beginning of the week Brand Republic was asking if he should sell the title!

Elsewhere in the world of newspapers, InPublishing tells us that the FT's global audience has now risen to some 2.2 million with a mix of digital and hardcopy readers.

With reference to the lead story of the last two weeks, Tony Langley has this week appointed his own man, Alfred Rothlaender, a German, to head up his recently purchased Manroland Sheetfed business in Offenbach.

With an interesting view on digital print, What They Think? offers some thoughts on what it describes as new directions for digital print. A bit of forecasting to get you thinking for sure.

OK, we have been singing the praises re Apple's amazing success with its iOS devices for far too long, but you can't deny that they do get things so right! Surprisingly, in terms of numbers, the company sold more iOS devices in 2011 than it has sold Mac's in 28 years!

Rumour continues, in case you hadn't noticed, regarding the potential contents of iPad 3. Here is some of the latest conjecture.

Having said all of that, we find an interesting view of technology from the team at What They Think? Technology is not the answer, they tell us. It's worth a read.

We noted some extended thoughts re Apple's Siri in last weeks edition of PIND. This week we have learned that a robust equivalent of the voice control software is being developed for Android products. Utter, say the guys at TechCrunch, actually makes voice control on Android look better than Siri. A video dem is available, even if the app isn't just yet.

On the subject of Android, the Guardian offers us its thoughts re the top 50 Android tablet apps. Worth a stroll through if you have one such device at your disposal.

Now some logo's just come together in the designers mind and they work. Mostly they click with their public. Some are just plain unfortunate. Somebody just didn't check all of these logo’s with a good diverse focus group! I do hope that PIND readers are not involved in these organisations or their graphic design partners!


Even more quirky, we found this blog detailing a typographic enthusiasts attempts to bake his favourite fonts. We kid you not! Gill Sans, Comic Sans, and American Typewriter all get the culinary treatment. A long time fan of Gill Sans I just can't help but wonder what it might taste like?!

Finally, do keep checking back to see what will be featured in our next edition, PIND 89. For an RSS feed of PIND, copy this link into your feed reader; and click here for the GenesisNews #Print Daily – you can even take out a free subscription for this daily news update on print, publishing, packaging and associated technology!

PIND088

Missed Issue 87, including details on Manroland Sheetfed? Then simply click here!
Issue 86: Manroland Sheetfed sale
Issue 85: Kodak update; used presses; ultrabooks
Issue 84: Manroland break-up; Kodak Chapter 11



Get Your Print News Every Day!

Got friends that might like GenesisNews? Tweet them now: click here!

Printing Industry News Digest No.87, February 11, 2012

Welcome to Printing Industry News Digest (PIND) issue 87, providing a summary of major news items from the printing, publishing, packaging, digital, and communications technology sectors. PIND incorporates brief summaries and links to the week's key news stories so that you can look up that all important detail, digging deeper behind the headline. Do also take a look at our automated Twitter-based GenesisNews Print Daily publication; why not take out a free subscription for a daily digital delivery!

Further to last week’s exciting news regarding Manroland Sheetfed, further thoughts have been provided on the move, though a number of big questions are probably still awaiting answers. The Australian angle offers further insight. More news as we have it!

Outrage has been the order of the day in the UK with regard to the news that a multi-million pounds Olympic ticket contract has gone to a provider in the USA. The green lobby might well be up in arms at shipping a few tonnes of paper from the US to the UK, but will they get just as irate when US athletes force the mass shipments of gold from the UK to the US later in the year?

Design is to the fore today as we look at this wonderful web link from Bored Panda offering 21 minimalist print ads to feast your eyes on.

In the world of publishing, an interesting post via the guys at InPublishing offering five areas of forecast for the year 2012. Might seem a bit late to still be on the crystal ball trail, but some interesting topics are raised here, and we especially like number 4, print is not dead!

Kindle Fire has caused many headlines during this last few months, but I for one have seen very few focused reviews of the product. We saw one this week. Here it is.

Whilst many users are still not 100% convinced to the power or usefulness of Apple’s Siri personal assistant, as currently available on the iPhone 4S, TechCrunch offers us details of where such software will be heading. OK, the piece is penned by co-founder and CEO of Siri, Dag Kittlaus, but this fact makes his vision surely all the more interesting.

Windows 8 is now on the horizon, and already the knives appear to be out, with a definite slant towards the fact that this won’t be viewed as a critical upgrade for the average Windows 7 desktop user. The Guardian takes a look at the arguments.

On the subject of Windows, you may well be able to pluck something interesting out of this little collection of Windows tools that will enhance the regular functionality of the current operating system. I certainly fancy the idea of “Bins”, providing similar functionality to OS X’s stacking for the taskbar. This means that you will also be able to pin files and folders to the taskbar as well as programs.

Meanwhile on the Android front Chrome has arrived. OK, only for ICS at the moment, but hopefully it will spread through other variants. Android still does need that ability to connect up to a browser in the Chrome league, allowing the simple and straightforward use of already stored bookmarks, as well as the speed improvements that the Google software could provide. Also for Android fans: Microsoft OneNote has arrived. If you are a fan of this note taking and list making product, this release completes the circle I guess. We run the software on PC, iPhone, and iPad already. We don’t see the Android variant as being quite so well presented on our Samsung tablet product.

On a broader tech issue, Engadget advises us that the “app economy” has created some 500,000 jobs since 2007 – which, by their very association with the app, just couldn’t have existing before.

Almost finally, and TechRadar posted a list this week of the 10 most hated bits of software. We were not sure prior to opening this page, but actually we were regularly nodding in agreement as we read through the offerings. Better ideas? Mail us at PIND.editor@gmail.com

Finally, do keep checking back to see what will be featured in our next edition, PIND 88. For an RSS feed of PIND, copy this link into your feed reader; and click here for the GenesisNews Print Daily – you can even take out a free subscription for this daily news update on print, publishing, packaging and associated technology!

PIND087

Missed Issue 86, including the Manroland Sheetfed announcement? Then simply click here!

Issue 85: Kodak update; used presses; ultrabooks
Issue 84: Manroland break-up; Kodak Chapter 11
Issue 83: tech snippets and software



Get Your Print News Every Day!

Got friends that might like GenesisNews? Tweet them now: click here!

Printing Industry News Digest No.86, February 4, 2012

Welcome to Printing Industry News Digest (PIND) issue 86, providing a summary of major news items from the printing, publishing, packaging, digital, and communications technology sectors. PIND incorporates brief summaries and links to the week's key news stories so that you can look up that all important detail, digging deeper behind the headline. Do also take a look at our automated Twitter-based GenesisNews Print Daily publication; why not take out a free subscription for a daily digital delivery!

The big news this week in print has to be Manroland's sheetfed business being purchased by a UK company. The news came the day after the sale of the Manroland web business to German company Possehl - a deal that had been previously reported and therefore came as no surprise to anybody. Thursday February 2 however delivered news of the sheetfed operation very much from left-field. Langley Holdings, Retford, Nottinghamshire, were the surprise name behind the early morning PrintWeek headline. Along with the Offenbach factory the Langley deal reportedly includes the press suppliers 40 international sales operations. A new UK business, Manroland Sheetfed Holdings, has been registered at Companies House.

The news as officially delivered in a joint press release from the Langley Holdings web site is here, and a take on the story from What They Think? is also included.

In the world of print finishing Morgana Systems detailed a deal with Vivid Laminating Technologies to sell its Matrix single-sided, mid-range laminating kit in the UK.

The the world of tech, the long held belief that netbook sales were taking a dive in favour of tablets and smartphones has been very much confirmed with numbers being released on the state of all tech hardware sectors.


By way of confirmation of the stats, Tablet Crunch offers a view on the huge surge of tablet sales in 2011, which it calculates as a 260% increase. No surprises that Apple continues to top the chart with shipments of 15.4 million units, calculated as 57.6% of the market.

One major competitor in 2012 is surely going to be the Kindle Fire. Best estimates suggest that some 6 million of these Amazon devices were shipped in Q4 of 2011. One to keep a close eye on in 2012 for sure!

Aiding these sales tablet figures are ever cheaper products, though Lifehacker agrees with our own PIND findings that sub-$100 hardware generally isn’t up to the standard required for those that really want to work! Cheaper but significantly less responsive resistive screen technology is the main dividing line in our opinion, along with early Android variants that were never up to the demands of a tablet.

Almost finally, one great piece of tech that all male iPhone users will want to get their hands on came to our attention this week: Hot Wheels radio-controlled vehicles that you can control from your phone! Go on then: all rush out and buy one today!

Finally, do keep checking back to see what will be featured in our next edition, PIND 87. For an RSS feed of PIND, copy this link into your feed reader; and click here for the GenesisNews Print Daily – you can even take out a free subscription for this daily news update on print, publishing, packaging and associated technology!

PIND085

Missed Issue 85, including Kodak update; used presses; and ultrabooks? Then simply click here!

Issue 84: Manroland break-up; Kodak Chapter 11
Issue 83: tech snippets and software
Issue 82: Kodak news and publishing topics



Get Your Print News Every Day!

Got friends that might like GenesisNews? Tweet them now: click here!