Printing Industry News Digest No.97, April 21, 2012

Welcome to Printing Industry News Digest (PIND) issue 97, 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.

The team at PrintWeek has this week announced its own PrintWeek@Drupa app to help guide you around Europe’s biggest and best in print when you visit Dusseldorf in the very near future. The app is available in iPhone, Android, and Blackberry flavours. A stand guide, schedule of events, show maps, and integration with key Twitter feeds are all included.

If you are not able to get there yourself, do keep up to date with news and events both before and during the show at the Drupa show web site.

The leading digital label press supplier, Xeikon, has announced that its Drupa line up will include a dedicated carton printing line, as well as its recently acquired flexographic CtP product.

Japanese press manufacturer Mitsubishi has announced details of its show exhibit, which will centre around a five-colour Diamond V3000LS sheet-fed press. The product will incorporate the latest ecoUV drying system and the Diamond Eye-S inline quality control system.

Meanwhile, KBA is due to install what it claims is the world’s longest B1 sheet-fed press. The machine is due to arrive at a Swiss tobacco packaging facility, and will consist of some 19 units. These include 10 printing and three coating units.

In the world of newspapers, it’s all change at Johnston Press. This will basically include a lot more emphasis on web based news, and less on paper, with a number of local daily publications switching to a weekly printed copy.

The technology of Twitter, however, has helped the Tuscaloosa News to win a Pulitzer Prize for breaking news reporting. The coverage concerned the tornados in that region back in 2011, and included both print and online work.

Publishers might like to take a look at The Economist Group’s thoughts regarding measuring the influence of tablets on the magazine market.

Following on from recent print v. technology entries, this week we point you towards What They Think’s article detailing how to survive what it describes as the print industry’s “perfect storm”. Do read it in tandem with “15 Years of Rapid Change”, which summarises very well just how far this industry has come in a real short amount of time. Business Reporter, in the meantime, reminds us of the power of print.

Kindle owners might like to be aware of a recently added interface from the “read it later” service Instapaper. Well known for its ability to gather links during the day of web articles that you would like to read, but just not yet, a recent addition to the settings allows for a daily delivery of links to a single Kindle document. Read through the links here to guide you through the set-up. Once a day (you pick the time) links are delivered to your Kindle as one single document, similar in style a newspaper on Kindle, where a contents listing is provided on the right hand site of a cover page. It’s a great way to automate the delivery of free and relevant content to your e-reader for consumption on the train, or while relaxing at home in the evening.

Finally, do keep checking back to see what will be featured in our next edition, PIND 98. 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!

PIND097

Missed Issue 96, including the role of print in communications? Then simply click here!

Issue 95: Ryobi/Miyakoshi B2 digital
Issue 94: DM Screening and Morgana
Issue 93: Latest digital for Drupa


Updated daily, get Tech News as it relates to print and publishing.
Visiting Drupa? You need the PrintWeek Drupa app: available in iPhone, Android, and Blackberry flavours!

Printing Industry News Digest No.96, April 14, 2012

Welcome to Printing Industry News Digest (PIND) issue 96, 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.

If evidence was ever needed that print still has a role to play in all communications and advertising campaigns, Kelly Mallozzi offers it, having received a piece of direct mail through the post from, of all companies, Google! Creative and attractive print, personalised in this instance, and with a great offer. What could be better?! You might also like to take a look at some suggestions for integrating print and social media.

For a point of debate on the future of print, you might also like to take a look at this excellent documentary piece (22 minutes long) on print and its challenges. Higher resolution would be even nicer, but it does explain many of the issues well.

Ink developments continue to abound in all forms of print, and Labels & Labeling have been taking a look at a number, including low-migration UV inks, and opaque UV flexo whites.

With more technology comes more crazy people trying to infect it! Mac owners will have had a particularly tough week, and might like to check out this link to find out more about the recent Trojan that made the news.

In the world of publishing, Time Out, New York, has announced new iPad and iPhone apps, whilst the Guardian provides a good overview of the magazine app market as it has developed to date. Switching to e-books, Apple still appears to be in hot water.

Tablet pricing comes back on our radar this week with a number of soon to be products, including the latest from Samsung. With the Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1) and (7.0) to be released in the US on April 22, it is pricing of $400 and $250 that grabs the eye as much as the ICS Android spec. Translate those prices directly to UK costs and £150 and £250 (near as) come out of the calculator – both very attractive you have to say! A decent 7-inch product for £150 [ignore price in review!] could get the tills ringing big time in our opinion.

With Apple dropping the price of its iPad 2 to something in the order of £325/£330 in the UK, you certainly can’t afford to be over that in our opinion. Samsung’s aggressive pricing of the 7-inch model also might help to persuade Apple that there is a market for its product in this format (or maybe the price with send them running!).

If Samsung is setting the benchmark with those numbers, the rest cannot afford to be too far away. Acer has certainly taken heed of this recent downward shift with the tag on its Iconia Tab A200 10.1-inch model showing a competitive £280. That does now have to be seen as real world territory for Android machines, otherwise even more buyers will tick the Apple box.

Toshiba, however, still wants to hang on to big numbers. One interesting big number that it has come up with, however, is a 13-inch tablet. Is Android good enough to be seen that big? For £400 / $650 you can find out. Stretch that to £470 / $750 for the 32Gb version.

Along with the inevitable growth of the tablet market, cloud services have to shape up, grow up and follow. CNet offers its thoughts on the best services for email, storage, movies, music, and more.

Next week we will aim to get into the Drupa spirit big time, as we look at the important unveilings offered by the show, and start to point readers who intend to visit in the right directions . . .

Finally, do keep checking back to see what will be featured in our next edition, PIND 97. 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!

PIND096

Missed Issue 95, including Ryobi/Miyakoshi B2 digital? Then simply click here!

Issue 94: DM Screening and Morgana
Issue 93: Latest digital for Drupa
Issue 92: HP’s B2 digital press



Follow @GenesisNews on Twitter for regular updates.

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

Printing Industry News Digest No.95, April 7, 2012

Welcome to Printing Industry News Digest (PIND) issue 95, 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.

Ryobi and Miyakoshi have been busy this week announcing details of the latest runner in the B2 digital stakes at the forthcoming Drupa. This one appears to have the rest stuffed into a cocked hat with regard to potential productivity, with an 8,000 sheets per hour throughput. UK Ryobi distributor Apex Digital Graphics adds its thoughts.

Matthew Parker examines the whole topic of B2 digital presses and what they will bring to the market, and specifically to the print buyer. Perhaps it is the personalisation opportunities above all else that provide the stand out potential, but print buyers will need the associated data to make this work for them of course.

Print Media Centr offered up this wonderful infographic on print: Print is Big might help to convince you or your customers that print still has a critical role to play in marketing and communications.

Whilst still in print, this interesting article from PrintWeek regarding technology patents caught our eye recently. Patents are very much in focus with Apple doing battle with just about everybody. Adam Hooker examines the value of such tactics in the print world and to the less well off.

In a Guardian article that is headed “The death of printing has been greatly exaggerated” you sadly won’t find too much good cheer with regard to our ink on paper variant. This feature is more focused on your desktop printer, and its workload. It does make you think though: we believe that our printers at PIND are certainly used a lot less than once was the case. It’s more often the case that we will send an article to “Read It Later” rather than to the printer these days.

Printer RR Donnelley is making waves in the tech world with the purchase of Real Value Corporation, makers of the iPad shopping app CoffeeTable. An interesting move for one so big in putting ink on paper.

Another newsstand anyone? A group of leading publishers think we need one, and have created Next Issue to provide a common format for their digital publications.

Meanwhile, publishers are preparing to sue as Boundless Learning shapes up for an open alternative to the textbook market. An interesting one!

The jury would still appear to be out as to whether Apple with drop down in size to the 7-inch tablet market. TechCrunch offers some possible clues and some very persuasive arguments as to why it will. Despite our initial objection to a 7-inch slate of any kind, this posting makes us think twice.

Need to send the occasional file that is a bit bigger that your e-mail account will allow? Sure, Dropbox might help, or the cavernous capabilities of Box, but maybe the easiest solution found to date is one that we were introduced to this week: DropSend. Free for up to five files per month, $5 will allow for 15 per month, whilst $19 offers unlimited sends. All options cater for files of up to 2Gb, with various storage options also available on the pay-for product.

For those who have never experimented, Lifehacker offers us this week an article dedicated to customising any folder or app icon in Windows. Take a look. It really can make finding key items so much easier. Also, don’t wait for Windows 8 we are told: this selection of Windows enhancements is available now!

For typography geeks only: a limited edition of Scrabble will be available from August of this year, at a price of $199; get your orders in now!

Almost finally, we do have to light the candles, as this is our second anniversary! Two years of PIND and we sail on briskly towards issue 100!

Finally, do keep checking back to see what will be featured in our next edition, PIND 96. 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!

PIND095

Missed Issue 94, including DM Screening and Morgana Charity Ride? Then simply click here!

Issue 93: Latest digital for Drupa
Issue 92: HP’s B2 digital press
Issue 91: print v. e-books debate



Follow @GenesisNews on Twitter for regular updates.

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

Printing Industry News Digest No.94, March 31, 2012

Welcome to Printing Industry News Digest (PIND) issue 94, providing a summary of major news items from the printing, publishing, packaging, digital, and communications technology sectors.

For a charitable kick-off, Andrew Webster, co-founder and director of Morgana Systems, has announced details of a bike ride that he will be undertaking in July of this year. The ride, from London to Paris, is aiming to raise money for Willen Hospice – a facility for the terminally ill where former Morgana employee Frank Lewis recently spent his last days. Please sponsor!

In the world of print, colour specialist The Missing Horse Consultancy tells us all about the wonders of DM or “beautiful screening”.

Does the recent postal increase in the UK put a question mark over the future of greetings card printing? Hallmark has certainly made further digital moves recently with the acquisition of SpiritClips, a photo and video e-card specialist.

Workforce relations go from bad to worse at packaging producer MMP, with the decision to close the strike affected Bootle plant.

Roy Greenslade in the Guardian points us towards a poem-cum-rap entitled “They tell me print is dead – but . . .” However, the same publication warns newspapers of creating link-ups with digital brands.

The role of the writer is very much in focus in a feature on e-publishing in the Guardian this week, whilst a US site asks if advertising can survive the move into the digital world. Meanwhile, if you want to learn how to publish a book on Amazon Kindle, look here!

Is your jury still out on the benefits of Twitter? In “The Power of Twitter” one recent convert explains what won him over.

Elsewhere in tech, RIM and Blackberry have been stealing the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Is the company right to exit the consumer market? Plenty of thoughts here and here.

In the tablet world, Google has decided to take slate sales into its own hands with the creation of an online store. It needs to make some money out of Android somewhere. Suggestions are that it actually makes more money from iOS right now!

With QR codes in focus, Gigaom tells us about an ink that can be read by your touchscreen, whilst the screen itself is in focus at LG with the unveiling of the latest in e-paper.

With the aim of providing a clearer focus on technology issues affecting both print and publishing, GenesisNews has created a sister site entitled Tech&Comms News. Available as a stand-alone site, postings are also shown as an RSS news feed on the GenesisNews home page.

One other e-newsletter worth keeping an eye on was spotted this week: Dispatch, from The Seybold Report, is certainly worth a bookmark. It reminds us older chaps of the power wielded by The Seybold Report back in the 1980’s when pre-press and publishing were undergoing such radical change.

The second anniversary edition of PIND will be upon us next weekend (well, near as makes no difference I guess!): edition one of our weekly publication appeared on April 9, 2010. Believe it or not, it celebrated as a lead article the launch of a product called the Apple iPad. Do check back for PIND 95 next week!

Finally, do keep checking back to see what will be featured in our next edition, PIND 95 (our 2^nd Anniversary edition!). 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!

PIND094

Missed Issue 93, including more digital for Drupa? Then simply click here!

Issue 92: HP’s B2 digital press
Issue 91: print v. e-books debate
Issue 90: UK exhibition focus, publishing news



Follow @GenesisNews on Twitter for regular updates.

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