HP Canon & Epson Ink, Lexmark, Brother Toner cartridge Printer Ink Cartridges News

What is Solid ink?, cartridges that have dried out or been frozen?.  It is actually a technology developed some years ago by Tektronix and bought by Xerox who have invested heavily in new developments.  We have had a Xerox 8400 Solid ink printer for years and swear by the technology.

A Xerox printer that utilizes solid ink technology does not rely on ink cartridges or toner cartridges. Instead, it uses no-mess, non-toxic, resin-based solid ink sticks, not unlike your child’s crayons. Each stick can last for up to a maximum of 2,300 printed pages, depending on your device. The kind of device will also determine the number of ink sticks that can be loaded into it.

So how does solid ink work? At a high level, the concept is that the solid ink is heated to produce the ink required for printing. The print drum then uses the ink to transfer image to paper. In the Xerox Phaser 8560, the solid ink is loaded into receptacles – this model can accommodate 4.

Then, when a print job is submitted for printing, a long-life maintenance roller (part of the Xerox’s long-life component initiative) applies a microscopic layer of silicone oil to the heated drum for reliable ink release. A full-width printhead then applies all colours at the same time on the rotating drum and a sheet of paper rapidly goes through between the drum and a transfix roller, which transfers ink to paper, creating a printed image.  This also means that the printer is very fast - we routinely print at about 28PPM and it is the same speed whatever amount of coverage you have on the paper.

Now, as the ink is transferred to the paper, it penetrates the paper’s fibres where it cools and solidifies almost immediately. You will not see the spreading of liquid ink common to inkjet’s, or the scattering of toner common to laser printers. Since the ink solidifies right away it creates a strong, permanent bond to the paper. The result is a sharp, well-defined image – and this all happens in about 5 seconds.  It also applies a gloss like finish which gives all of your printed documents a real cachet. 

Since the solid ink is laid into a receptacle within the machine, ink can be replaced or added anytime – there’s no need for downtime to replace cartridges and there will be no printing interruptions. And since the ink is not encased in a cartridge, there are no wasted components — another way to help save the environment.

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With the advent of WiFi enabled printers and Networked printers it may seem that everyone is already networking their printers, however if you have been using a USB printer on your own Computer and then have started to add other users to your network have you ever thought of adding a print server to your network as well?, or should I put that another way?.  Have you got a printer with just a USB port which as your small network has expanded you want to share with other users?.  So you’ve enabled Share Printer from your Computer control panel and that is working fine whilst your Computer is turned on, however for not a lot of money you can actually add a print server box onto your network making your standalone printer much more useful across the network.

So, what is a print server?, basically a small box that you plug straight into your Cat 5 network or router and then the printer into that and hey presto - a networked PC!.  This may not sound like a major deal, but trust me: Once you’ve sampled this kind of setup, you can’t go back to old-school printer sharing. 

A USB Print Server can alleviate printing problems by simplifying network printing. Sharing a single USB printer eliminates the need to maintain and purchase supplies for multiple printers. Additionally, a dedicated print server removes the need to have a dedicated computer powered on to support the printer.

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HP today announced that it has resolved patent violation issues with China-based Ninestar Image Co., Ltd. relating to HP 02 and HP 14 inkjet cartridges.

As part of the settlement, Ninestar acknowledges that HP’s patents are valid and infringed, and has agreed to stop selling the cartridges in question in the United States and other countries where HP has corresponding patent rights. Additionally, the company has agreed to pay HP an undisclosed sum of money.

"HP is committed to defending its investment in intellectual property and will continue to vigorously pursue legal enforcement against practices that do not respect HP’s IP rights," said Stephen Nigro, senior vice president, Inkjet and Web Services Business, Imaging and Printing Group, HP. "We are pleased with the timely resolution of this matter and will continue to monitor the marketplace for intellectual property infringements as part of our commitment to worldwide testing and enforcement efforts."

This is HP’s second patent violation issue with Ninestar. In July 2006, HP filed complaints with both the U.S. District Court and the International Tr

ade Commission for patent infringement relating to a different set of inkjet cartridges. The parties reached a settlement in March 2007 in which Ninestar admitted the validity of HP’s patents and agreed to remove its products from specified countries.

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More than a month ago, we passed on a warning provided by HP regarding a vulnerability that was discovered in the web administration interface of some HP LaserJet models when these are connected to the internet. Basically, the weakness allows hackers and attackers to control the printer remotely using the internet.

HongZheng Zhou of McAfee Avert Labs Blog posted an article recently about HP printers that are still vulnerable to attack. He searched Google for ‘contrallable’ printers and came up with almost 50. Furthermore, almost all of them were not yet patched, despite the fact that HP released firmware updates to address this vulnerability in early February. It looks like there are administrators out there who are ignoring printer device security.

Once again, here are the models that are vulnerable to third party attacks:

-    HP LaserJet 2410
-    HP LaserJet 2420
-    HP LaserJet 2430
-    HP LaserJet 4250
-    HP LaserJet 4350
-    HP LaserJet 9050
-    HP LaserJet 4345mfp
-    HP LaserJet 9040mfp
-    HP LaserJet 9050mfp
-    HP Color LaserJet 4730mfp
-    HP Color LaserJet 9500mfp

Some of you may be wondering – so someone will try to remotely send a print job to my printer, so what? For companies, which are the entities who normally have online printers, this can actually be an issue. The ability to control the printer may actually serve as a gateway for serious hackers who will then attempt to control the other components of the system.

Besides, the mere fact that someone can actually send unnecessary print jobs to your printer will result in wasted paper and will make you or your company open to ‘spam printouts’, where hackers/spammers will take advantage of free advertising and send prints upon prints your way.

We reiterate what we said in February about the spread of the Conficker worm, which stressed the importance of keeping abreast with security bulletins from manufacturing companies.

So, if you have not already done so, protect your HP LaserJet; restrict access to your printer and download the HP firmware updates today from HP.Com-Support

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The HP Photosmart C4400 All-in-One Printer, Scanner, Copier series is designed for people who want to be able to print everything from documents and web pages to photos – and will value the ability to scan and copy from the same compact device.

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Enjoy an all-in-one that’s affordably priced and efficient to use. HP ink cartridges are designed for efficient usage to save you ink and money. Optional high-capacity cartridges¹ giving you 3x more prints². Energy Star-qualified.

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Get the job done with easy-to-use HP technologies. Print photos without a PC via memory card slots and 3.8 cm display. Make cut-off edges a thing of the past with HP Smart Web Printing. Included software helps you edit, print and share your photos.

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