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

Following the widely reported research from the University of Queensland reporting that laser printers create potentially hazardous particles in the atmosphere, new research from the internationally renowned Fraunhofer institutes have concluded that electric Toasters create the same sort of particles and that there is no danger to them.

Technical and financial support was provided by the printer and copier manufacturers in the German Association for Information technology, Telecom’s and new media (BITKOM) - no potential conflict of interest there then - and concluded that laser printers do create ultra-fine particles and the cause is the ‘fixing unit which heats up to 220deg C during the printing process in order to fix the toner particles to the paper.  These high temperatures cause volatile substances such as paraffin’s and silicon oils to evaporate, and these accumulate as ultra-fine particles.   The same particles have been observed during typical  household activities such as cooking, baking or making toast!. 

Does this mean we can dispose of those breathing masks we all wear every time we go anywhere near a printer?

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Both HP and Epson have been in the news this week, with medical breakthroughs powered by their respective inkjet technologies.

First HP announced that they had licensed their inkjet technology to Home Dialysis Plus, Ltd who plan to develop and build home dialysis machines based on printer technology.  Printers after all are just like dialysis machines in that both require on the fly mixing and delivery of chemicals.  In the case of dialysis, its water, saline and particular kinds of medicine.  In addition, HP’s smart memory chip technology will ensure that the correct dialysate prescription is being delivered consistently so dialysis can take place while the patient is sleeping.

Home Dialysis expect to release their first products using the HP technology sometime in 2010.

In a totally separate development, Professor Makoto Nakamura of the University of Toyama in Japan has developed a 3D printer capable of printing layers of living cells which can be ‘built’ up into living organs.  Whilst Prof Nakamura says that it may take him 20 years to be able to create a living heart he has already succeeded in building a tube with living cells,  It measures one millimetre in diameter and has double walls with two different kinds of cells, similar to the three-layer structure in human blood vessels.

The tubes are made by a 3D Inkjet bioprinter that Nakamura’s team developed in a three year project completed earlier this year at Kanagawa Academy of Science and Technology, but the original idea stemmed from the realisation that droplets from inkjet printers were about the same size as human cells, which are as small as 10 micrometres in diameter each.  He borrowed an Epson printer in 2002 from work and tried to eject cells with it, but the inkjet nozzle got clogged, so he - like many of us before and since phoned the companies help line, telling the operator that he wanted to print cells - and idea she politely dismissed!.  He did not give up though and eventually found an Epson official who showed interest and agreed to give him technical support.

In 2003, Nakamura confirmed that cells survived even after the printing process, becoming one of the first researchers in the world to unveil a 3D structure with real living cells using inkjet technology.

I wonder what sort of cartridges we will be stocking here at Stinkyink in the next ten years, print your own heart?, or bags of dialysis solution? - fascinating

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During the first half of the year (2008), the Europe Middle East and Africe (EMEA Region) saw printer sales grow by 2.2% standing at 23.8 Million units.  Central Eastern Europe and Middle East and Africa regions enjoyed the strongest growth, with shipments increasing more than 14 per cent in both. 

The market research firm Gartner revealed that the major players consolidated their positions, with the smaller players losing market share.  HP shipments grew six per cent on last year to more than 10.5 million, allowing the vendor’s market share to rise to 44.6 per cent.  Canon consolidated its position in second, with 10.6 per cent growth which grew its market share to 16.4 per cent and Epson, in third spot, saw a massive 22.5 per cent spike in shipments which saw its market share leap more than two points to 12.9 per cent.

Brother, in fourth place experienced a small decline of 0.9 per cent on last year which meant its market share dipped a fifthe of a per cent to 6.3% whilst Samsung Electronics surged past Lexmark into the top five for the first time.  Samsung’s shipments increased almost a wuarter and its market share rose from five to six percent.

Shipments from all vendors outside the top five fell 28 per cnet to 3.63 million and their accumulated market share also plummeted from 19.5 to a measly 13.7 per cent.

Gartner predicted that following single digit growth in the first half of the year, second quarter results are already showing signs of an economic slowdown which could continue into the rest of the year.

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According to a recent report by Trade Publication Channel Web Samsung has replaced Lexmark at number 5 in the Printer Manufacturer Market Share for the first half of 2008.  The league table at the moment has HP at Number 1 (as usual) and is:

Manufacturer          Market Share

HP                            44.6%

Canon                      16.4%

Epson                       12.9%

Brother                      6.3%

Samsung                     6%

Lexmark                      5.6%

This league table is not quite as exciting as the Football Championship in the UK, but it’s there for information (Notice that I don’t compare it to the Premiership - that is almost as predictable as the fact that HP is number 1)

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August Bank Holiday Offer.

To try to cheer us all up I’m going to give away a free Burger with every order – sorry just my attempt at making us smile, what I am really going to do is give a 1GB USB Memory Stick. Just order over £35 worth of goods over the Bank Holiday weekend and we will send you a 1GB USB Memory stick at absolutely no extra cost at all to you. (Offer Valid until Midnight on Monday the 25th of August 2008)

• Fully compatible with USB 2.0 and 1.1
• No Driver required (Windows 98SE driver and security tool available online at www.supertanlentflash.com)
• No external power required
• Support and autorun and password protection
• Dual LEDs indicate power and busy

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