Printing Industry News Digest No.113, September 15, 2012

Welcome to Printing Industry News Digest (PIND) issue 113, 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.

Following recent news items regarding its web printing business, Friday offered up even worse news for the Alderson Brothers Print Group with all trading divisions being placed into administration, including its digital, sheetfed and post-press operations. A grim day for the brothers, and another major signpost erected for print businesses of all shapes and sizes.

On a more positive note for print, news of the BPIF Excellence Award winners was also announced at the end of the week. Benson Box were acclaimed winners of the Lean Manufacturing award, illustrating that print can still be at the heart of a profitable business.

Further to recent stories in PIND, it has been suggested that Kodak may even scrap its patent auction due to the low bids that have been received to date.

Just in case you spent this last week in another galaxy, Apple launched the iPhone 5. Do you need one? Some are suggesting that this might be the last of the big iPhone “show” launches. Perhaps just as importantly, a new iPhone means a new version of iOS – iOS6 as it happens – and a new version of iTunes.

Of equal importance – and there is an important link – the UK’s first 4G network is expected to be up and running before Christmas. Everything Everywhere (or EE as you may hear it refered to) is a T-Mobile / Orange company that is stealing a march on other industry players, and (hopefully) the combination of this new network and the above iPhone 5 will give the company is right royal lead over other industry players in the festive run-up.

More digital newspapers: the Observer is now available as part of the latest iPad edition of the Guardian app. A glimpse at US newspaper advertising revenues will illustrate the essential need for newspapers to migrate to online editions. It suggest also, however, that this alone will not be a saviour.

The Alphagraphics franchise business has taken a long hard look at itself and the way it does its business. Amazingly the re-modeled business is now leading the way again, whilst moving away from its traditional quick-print and copying business.

A frightening thought: according to Microsoft, malware has been appearing on computers even prior to sale! Factory installed viruses have led to Microsoft lawsuits being issued.

Raspberry Pi as a supercomputer? Yes, you read that right! Raspberry Pi and Lego to be precise . . . !

Nudge, nudge; wink, wink: topless iPad Mini pics chief? Go on, take a look. You know you want to! Prefer more real world? Amazon Fire HD review will do for you then Sir.

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.

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Missed Issue 112, including the new Kindle’s? Then simply click here!

Issue 111: more printed electronics
Issue 110: Kodak film exit?
Issue 109: Heidelberg IPEX



Get your Tech & Comms updates direct from the blog, use the RSS feed, or keep updated via Twitter.

Printing Industry News Digest No.110, August 25, 2012

Welcome to Printing Industry News Digest (PIND) issue 110, 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.

Kodak takes the late-comers top spot this week following yesterday’s revelations regarding the bits of the business it wants to offload in the great sell off. Following the less than successful patents sale, the company now wants rid of film and its “personalised imaging” and “document imaging” businesses – which are not the print-focused bits, even though it sounds very much like it! It seems to comprise in-store photo printing kiosks and those annoying picture-taking systems at theme parks that snap you eyes-tight-shut and open-mouthed as you round the last corner of the ride of death. Read the links; more will surely follow.

Elsewhere the web printing part of the Alderson Brothers Print Group appears to have fallen on hard times, or is banking with the wrong bankers, depending on which version of the story you wish to believe. We hope it’s the bankers fault; we like Pete and Ron.

In the world of publishing the HarperCollins Chief Exec has been using the description “multimedia content providers” to describe the business. Needs further investigation!

Further to last week’s rumours, iPad Mini appears to have gotten itself a release date, if you believe everything you read. Our concerns about the probably size of this “mini” still remain.

Also further to our extensive Tablet Talk last week, we have noted a general trimming of Android tablet prices in all areas of the market. A visit to the local HMV store was followed by a stroll through the pages of Amazon. These views confirmed our thoughts that the arrival of the Google Nexus 7 has set new pricing levels for Android product right across the board. Seven, eight, nine and ten-inch Android tablets are now being heavily discounted to bring them into the same price arena as the Nexus, many dropping below the £200 mark, and closer to £150, in order to remain competitive.

Samsung might generally still be expecting higher returns, but then they have big bills to pay right now too! If you are going the wrong side of £300 for a ten-inch tablet you need very good reason not to be going the whole hog and buying an iPad, in our opinion.

These are virtually all Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich / ICS) based too, which really is the final nail in the coffin for earlier versions: retailers might as well give them away! You, being an avid reader of PIND and other tech info, would not be seen dead with one for sure, unless there was an obvious and immediate upgrade path.

For those of you that have also invested your pocket money in Google Nexus 7, here are a couple of web based forums that you might like to stick your name on. Generally quite good info, and answers to the questions that you didn’t know you had.

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.

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Missed Issue 109, including Heidelberg IPEX exit? Then simply click here!

Issue 108: Kodak Patents
Issue 107: Olympic Print
Issue 106: Mountain Lion Launch




Get your Tech & Comms updates direct from the blog, use the RSS feed, or keep updated via Twitter.

Printing Industry News Digest No.102, June 30, 2012

Welcome to Printing Industry News Digest (PIND) issue 102, 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.

We have to start this week with British banks. Not as focused as our normal subject matter I know, but no business, and virtually no individual can function without a bank account. How have we allowed British banks, therefore, to become so apparently morally corrupt and incompetent? Even the leader of the Labour party has criticised them! This has been one crazy week. I say one: for two weeks now one major organisation has not been able to sort out an upgrade to its computer systems! Barclays, we are now told, has been making up its own inter-bank interest rates, and yet another mis-selling issue has now come to the fore as well, regarding complex packages for small businesses that have led to excessive interest rate charges. Something has to be done and quickly!

I am glad not to be banking with Barclays I have to say, and no, I don’t fancy taking on their PR business either! This year alone we have seen the bank paying a £500 million chunk of tax that it had tried to avoid; an increase in the PPI mis-selling bill to £1.3 billion; this week’s £290 million fine for fixing Libor rates; and all of the flack re Mr Diamond’s reported £17 million annual salary. If the Barclays boss does end up leaving – and that, at time of writing, is only an “if” – he is unlikely to be signing on at the job centre me thinks. He will surely be able to struggle through with his multi-million pound fortune! Are you a Barclay banker like Bob?

Meanwhile, back on planet earth, Forbes is posing the question regarding the death of print: not yet is says. There: one bit of good news for the week! One item brushed on by Forbes is the ability of QR codes to link print in with the internet. Mobile Marketing Watch tells us more about making QR codes work for you.

Printed books are certainly still alive and kicking according the Daily Telegraph. It advises that the “Mommy Porn” book Fifty Shades of Grey has become one of the fastest selling adult paperbacks as it moved swiftly past one million printed copies. In the same breath, it has also whacked up a million sales on Kindle too, illustrating that such publications are not chained to one specific format!

Whilst bankers have been fiddling, Google has been busy with a host of announcements at its own I/O event. Headline act: the 7-inch Google Nexus tablet, which will hit the stores very swiftly. UK launch of two products during the next month! It sounds like a good competitor for the Kindle Fire, which of course we still can’t get on this side of the pond. Basics: 8Gb mid-July £159; 16Gb July 27, £199.

In response, Amazon is strongly rumoured to be launching a 10-inch quad-core tablet, with a late-July release date. PR puff? Could be. Watch this space, or even better, watch Tech&Comms for a daily update on this sort of stuff!

Other Google talk: offline editing for Docs and Drive Apps for iOS and Chrome OS; Chrome browser for iOS; Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

Mr Murdoch is splitting the New Corp empire into two businesses: entertainment and media in one pot, and print and publishing in a second. Looks like a smart move, say some, in order to keep the modern, future focused business away from the old print and publishing stuff. “This could not be further from the truth,” says Murdoch. He says that the paywalls for his newspapers are working, and that they are going to be pushed even harder.

Manage a digital print business and have the golf bug? Good news, especially if you are in the Bristol area of the UK! Morgana is launching its Pro Series roadshows with an event in this neck of the woods. Morgana Pro finishing products coupled with a bit of tuition from the golf pro at the Bristol Golf Club, July 24 and 25. Sounding good! Sign up now.

Finally, 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 update on print, publishing, packaging news and associated technology!

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Missed Issue 101, Including Microsoft Surface launch? Then simply click here!
 

Issue 100: latest newspaper news? 
Issue 99: PIND Drupa 2012 wrap-up
Issue 98: Cloud space offerings compared



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