Sunday, March 03, 2013

Printing Industry News Digest No.136, March 2, 2013

Welcome to Printing Industry News Digest (PIND) issue 136, 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.

KBA price increaseI guess the best news of the week for many associated with the printing industry is that presses are still being installed, and they are coming in a wide variety of shapes and sizes! A compact B2 machine from Ryobi, right the way through to a 17-unit B1 Heidelberg for Chesapeake.

With all of that press on their minds perhaps it was less surprising not to see them at this weeks Packaging Innovations event at the NEC, Birmingham. They might have been the only one’s not there! A busy show is a statement we are not using often in this day and age: this event was very hectic! Benson Group officially launched its new web site at the show.

Digital innovationAugmented reality has been a topic of discussion for some time now, and has proved a great novelty for many. It is suggested, however, that we are only just scratching the surface of AR, and that there is still much more to come: the glasses might change all of that! It is certainly one ideal bridge between print and the internet: an ideal tool for those in the printing world therefore!
 
AR is one way, perhaps, of helping print to create further smart anti-counterfeit devices for packaging, tickets, legal documentation, and other pieces of critical print. According to the guys at TechCrunch counterfeit is the new real!

LogitechKeysWe have been a fan of Bluetooth keyboard’s for various bits of phone and tablet kit for ages, but this Logitech product has a nice twist to it: a button to switch between two or three different products, meaning that you don’t need to re-configure your Bluetooth for each bit of kit every time you work with a new platform. Neat but a bit pricey right now.

Handy kit, however, if you are working from home and using a variety of platforms to get your tasks completed. Working from home is the future, suggests this article from the Guardian. If you are one of those home workers, you might well want to note the latest stats re tablet purchases, pointing to the popularity of the smaller format units. You might also be keen to read this article from Lifehacker on those small things that matter when buying a PC [the info is in the answers!].

Tablet timeOn the subject of tablets, what do you use yours for? Some interesting answers here! Couch surfing is a major use, but then having a second internet screen whilst at a main workstation is a great plus too. We also find the seven-inch form great for traveling with in order to read (replacing the Kindle), whilst still being handy for typing notes into [see previous PIND discussion!]

Want to de-Apple your iPhone or iPad? No, not jailbreaking – just replacing some of those annoying iOS only apps. The Guardian offers a great little article with some interesting alternatives. Interesting if you are thinking Android in the near future! How about this e-ink based Android that will run for a week on one charge?!

One of our favourite bits of software, Evernote, got itself hacked yesterday. If you are a user, you will need to comply with a mandatory password change. Your data, it would appear, is all fine though, so don’t panic! NB: any IFTTT recipes that you use with Evernote in the mix will need adjusting with your new pass too. If you are not an Evernote user, why not?

bowieOh and by the way typeface lovers: it would appear that David Bowie inspired plenty of exciting letter forms, as well as some good tunes! I never did realise that you know.

Keep your finger on the pulse: grab an RSS feed of PIND (copy this link into your feed reader); click here for the GenesisNews #Print Daily to get the latest daily stories; or click here for regular Tech & Comms updates in blog or RSS form. You can also connect to a free subscription of the Print Daily for an update on print, publishing, packaging and associated technology delivered straight to your in-box every day! For details on Genesis Marketing – publishers of PIND – click here.

PIND136    

Missed Issue 135, with news on PUR binding? Then simply click here!

Issue 134: Digital publishing
Issue 133: Hard times for heavy metal
Issue 132: Morgana turns Swedish


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