HP

Digital printing has saved the book industry. The old business model that printed an excess of books has been replaced for many titles by a more efficient on-demand model. Consider my personal example: Back in 1972, I wanted to self-publish a book. I only wanted 500 copies, but the printer said the minimum run was 5,000. I still have 4,000 copies in the warehouse, because someone may want a book on 1970s phototypesetting some day.

Digital colour printing is an opportunity for book printers to win back work that is currently being offshored, according to speakers at last week's annual London Digital Book Printing Forum. HP business manager Roger Stabler, who spoke at the event last Wednesday (20 June), said he was seeing "a lot more onshoring of colour", which could be driven by publishers recognising the cost of producing a book over its whole life-cycle, including storage and transportation, rather than just the print costs. CPI UK head of digital Martin Collyer said that the printer, which launched its Quantum digital colour book

The Apple iPad extended its lead in the global market for tablet computers at the start of 2012 while Amazon's Kindle Fire flamed out after a sizzling introduction, a survey showed on Monday. The ABI Research survey showed overall global sales of media tablets amounted to 18.2 million in the first three months of the year, up 185% from a year earlier, but down 33% from the fourth quarter gift-giving season. Apple

Recently returned from the drupa printing exhibition in Dusseldorf, Germany, Color-Logic executives reported their stand was swamped with visitors for the duration of the show.  Commenting on the Color-Logic reception at drupa, Color-Logic Director of Sales and Marketing Mark Geeves said: “Although Color-Logic had only a small kiosk within the HP stand, customers found us throughout the show. 

INTERQUEST, a leading market and technology research and consulting firm serving the digital printing and publishing industry, today announced its 2012 London Digital Book Printing Forum. The third annual event, which will focus on trends and opportunities in digital book manufacturing, will be held Wednesday, June 20 at the Royal Society, Carlton Terrace, in London. www.inter-quest.com/focused-forums/2012London

Computerworld — Spending $150 to $200 on a tablet won't get you much these days: In most cases, you're looking at an off-brand Android product with a single-core processor, barely any RAM and a low-resolution, low-quality display. Depending on the device, you might not even have access to Google's app market or other basic services — and while that approach may work with retailer-backed, limited-use products like Amazon's Kindle Fire, when it comes to more traditional Android tablets, it doesn't usually lead to the best user experience. It's a stark contrast from what you get at the high end

An energized Publishing Business Conference and Expo, Book Business and Publishing Executive magazines’ annual event at the Times Square Marriott Marquis, March 19-21, was grounded in optimism and realism, and primed for a promising future in the digital age for book manufacturing and print-based book production.

Addressing the overflow audience at the Marriott's Astor Ballroom, our very own Joan of Arc at the ramparts, Editorial Director Noelle Skodzinski—fully armed with the arguments of comon sense and history to support her—sounded a much-needed balancing and defiant keynote to prevailing “stiff upper lip” scenarios about the decline of the publishing industry. She reminded us, paraphrasing from both Monty Python and the Holy Grail and the Encyclopedia Britannica blog’s notice that it had discontinued its venerable print edition, that publishing is not dead, change is okay, and that the future is alive with new opportunities in our pursuit of continued success and excellence in the publishing business.

HP announced new digital press solutions that offer greater flexibility and higher productivity to help print service providers (PSPs) and publishers meet growing market demand for customized, shorter-run and personalized publications. The solutions, which HP will showcase May 3-16 at the drupa tradeshow, Düsseldorf, Germany, include:

—  HP T360 and T410 Color Inkjet Web Presses, offering faster monochrome speeds (244 meters/800 feet per minute),(1) and an HP T230 Color Inkjet Web Press offering faster color speeds (122 meters/400 feet per minute),(2) for higher-volume book manufacturing.

—  The HP Indigo W7250 Digital Press, a high-volume, roll-fed device offering 33 percent faster throughput(3) for one-off and short- to medium-run production of high-end color textbooks, journals, manuals and trade books.

—  The HP Indigo 10000 Digital Press – the first offset-quality digital press in a B2 size format (750 x 530 millimeters [mm] / 29.5 x 20.9 inches) suitable for printing a very broad range of publishing applications, including book signatures. Available next year, it offers HP Indigo’s unparalleled print quality and extensive media flexibility.

—  The HP Indigo 7600 Digital Press, a sheet-fed press offering greater versatility and productivity, improved automation(4) and exclusive special effects for book cover printing.

Planned sales of competing tablets were falling even before the new iPad was revealed This was supposed to be the year that Apple (AAPL) started losing market share in the rapidly growing tablet market. That may be happening among consumers, if you count the Amazon's (AMZN) Kindle Fire as a full-fledged tablet. But there's no sign of it happening in the enterprise. In fact, a ChangeWave survey of 1,604 business IT buyers conducted in February  — even before the new iPad was revealed and iPad 2's price was cut — found that more than one in five (22%) planned

You can’t spend three days at a conference such as the recent Tools of Change (February 13-15) and not marvel at the logistics, atmospherics and the countless insights and discoveries sprinkled throughout the event.

The location at the Times Square Marriott provided a striking reminder of the new power of electronic media in lights and motion. The glittering mash up of news crawls, jumbo video screens, advertising and entertainment that now define the Manhattan theater district, and Broadway and 42nd Street has become an urban theme park.