Toner Tech Zone 32

Xerox Ceo buys $8 million condominium in Manhattan N.Y.

2011-10-19T19:58:00.000-07:00

Xerox Ceo buys $8 million condominium in Manhattan N.Y.
Xerox Corp. CEO Ursula Burns’ 5,800-square-foot home in Brighton is on the mhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifarket.
According to Xerox spokesman Carl Langsenkamp, with Burns’ primary residence in Connecticut, selling the Greenfield Lane home “has always been part of her family’s plan as she moved into the CEO role.” Burns was named CEO in July 2009. She also became chairwoman of the Connecticut-based document and business services outsourcing company in May 2010.

Langsenkamp said that with the Burns family’s “close personal ties to Rochester, they’ll maintain a smaller secondary residence here.”Early this year, Burns bought an $8 million condominium in Manhattan.According to the Nothnagle Realtors listing, the seven-bedroom home on 1.6 acres has an asking price of $879,000.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20111013/BUSINESS/111013017/Xerox-CEO-s-Brighton-home-up-sale?odyssey=nav%7Chead

Does Hewlett Packard Owe Its Customers Billions?

2011-10-19T19:57:00.000-07:00

HP has been in the news a lot lately, for all the wrong reasons. Now, there’s a chance they could owe customers for a systematic breach of honoring warranties for their customers. Add this to a company that’s already playing musical chairs with CEO’s, losing well over half its stock value in the last year and a half, and shareholders threatening a revolt, and you’ve got company in a world of hurt.

A little background
A recent experience regarding an HP printer that was on the fritz, started out as a “customer hell” experience and ended with some shocking revelations from the company. After a 7.5 hour ordeal trying to convince HP that my printer was only six months old and registered, I received an email from HP addressed to “Valued HP Customer” noting they were closing the case. Instead of screaming and hurling the printer out the nearest window, I decided to contact HP media relations for a story.

Even with my low expectations for customer service at this point, I was shocked by what I learned, and became convinced that the HP systems and protocols were set up to make it unreasonably difficult to have a warranty honored:

It is HP’s policy to tell the customer their purchase date is the same day as the day the hardware was manufactured, often in Asia. HP spokesperson, Cherie Britt, stated “Without proof of purchase, the manufacture date is the best estimate HP has for the product’s purchase date.” When questioned as to why the customer is not told that this is actually the date of manufacture rather than the date of purchase, Britt declined to comment.

It is HP’s policy to close cases without the consent of the customer. When the case is closed, HP will auto-reject any email sent to HP regarding the issue, no matter how long the customer has spent attempting to resolve the matter. Britt’s comment was “The subsequent email you received from HP was meant to reiterate the reason for the case closure. Customers are welcome to open a new case to address any outstanding concerns.”

Though HP customers, like me, may think they have properly registered the product, they were not told by HP that more needs to be done to validate the warranty. HP was at first insistent that I did not register the printer, but was then forced to reconsider their position after I noted I was receiving promotional emails from HP. Britt stated “the warranty record shows that the date of purchase was not validated at the time of registration.” However, Britt would not comment on the specifics when asked what it was that I failed to do and how such a failure was communicated?

HP has significant shortfalls in documentation on customer calls requiring the customer to virtually start from scratch. In my case, HP noted they had not even retained the serial number of the unit I gave them during the call and I was first told they had no record of either the representative or the supervisor I spoke with. Britt later changed the HP position stating they did have records of who I spoke with but not the serial number of the unit.

Britt stated “HP upholds the highest standards of business ethics and treats all of its customers in a fair and ethical manner. The company currently has more than 80 million consumer products in-warranty and sells millions of PCs and printers every year.”

My analysis
While I’m definitely not an attorney, it seems to me that making it unreasonably difficult to obtain warranty support is a breach of the contractual obligation HP owes to its customers. Though this statement is unlikely to shock anyone, I’m very tenacious. My wife calls it my superpower. So despite the outstanding support I received from Office Depot, where I purchased the product, that allowed me to prove the actual purchase date, HP defeated me.

I see HP’s systems and protocols set up in such a manner as to make customers think they were properly registered, only to be told their actual purchase date was the date the hardware was manufactured in Asia. HP, of course, is then perfectly willing to provide support . . . for a fee. To make customers start from scratch by not documenting previous interactions, and to close cases without customer consent is, in my opinion, unreasonable.

If this is happening to even five percent of the 80-million products Britt noted are currently in warranty, this could be a big number for HP. Five percent of their revenue last year alone would equate to a breach on $6.2 billion in sales. That compares to a market capitalization of HP of about $52 billion.

My hypothesis is that the rapid decline in HP shareholder value is partially related to these systems and protocols I view as anti-customer. I view HP as an Americahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifn icon, and hope Meg Whitman will be successful in HP getting its groove back.

Postscript: Before publishing this article, I received an email from HP asking me to complete a survey. The email from Prasanna Dhore, Vice President, Corporate Marketing was addressed “Dear Valued HP Customer.” If first asked if anyone in my household works for the media? After I responded “yes,” the survey noted “Thank you for your willingness to participate in our survey. Those are all of the questions that we have for you today.”Author’s note: Britt did state HP was willing to work to resolve my issue and I noted I would take HP up on this offer after this story published.http://moneywatch.bnet.com/investing/blog/irrational-investor/does-hewlett-packard-owe-its-customers-billions/4575/

HP TO STOP SUPPLYING PRINTERS TO DELL

2010-11-13T02:25:00.001-08:00

HP TO STOP SUPPLYING PRINTERS TO DELL
Hewlett-Packard plans to stop supplying printers, cameras and scanners to Dell Computer, citing that company's intention to enter the printer business.
HP spokeswoman Diane Roncal told CNET News.com that the company notified Dell of its plans on Tuesday morning."The basis for the relationship is no longer valid, given the company's intent to sell Dell-branded printers," Roncal said.Roncal said Dell's business represented an "insignificant" portion of HP's total printing and imaging business, equal to only a few days' sales per year. Roncal said the company is in discussions with other resellers to pick up the sales.Dell currently offers HP's printers, scanners and digital cameras as well as its Jornada handhelds for sale on the Dell Web site. It has been widely speculated that Dell is planning to enter the printer business, although the company has not laid out its plans.

Dell spokesman Mike Maher said the company was surprised by HP's move.
"We're befuddled that the mere possibility of us entering the printer business would make them so nervous," Maher said. "It seems counterintuitive that in this market you would want to make it harder for customers to get your products."The move will have no material impact on Dell's finances, Maher said. The PC maker, he said, has direct relationships with Xerox, Lexmark, Canon and Brother, and if customers want HP printers, Dell will continue to offer them by purchasing them through the distribution channel.

Dell is still evaluating its options as far as its own brand of printers is concerned, Maher said. Dell President Kevin Rollins told the Austin American-Statesman last week that the company is likely to be in the market by the end of the year."My guess is sometime soon, you'll see us in the printer business...with a Dell-branded printer. Probably by the end of the year, you'll see something," Rollins said.HP, the world's largest printer maker, and Dell, now the No. 2 PC maker behind HP, once enjoyed a fairly close relationship when it came to printers. Dell was one of HP's largest sales outlets, according to sources. HP resellers often expressed dismay over the relationship because assisting Dell, they said, potentially cut into their own business.Since the HP-Compaq merger was announced, however, Dell has increasingly begun to buy printers from Lexmark and other HP competitors. In a similar fashion, after Compaq bought Digital in 1998, Dell replaced Digital as its field service provider.Dell began selling HP products in 1998.

Both PC makers lose
Analysts say that the relationship between the two companies, while contentious at times, had offered benefits to both."Both companies are going to suffer from this," said Gary Peterson, director of research for market researcher ARS. "Dell, like it or not, is a pretty big reseller of HP products. HP is going to miss that."At the same time, Peterson said, HP has been a significant supplier to Dell and noted that it owes a fraction of its PC sales to the fact that it has been able to bundle HP printers."Dell is going to be missing HP a great deal," he said.It's too early to predict how Dell would fare with its printers, said Bear Stearns analyst Andy Neff."This is still a war on paper only at this point--Dell does not have printers yet (and it) needs to detail its plans and execute those plans," Neff said in a note to clients.

Merrill Lynch analyst Steven Milunovich estimated that HP printers sold through Dell represent approximately 3 percent of HP's $9 billion in imaging hardware sales, but said that other partners could quickly make up for that $300 million in lost sales.

Lucrative ink sales are Dell's key motivation for entering the printer market, but Milunovich questioned whether Dell would be able to persuade consumers to buy printer cartridges by phone or over the Internet."The vast majority of supplies are bought through retail, not over the Web," Milunovich said.However, Neff said that it may be premature to count Dell out."As to the conventional thinking that 'no one will buy ink cartridges direct,' one could have said the same about PCs 10 years ago," Neff said.

Lexmark is likely on the short list of companies with which Dell might partner, a list that could also include Xerox, Epson and Canon, Neff said. "Dell will push for favorable economic terms from a vendor and may choose more than one vendor (i.e., one for laser, one for inkjet)."Peterson said he expects Dell to offer both inkjet and laser printers under its own brand, and to aim largely for low-end models that it can bundle with its PCs."They are going to have a minimal impact on the market," Peterson said. "What people don't understand is that HP is the Microsoft of the printer world. To think that Dell is going to get even 10 percent of the market is preposterous."

http://www.zdnet.com/news/hp-quits-supplying-printers-to-dell/124187

Entrepreneur Wins $625 Million Payout From Apple

2010-10-11T10:12:00.000-07:00

Yale University professor David Gelernter said Apple's software infringed on three of his patents. A federal jury agreed.
A small technology company won an eye-popping $625.5 million verdict in a patent infringement case against Apple.

On Friday, a federal jury in Tyler, Texas, found that Apple infringed on three patents held by Mirror Worlds, a company founded by Yale University computer science professor David Gelernter.

Apple is challenging both the verdict and the way the damages were calculated. If the $625.5 million figure is upheld, it would be one of the largest in patent lawsuit history.

The lawsuit, filed in 2008, claimed three Apple software features – the Cover Flow flip function, the Spotlight hard drive search tool, and Time Machine, which backs up data – violate Mirror Worlds patents. The jury agreed, awarding $208.5 million for each of the three infringements.

In 1991, prior to the Internet going mainstream, Gelernter published a book called Mirror Worlds: or the Day Software Puts the Universe in a Shoebox...How it Will Happen and What it Will Mean. The tome laid out a vision of the future in which people could access masses of real-time, real-world data via their computers.

A decade later, Gelernter's company launched Scopeware, a cascade of on-screen index cards, each of which contains a unique piece of e-mail, a webpage, or a document. (Think, well, Apple Cover Flow.) The cards are shuffled and updated as cards with new information or documents arrive.

Scopeware is Mirror Worlds' first and only product: "a highly visual system that displays a line of documents and other items dating back (or forward) in time along with the option of searching these items to retrieve and edit them," according to the lawsuit.

Before the verdict was announced Gelernter spoke to the blog BigThink about the case: "[It’s] not because of the money, but because of the deliberate failure to acknowledge work that we would have made freely available as academics. .... We’d like to see credit where credit is due."
http://www.inc.com/news/articles/2010/10/entrepreneur-wins-625-million-verdict-against-Apple.html

Comparing The Share Market,HP is NO.1 Again

2010-09-03T01:53:00.000-07:00

Vendor Highlights

* HP remains the number 1 hardcopy peripheral vendor in terms of worldwide shipments (11.9 million units), with 41.0% market share and 22.3% year-over-year growth. HP's strongest region in 2Q10 was APeJ, with 39.5% year-over-year growth, compared to 22.1% and 12.4% shipment growth in the Americas and EMEA respectively. On a worldwide basis, the vendor's MFP segment grew 26.1% and printer 15.7% year-over-year.
* Canon continues to be the number 2 ranked vendor in 2Q10 with worldwide market share of 19.3% and 13.5% year-over-year growth. The EMEA region was strongest for Canon in 2Q10, with 17.5% year-over-year unit growth, followed by APeJ and the Americas, with 15.4% and 6.4% growth, respectively. Canon posted a stronger growth in the worldwide MFP market, 21.6% versus 1.8% for printers.
* Epson maintained its position as the number 3 vendor worldwide. While its market share has remained unchanged at 14.0%, compared to a year ago, the vendor posted 20.1% year-over-year shipment growth in 2Q10. The vendor experienced the highest year-over-year growth in the Americas with 50.0%, followed by 14.2% in APeJ and 7.6% in EMEA. Epson achieved growth in both the MFP and printer markets, with strongest showing from laser MFPs, which experienced 90.1% year-over-year growth.
* Samsung strengthened its position as the number 4 vendor, gaining more than 1 point from the previous year to 5.7% share in the overall hardcopy market in 2Q10. The vendor posted the strongest year-over-year shipment growth among the top 5 vendors, with 52.3%. Samsung enjoyed significant growth (more than 50%) across APeJ, EMEA, and the Americas. On a year-over-year basis, the vendor grew 44.5% to nearly 742,000 MFP units, and 59.3% to more than 926,000 printer units worldwide.
* Brother accounted for 5.3% of the total hardcopy market in 2Q10. The vendor posted 17.7% year-over-year growth on a worldwide basis. Unlike the previous quarter, where the Americas posted the highest year-over-year shipment growth, 2Q10 saw APeJ as the best performance region with 29.9% year-over-year growth, followed by the Americas (13.7%) and EMEA (11.6%). The vendor's printer segment recorded a higher year-over-year shipment growth than MFP, 33.4% vs. 13.6%, respectively.Read More

MARK HURD TO CASH-IN $30,000,000.00 WORTH OF HP STOCK

2010-08-31T02:30:00.000-07:00

Thrown out ex CEO of Hewlett-Packard (HP), Mark Hurd is said to be planning to sell his stocks in the company. The total worth of the stocks is estimated to be $30 million. He declared about his plans way back on August 23 and the market has since been waiting in anticipation for the execution of the plans.

The report was first published in Bloomberg. The newspaper cited inside traders and said that Hurd has already sent his proposal for approval to the Securities and Exchange Commission. In the letter, he has asked for permission to sell 775,000 shares that he got while his tenure as the CEO.As per the inside reports the approval was to be given long back but it is still not clear whether it has come or not.Hurd had lost his job on August 6 and has also lost a bundle of shares because of this. But he still holds a lot of shares with him which either came to him while, he was on job and also while he was given as compensation during farewell.Hurd was thrown out for concealing his personal relationship with one of the dealer of HP.
http://topnews.us/content/224814-mark-hurd-sell-30-million-worth-hp-stock

Non-returnable HP supplies

2010-08-31T02:26:00.000-07:00

The following supplies cannot be recycled through the HP Planet Partners program.
https://h30248.www3.hp.com/recycle/supplies/non_returnable.asp?__cc=us

LEXMARK's NEW TONERS THE MOST EXPENSIVE TONERS IN THE IND. ?

2010-08-31T02:24:00.000-07:00

ARE LEXMARK TONERS THE MOST EXPENSIVE TONERS IN THE INDUSTRY ?
Ingram, Lexmark Offer Channel Partners Recurring Revenue Opportunity on Printer Supplies
Toner Advantage Program locks in channel partner’s cartridge prices for three-years on select models, provides predictable revenue flow, boosts profit.Ingram Micro Inc. said it is opening an incentive program for channel partners selling certain Lexmark International Inc. printers that provides a predictable revenue flow from sales of toner cartridges, increases profit and helps to build customer loyalty.Under the Lexmark Toner Advantage program, Ingram is offering channel partners selling either the Lexmark EG460dn, a network-ready, high-speed duplex printing model, or the TG654n, a unit designed to optimize workflow and improve cost efficiency, the opportunity to purchase toner cartridges from the distributor at locked-in prices for three years.

Channel partners participating in the toner program profit either from selling the cartridges directly to customers or from rebates offered by Lexmark for customers opting to buy from a dedicated web site.Customers buying the toner cartridges online are asked to identify the channel partner involved in the printer sale when registering the product. Lexmark, in turn, will rebate the registered reseller 10 percent of the value of the sale and count those sales toward participation in the vendor’s channel partner programs, officials said.Resellers are free to extend the three-year locked-in pricing offer to their customers but are not obligated to do so.End user prices for toner cartridge purchased online for two models of the EG460dn printer are $236 and $301, and toner cartridge prices for the two models of the TG654n unit are $410 and $509.

What is SoyPrint™?

2010-08-24T18:15:00.000-07:00

EVERYONE PRINTS BLACK... NOW WE CAN PRINT "GREEN"

HP Japan ordered to pay $270M. in back taxes

2010-08-24T18:13:00.000-07:00

HP Japan ordered to pay $270M. in back taxes

Disposable printer lasts only as long as the ink cartridge

2010-08-24T18:10:00.000-07:00

Staples program helps teachers

2010-08-24T18:08:00.000-07:00

Staples is helping teachers get the tools they need to do their jobs by hosting a Teacher Appreciation Day at store locations across the country Saturday, including the Galesburg store at 2353 National Blvd. According to the National Education Association’s research department, 92 percent of public school teachers spend, on average, $475 on classroom materials for their students.
The first 100 teachers visiting Staples from 9 a.m. to noon on Teacher Appreciation Day will receive an Avery Binder filled with paper, a pencil pouch and supplies. Teachers also will have the opportunity to preview new products and services at Staples.

Staples Rewards Teacher, redesigned in 2010 and part of Staples Rewards program, is one way Staples helps teachers who spend their own money on school supplies. By enrolling, teachers earn 10 percent back in rewards on teaching and art supplies. Staples Rewards Teacher members also get 10 percent back in rewards on ink and toner, case and ream paper, Copy & Print purchases and free delivery on all orders of $50 or more on staples.com. Teachers also can recycle ink and toner cartridges at any Staples store and receive $2 back in rewards for each cartridge (limit 10 cartridges per month). Teachers may enroll in the program at any Staples store or online at www.staplesrewards.com.

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE SETS UP SHOP @ OFFICE-DEPOT STORES

2010-08-24T18:06:00.000-07:00

Despite widespread opposition to closing post offices, the U.S. Postal Service is moving ahead with plans to expand its retail footprint into thousands of Office Depot stores. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/16/AR2010081605075.html

Printer Buying Guide

2010-08-24T18:03:00.000-07:00

Choosing the right printer for your business..., http://reviews.cnet.com/printer-buying-guide/

ARE OEM TONERS & INKS A CONSUMER RIP-OFF ?

2010-07-13T12:22:00.000-07:00

3 Facts Printer Manufacturers Don’t Want Consumers to Know
Dayton, July 2010 -- Shopping for replacement ink and toner cartridges can be an “eye opening” experience. Consumers quickly realize that the cost of purchasing a printer is minimal when compared to the cost of operating that printer, particularly the high cost of buying replacement ink and toner cartridges. It is not uncommon to find that the cost of replacing each of the four color toner cartridges in some of today’s most popular color laser printers will cost more than the price paid to purchase the printer. The purpose of this article isn’t to support or defend the cost the manufacturers charge for these consumables, rather to raise consumer awareness and to inform them about alternative replacement cartridge options.

The printer manufacturers claim that the retail cost of replacement cartridges is not “high” at all, rather “fair”. They back up these claims by stating the costs reflect the billions of dollars spent on the research and development of the science behind the ink and cartridge technologies. The reality is that the “printer consumables” product lines, which includes replacement ink and toner cartridges, are some of the most profitable product lines for printer manufacturers. The cost of printer consumables (ink and toner) has risen due to a very high consumer demand for these cartridges.

Facts Every Consumer Should Know About Ink and Toner Cartridges
Fact #1: Using Remanufactured Ink and Toner Cartridges Will Save Consumers Money
“Remanufactured” and “New Compatible” replacement ink and toner cartridges can be used by consumers instead of using “Brand New” OEM (original equipment manufacturer) cartridges.

* Remanufactured cartridges from reputable suppliers typically consist of a “re-conditioned” cartridge that has been given new parts (wipers, blades, drum, toner, ink, etc). These cartridges are subjected to quality control testing, performance testing, and then sealed and packaged for sale.
* “New Compatible” cartridges are actually manufactured new cartridges and not re-conditioned cartridges. They are considered “generic” versions of their respective OEM cartridges.

Remanufactured and new compatible ink and toner cartridges cost much less than their OEM counterparts. Most reputable vendors of these cartridges offer them at discounts of 50% - 80% less than the new OEM cartridge would cost.“Our customers typically save 50% or more when they buy remanufactured cartridges from us instead of visiting their local office supply store.” states Anthony Allen, President of PrinterExperts.com, a Dayton, Ohio based internet retailer that sells remanufactured and compatible ink and toner cartridges. “We have one customer that operates 48 auto parts stores across Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio that started buying remanufactured toner cartridges from us, which resulted in annual savings of $36,000.”

Consumers who replace ink and toner cartridges just once or twice annually can save hundreds of dollars, while consumers who replace their cartridges more frequently can realize annual savings in the thousands of dollars.

Fact #2: Using Remanufactured Ink and Toner Cartridges Does NOT Impact the Warranty of the Printer

Consumers are often misinformed and led to believe that using remanufactured or compatible cartridges in their printer will void their printer’s warranty. This is completely false. Ink and toner cartridges are “user replaceable” parts and consumers have the right, under US Federal Trade Commission Law, to use non-oem or non-branded parts when replacing them. The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Improvement Act is a United States of America Federal Law that states "Warrantors cannot require that only branded parts be used with the product in order to retain the warranty." Enacted in 1975, it is the federal statute that governs warranties on consumer products.

Consumers are encouraged to research this law and get a better understanding of their rights as consumers.

Fact #3: Remanufactured Ink and Toner Cartridges Perform “As Well As” New OEM Branded Cartridges

The ink and toner “aftermarket” is made up of many companies selling remanufactured and compatible printer consumables, mainly ink and toner cartridges. To put it in perspective, a recent study valued the global toner cartridge and toner supply industry at $40 billion annually. Aftermarket toner cartridges and toner supplies make up 25% of the market or $10 billion annually.

The reason behind this growing figure is simple. The $10 billion “Aftermarket” toner cartridge and supplies market exists because these products work and offer consumers lower cost alternatives to buying new oem branded supplies.

Consumers considering the purchase of aftermarket toner products should seek out a reputable vendor. Reputable vendors of these products typically offer 100% satisfaction guarantees on their products that will allow consumers to return the products if they are not satisfied with the performance of the supplies. Business accreditations, such as Better Business Bureau, and other company accolades should also be investigated when trying to determine a company’s ability to supply quality products and services.

Remanufactured ink and toner cartridges purchased from reputable vendors and suppliers are going to work in the printers they were designed for. Print quality, color quality, and page yields should be equal to that of the oem version of the cartridge or product.

In conclusion, consumers are encouraged to increase their own knowledge of the facts stated above as the printer manufacturers don’t promote this type of information. Understanding the information in this article and your rights as a consumer will lead to making better purchasing decisions and hopefully save you a few bucks during the process.

BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU REVOKES OFFICE DEPOT'S MEMBERSHIP

2010-07-13T11:59:00.000-07:00

BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU REVOKES OFFICE DEPOT'S MEMBERSHIP
Better Business Bureau revokes Office Depot’s membership after Florida investigation,Office Depot loses BBB accreditation
NAPLES — Office Depot’s membership in the Better Business Bureau was revoked after the Florida Attorney General’s office settled a more than two-year investigation with the company for $5.9 million, the Daily News has learned.The Boca Raton office supply giant has been the subject of at least 24 government inquiries in the past three years, among them several in Southwest Florida, but is currently the front-runner to win an office supplies contract from the state worth an estimated $42 million a year.The state’s contract for office supplies, which Office Depot has held exclusively since 2003, is used by several Southwest Florida government agencies and is expected to be replaced by late July.“We value our relationship with the BBB and we will continue to work closely with them as part of the appeal process that is currently under way,” said a statement released by the company.

For a business to be accredited by the bureau, it must “be free from government action that demonstrates a significant failure to support BBB ethical principles,” among many other stipulations.

The BBB operates bureaus across the country. When a complaint is filed about a company and not an individual store, the bureau where the company is headquartered handles the complaint. In this case, the board of directors of the bureau for Southeast Florida and the Caribbean voted June 16 to revoke Office Depot’s membership.

It is not known why the board, in revoking Office Depot’s membership, waited until the Florida Attorney General took action. When asked Tuesday, the bureau’s vice president of communications, Mike Galvin, said he had no further information concerning that question.

At the time Office Depot became a member of the bureau in June 2008, Georgia officials had banned the company from doing business with the state after an investigation reported overcharges. The ban was lifted when Office Depot let Georgia keep a $1.5 million deposit made at the start of the contract and agreed not to seek a new contract with the state.

Since then, Nebraska, North Carolina and California have investigated and taken actions against the company. California received a $2.5 million refund “in the spirit of cooperation and customer satisfaction.”

Multiple local government agencies also have taken action against the company.
San Francisco officials are seeking $5.8 million from the company. Lee County School District officials stopped buying from Office Depot and accepted a $300,000 refund early this year.In April, the Missouri Attorney General announced a settlement with the company worth up to $440,000. The Missouri settlement was similar to the Florida Attorney General’s settlement, as both concerned a pricing plan once available through a national “piggybacking” contract the company has with Los Angeles County.

The pricing plan was used by 1,083 of the 1,632 Florida agencies that were on Los Angeles County’s contract, according to a draft of the Florida settlement agreement. The pricing plan was more expensive for 85 percent of Florida customers, according to Office Depot. Officials at some of those agencies said they didn’t know they had been switched to the plan.

Attorneys general in Texas, California, Colorado and Ohio have ongoing investigations into the company’s contract practices. A joint federal investigation is being conducted by the U.S. Departments of Defense and Education, and the General Services Administration, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice.

In its statement, the company reassured customers that the revocation of its membership with BBB wasn’t related to business done with the general public.“This decision by the BBB is not related to Office Depot’s consumer sales, sales in our retail stores, on our general retail website and in our call centers to individual consumers,” the statement said.According to the bureau’s website, the company has received far more complaints than either of its major competitors. Staples, which has about twice the annual revenues of Office Depot, closed 806 complaints in the past 36 months. OfficeMax, which has just over half the revenues of Office Depot, closed 536 complaints.

While holding an A+ bureau rating before the revocation, Office Depot had closed 1,432 complaints, 1,133 of which were resolved by Office Depot “agreeing to perform according to their contract,” the bureau’s website says.Galvin said it could take a month before an appeals committee makes its recommendation to the bureau’s board, which will make the final decision concerning the revocation. He said the company's current C- rating from the bureau is a result of the revocation.“They’re a good community member,” Galvin said. “We’ll see how the appeals process moves forward.”
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2010/jul/06/better-business-bureau-revokes-office-depots-membe/

END OF CHEAP MADE-IN-CHINA ERA

2010-07-13T11:55:00.000-07:00

COMPANIES BRACE FOR END OF CHEAP MADE-IN-CHINA ERA
SHANGHAI – Factory workers demanding better wages and working conditions are hastening the eventual end of an era of cheap costs that helped make southern coastal China the world's factory floor.A series of strikes over the past two months have been a rude wakeup call for the many foreign companies that depend on China's low costs to compete overseas, from makers of Christmas trees to manufacturers of gadgets like the iPad.

Where once low-tech factories and scant wages were welcomed in a China eager to escape isolation and poverty, workers are now demanding a bigger share of the profits. The government, meanwhile, is pushing foreign companies to make investments in areas it believes will create greater wealth for China, like high technology.Many companies are striving to stay profitable by shifting factories to cheaper areas farther inland or to other developing countries, and a few are even resuming production in the West."China is going to go through a very dramatic period. The big companies are starting to exit. We all see the writing on the wall," said Rick Goodwin, a China trade veteran of 22 years, whose company links foreign buyers with Chinese suppliers."I have 15 major clients. My job is to give the best advice I can give. I tell it like it is. I tell them, put your helmet on, it's going to get ugly," said Goodwin, who says dissatisfied workers and hard-to-predict exchange rates are his top worries.

Beijing's decision to stop tethering the Chinese currency to the U.S. dollar, allowing it to appreciate and thus boosting costs in yuan, has multiplied the uncertainty for companies already struggling with meager profit margins.

In an about-face mocked on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," Wham-O, the company that created the Hula-Hoop and Slip 'n Slide, decided to bring half of its Frisbee production and some production of its other products back to the U.S.

At the other end of the scale, some in research-intensive sectors such as pharmaceutical, biotech and other life sciences companies are also reconsidering China for a range of reasons, including costs and incentives being offered in other countries."Life sciences companies have shifted some production back to the U.S. from China. In some cases, the U.S. was becoming cheaper," said Sean Correll, director of consulting services for Burlington, Mass.-based Emptoris.That may soon become true for publishers, too. Printing a 9-by-9-inch, 334-page hardcover book in China costs about 44 to 45 cents now, with another 3 cents for shipping, says Goodwin. The same book costs 65 to 68 cents to make in the U.S."If costs go up by half, it's about the same price as in the U.S. And you don't have 30 days on the water in shipping," he says.

Even with recent increases, wages for Chinese workers are still a fraction of those for Americans. But studies do show China's overall cost advantage is shrinking.

Labor costs have been climbing about 15 percent a year since a 2008 labor contract law that made workers more aware of their rights. Tax preferences for foreign companies ended in 2007. Land, water, energy and shipping costs are on the rise.In its most recent survey, issued in February, restructuring firm Alix Partners found that overall China was more expensive than Mexico, India, Vietnam, Russia and Romania.Mexico, in particular, has gained an edge thanks to the North American Free Trade Agreement and fast, inexpensive trucking, says Mike Romeri, an executive with Emptoris, the consulting firm.

Makers of toys and trinkets, Christmas trees and cheap shoes already have folded by the thousands or moved away, some to Vietnam, Indonesia or Cambodia. But those countries lack the huge work force, infrastructure and markets China can offer, and most face the same labor issues as China.So far, the biggest impact appears to be in and around Shenzhen, a former fishing village in Guangdong province, bordering Hong Kong, that is home to thousands of export manufacturers.

That includes Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology, a supplier of iPhones and iPads to Apple Inc. Foxconn responded to a spate of suicides at its 400,000-worker Shenzhen complex with pay hikes that more than doubled basic monthly worker salaries to $290. Strike-stricken suppliers to Honda Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp., among many others, also have hiked wages.

Foxconn refused repeated requests for comment on plans to move much of its manufacturing capacity to central China's impoverished Henan province, where a local government website has advertised for tens of thousands of workers on its behalf.

But among other projects farther inland, Foxconn is teaming up with some of the biggest global computer makers to build what may be the world's largest laptop production hub in Chongqing, a western China city of 32 million where labor costs are estimated to be 20 to 40 percent lower than in coastal cities.

Given the intricate supply chains and logistics systems that have helped make southern China an export manufacturing powerhouse, such changes won't be easy.

But for manufacturers looking to boost sales inside fast-growing China, shifting production to the inland areas where many migrant workers come from, and costs are lower, offers the most realistic alternative."The new game is to find a way to do the domestic market," says Goodwin.

Many factories in Foshan, another city in Guangdong that saw strikes at auto parts plants supplying Japan's Honda, have left in the past few months, mostly moving inland to Henan, Hunan and Jiangxi, said Lin Liyuan, dean at the privately run Institute of Territorial Economics in Guangzhou.Massive investments in roads, railways and other infrastructure are reducing the isolation of the inland cities, part of a decade-old "Develop the West" strategy aimed at shrinking the huge, politically volatile gap in wealth between city dwellers and the country's 600 million farmers.Gambling that the unrest will not spill over from foreign-owned factories, China's leaders are using the chance to push investment in regions that have lagged the country's industrial boom.

They have little choice. Many of today's factory workers have higher ambitions than their parents, who generally saved their earnings from assembling toys and television sets for retirement in their rural hometowns. They are also choosier about wages and working conditions. "The conflicts are challenging the current set-up of low-wage, low-tech manufacturing, and may catalyze the transformation of China's industrial sector," said Yu Hai, a sociology professor at Shanghai's Fudan University. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_CHINA_CHEAP_NO_MORE?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

HP LOSES $600M BANK CONTRACT

2010-05-24T12:04:00.001-07:00

IRELAND:HP LOSES $600M BANK CONTRACT
HP has been removed from the shortlist of runners for a Bank of Ireland services contract.The deal was won by HP in 2004 when it described the $600m, seven-year deal as Ireland's largest ever IT services contract.But HP is not being considered for renewal of the contract. Instead the Bank of Ireland is considering bids from HCL and IBM.An internal email, seen by The Register, said after a nine-month evaluation process that HP would not be considered. Instead HCL and IBM will go head-to-head for a contract, which should be awarded in the next few weeks.Bank of Ireland staff are asked to be sensitive to HP workers who have also received the news and will be wondering what impact it will have on their own jobs.

Bank of Ireland said: "After a detailed evaluation and assessment process over the past nine months, a decision has now been taken to proceed with a shortlist of two suppliers, IBM and HCL, to the next stage of the competitive process, which is expected to be completed in the coming weeks. As a result, Bank of Ireland will not be progressing further with HP as part of this process."Some 500 IT staff moved from Bank of Ireland to HP when the deal was originally signed.

HP : Why Our Inks Are So Expensive?

2010-05-24T12:00:00.000-07:00

Tired of hearing customers whine that printer ink is too expensive–and facing competition from ink-cartridge refillers–executives at Hewlett-Packard’s printing division would like to buff up the print giant’s reputation with consumers. So the company recently sent Thom Brown, who specializes in “competitive media intelligence,” on a media tour with a presentation called “Why Does Ink Cost So Much?” Opening a bag of props including a trio of shot glasses, squares of foam and some disassembled print heads, Mr. Brown earlier this week explained the complex workings of H-P print heads, and the billions of dollars the company has spent over the years developing them.He talked about the challenges in shooting drops of ink at moving pages of paper, and the perils of refilling ink cartridges rather than buying new ones from H-P. Refilling involves poking a hole in an H-P cartridge and filling it with a god-knows-what mixture of non-H-P ink–a process that can lead to smudging and other poor performance, Mr. Brown said. H-P, he added, has heard from plenty of customers who tried refilling. “A lot of them don’t have good experiences,” he said.

In addition to research-and-development, the expense of ink cartridges comes from H-P’s high-tech testing of cartridges that break. The company uses electron microscopes, Mr. Brown said, to figure out what made a printhead malfunction. H-P has started what it calls an “Ink Amnesty Program” to bring back customers who have left H-P for refillers. In exchange for sharing your bad-ink story, the program will give consumers a 20% discount coupon for H-P ink.Of course it’s not just R&D that makes H-P’s ink costs so much. With more than 40% of the worldwide printer market last year, according to research firm IDC, H-P doesn’t face serious competitive pressure that would force it to drop prices.

Mr. Brown said his area of knowledge is printing technology, not profits.
But in the company’s last quarterly earnings report, H-P’s printing division booked more than $6 billion in sales and more than $1 billion in operating profit. Its operating profit margin was 17%, but Shaw Wu, an analyst with Kaufman Brothers, said that includes sales of low-profit printers. On ink alone, he estimates that H-P’s margin is somewhere between 20% and 30%.(Reference)

CHIP RE-SETTER FOR CANON PGI-220BK AND CLI221

2010-05-03T16:05:00.000-07:00

Chip resetter for canon PGI220BK and CLI221 COLORS now available @ www.gotmycartridge.com in two different models .

Reset chip for printer Samsung SCX-4300 by Software

2010-05-03T16:02:00.000-07:00

Here is the instruction to reset the chip on the SAMSUNG SCX4300:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzc9JImUcak&feature=related

15 Amazing Concept Printers

2010-03-30T11:11:00.000-07:00

Have a peek at some futuristic printers that challenge conventional ideas--including, in some cases, basic assumptions about depending on ink, toner, and paper.here is the link http://www.pcworld.com/article/192595/15_amazing_concept_printers.html

How to Buy a Printer

2010-03-30T11:08:00.000-07:00

What you print, and how much of it you print, should guide your buying decision. We explain how to choose a printer that's appropriate for your needs.Read More...

Samsung CLP315W Compatible Toner Cartridges

2010-03-17T03:09:00.000-07:00

All colors of SAMSUNG CLP 315W Series compatible toner cartridges will be in stock by end of this month.

Brother TN210 Compatible Toner Cartridges

2010-03-17T03:07:00.000-07:00

All colors of Brother TN210 COMPATIBLE TONER CARTRIDGES WILL BE AVAILABLE SOON!

China probes HP handling of consumer complaints

2010-03-17T03:02:00.000-07:00

Consumer complaints about how Hewlett-Packard Co. is treating flaws in some of its personal computers are reportedly being looked into by China's product-quality agency.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the investigation by China's General Administration of Quality Supervision appears to be a response to a complaint by a group of Chinese consumers who claim HP discriminated against them. They say HP is not offering them the same warranty extension given to customers in the U.S. in its handling of a problem with faulty Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) graphics components in some of its laptop PCs.

The Chinese consumers have requested compensation, a public apology by HP and a recall of the affected computers.

HP has denied the consumers' claims, blaming them on confusion over the terms of an enhanced service program offered to customers world-wide whose warranties only lasted one year. HP (NYSE:HPQ) said it doesn't plan a recall of the affected PCs in China.

The Journal reported that only about 170 people in China complained about the flaws, a very small percentage of the total number of computers it has sold in the county.

VeriSign's future expansion in Mountain View fits growth plans

2010-03-17T02:58:00.000-07:00

Internet company VeriSign Inc. got the green light from the Mountain View City Council to construct a new building at its Middlefield Road campus.

Jim Morgensen, VeriSign’s vice president of workplace resources, said the company doesn’t need the building anytime soon. But in an effort to speed the process once VeriSign does need the space, Morgensen convinced the council to grant an eight-year development agreement rather than the usual two-year contract.

“We have created the right to develop anytime over the eight years but we have no immediate plans,” said Morgensen. “We wanted to do it on our time frame so we did not need to worry about getting approvals from the city.”

The design approved by the city calls for a four-story, 102,000-square-foot office building to be constructed across a parking lot. Morgensen noted that a parking garage was built when the Sobrato Organization owned the property and he estimated the future building’s value at $50 million.

“We have no immediate plans to hire,” he said. “But this is our headquarters, and as such we expect over time we will grow.”

VeriSign, which was founded in 1995, currently controls 300,000 square feet in Mountain View and employs 750 people full time and another 150 as either part-time or contract workers. VeriSign describes its company by saying it “brings trust to the Internet” by ensuring that businesses and individuals are who they say they are, that Web sites are authentic and secure and that the network is secure.

In the meantime, Morgensen said the company will leave two buildings on Middlefield Road by the end of the year. VeriSign sold them to Prudential in 2008. Employees will be moving into 43,000 square feet at 490 E. Middlefield that was leased a few weeks ago.

In addition to its Mountain View real estate, VeriSign also has an office in Dulles, Va., and in Capetown, South Africa, Bangalore, India, and Tokyo.

No matter when it occurs, city officials are pleased that VeriSign clearly plans to grow in Mountain View and see the plans as a sign the economy is starting to look up.

“This is a company we want to retain,” said Ellis Berns, Mountain View’s economic development manager. “They like being in Mountain View and this is a good opportunity for them as they grow. It’s an indication that they are looking ahead.”

Katherine Conrad can be reached at 408.299.1820 or kconrad@bizjournals.com.

Chinese Rivals Hijacked Trucks to Steal Technology, HP Says

2010-03-10T00:18:00.000-08:00

http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/03/08/25336.htm

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - Hewlett Packard claims Chinese and Taiwanese competitors stole patented printer cartridge components from HP's factory in Singapore and copied them to sell made-to-order counterfeit HP inkjet cartridges on Amazon.com. "Trucks carrying HP parts were hijacked while en route from the manufacturing facility in Singapore to the assembly plant in Malaysia ... in direct response to the heightened security measures that had been implemented in HP production facilities," HP says.
After ripping off the technology, Hewlett Packard says, Microjet Technology (of Taiwan) Mipo Technology (of Hong Kong and mainland China), and their U.S. affiliates, including SinoTime Technologies (of Florida) sold more than 300,000 of the inkjet cartridges in the United States. The defendants have the capability to make nearly 10 million counterfeit cartridges a year in Asia, Hewlett Packard says.
The 28-page federal filing is the latest in a long line of complaints that China is making up its technology gap with the United States through industrial espionage, theft, and wholesale patent infringement.
MicroJet "sells generic and/or made-to-order infringing ink cartridges to other companies, including defendants Mipo and PTC [PTC Holdings Ltd., of Hong Kong]," and sells them itself as well, Hewlett Packard says. HP claims the defendants violated six patents after stealing the HP components.
Hewlett Packard says it discovered the scheme after seeing color ink cartridges for sale on Amazon.com and Craigslist, advertised as "HP compatible."
HP bought some of the cartridges from Amazon.com, then used HP's internal tracking database to cross-reference ID numbers on components, and found that the cartridges had "a genuine HP printhead and a non-HP cartridge body that closely resembled a genuine HP cartridge body."
And it found that the printheads came from HP lots from Malaysia that had never been assembled by HP - "i.e., were identified as production gaps." All of these stolen items "were packaged in a 'Mipo' labeled box and were individually wrapped in a clear plastic interior packaging that is clearly consistent with the standard packaging for products manufactured by defendant Microjet," according to the complaint.
HP demands an injunction and damages for patent infringement, unfair competition and conversion. It is represented by Ruffin Cordell with Fish and Richardson of Washington, D.C.

Who is William Hewlett and David Packard ?

2010-03-05T22:22:00.000-08:00

Lexmark Platinum Pro905 touch screen printers

2010-02-21T01:47:00.000-08:00

Cleaner,Greener Toner Solution

2010-02-21T01:36:00.000-08:00

(R)evolutionize Your Printing

Advanced Image Resources (AIR) has developed and is bringing to market a bio-based solution for resins and toners.

This joint effort has resulted in a cost competitive, high quality product that is compatible with current hardware technologies and will provide users with seamless, environmentally friendly printing and copying alternatives.

Learn how Advanced Image Resources has further developed this revolutionary technology for commercial application and consumer use.

The vision is now a reality.Read More

EPSON CHIP RESETTING SECRET REVEALED!

2010-02-21T01:25:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJQ1FQ68lU8

The Great Leaders : Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon.com

2010-02-09T17:43:00.000-08:00

Jeff Bezos is an e-commerce pioneer who started Amazon.com to sell books, and expanded into just about everything else.
Jeff Bezos is one of the founding fathers of e-commerce, and part of a select group of entrepreneurs in that field who managed to survive the dot-com bubble without losing control of their companies. Today, his business, Amazon.com, is an Internet goliath that sells everything from books to laptops to gift baskets. Most recently, the company has acquired Zappos, the online shoe retailer, and unveiled the Kindle, the first e-reader to become a breakout hit. This risky move into consumer electronics shows that Jeff Bezos, having pioneered online retail, is not yet ready to give up the pursuit of innovation.

Bezos’ mother gave birth to him while she was still in her teens and his stepfather left Cuba for the U.S. at age 15. Growing up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and later Houston, Texas, Bezos was technically precocious; by one account he disassembled his crib with a screwdriver as a toddler. He graduated from science experiments in his parents’ garage, to a computer science degree at Princeton, to a successful Wall Street career. But Bezos wouldn’t be a household name if, in 1994, he hadn’t noticed the Internet’s potential for commerce and abandoned a well-paying job at the investment firm D. E. Shaw, to return to the garage and launch Amazon.

After inviting 300 friends and acquaintances to test his creation, Bezos took the site live and, within a month, the company had sold books in all 50 states and in 45 countries. Within two months, sales topped $20,000 a week. As Amazon’s growth accelerated, however, skeptics expected that brick-and-mortar retailers like Barnes & Noble or Borders would soon shoulder the young start-up out of the online book market. Others said the company was burning through its cash too quickly. But Bezos did not back down. “We're going to be unprofitable for a long time. And that's our strategy,” Bezos told Inc. in 1997.

The doom-and-gloom predictions turned out to be wrong. Amazon earned its first full-year profit in 2003 and, by 2008, the company’s revenue had reached $4 billion. The company succeeded in large part because it quickly embraced e-commerce innovations that improved its customer experience. Such standard operating procedures one-click shopping, e-mail verification of orders, and customer product reviews were not on the radar until Amazon adopted them.

As if that wasn’t enough, Bezos has made venture capital a side project for Amazon, investing millions of dollars with varying success in start-ups such as Talk Market, a video shopping site; Foodista, which is a user-edited cooking encyclopedia; and the infamous dot-com casualty Pets.com. On the side, he also created an entirely separate company called Blue Origin, which aims to devise the technology for commercial space flight.

Bezos has joked modestly that the success of Amazon was due half to luck, half to timing, and the rest was attributable to brains. In truth, the passion he brings to his business is what sets him apart. “One of the huge mistakes people make is that they try to force an interest on themselves. If you're really interested in software and computer science, you should focus on that,” Bezos told Inc. in 2004. “But if you're really interested in medicine, and you decide you're going to become an Internet entrepreneur because it looks like everybody else is doing well, then that's probably not going to work. You don't choose your passions, your passions choose you.”

The Best Printers for Less Than $1,000

2010-02-09T17:28:00.000-08:00

Is it time for you to graduate from that cheap ink-jet printer? We tracked down four of the best printer-scanner-copiers for less than $1,000. Our picks include two desktop printers and two standalone business-class models.Read More

HP joining 3D printer market

2010-02-08T18:39:00.000-08:00

Hewlett-Packard, one of the biggest names in printing, is dipping into the 3D printer market through a deal with Minneapolis, Minn.-based Stratasys, the companies said Tuesday.

3D printers let people create three-dimensional models out of designs created on a computer, constructing the model by either removing material from a block or by building it up gradually from another material. Stratasys will manufacture an HP-branded 3D printer set for release later this year.

This isn't a consumer product you can use to make your own copy of Auguste Rodin's "The Thinker." Instead, it's for mechanical computer-aided design tasks such as architecture or component prototyping.

The technology isn't cheap. Stratasys' least expensive model, the uPrint 3D that's small enough to sit on a desk and can make an object measuring a maximum of 8 inches by 6 inches by 6 inches, costs $14,900. The company's printers use a technology called FDM (fused deposition modeling) that gradually builds up a shape layer by layer out of a material called thermoplastic that turns liquid when heated.

3D printing has been under development for years, but HP evidently thinks the time is ripe to enter the market. "There are millions of 3D designers using 2D printers who are ready to bring their designs to life in 3D," Santiago Morera, vice president and general manager of HP's large format printing group, said in a statement.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-10436841-264.html?tag=mncol

Reality 3D Modelling Application

2010-02-08T16:05:00.001-08:00

At SIGGRAPH Asia 2009, members of the Reality Media Lab Team at Ritsumeikan University presented an augmented reality system demonstrating a woodworking application.
3D modelling for the novice can be a daunting experience when working with a complex GUI, a mouse and a 2D display, so by using woodworking as a conceptual base, the Reality Media Team are working towards a more intuitive solution.
In addition to what the user can see via the head mounted display, the tools themselves give the user tactile, visual and audio feedback in the mixed reality space.
(see video)

HP faces £200m bill for EDS 'misrepresentations'

2010-02-08T15:50:00.000-08:00

HP is facing a bill in excess of £200m after the High Court in London ruled on the ongoing case between BSkyB and HP's EDS subsidiary.

The court found that EDS has made false representations to BSkyB over its abilities in order to win a £48m contract to build a customer relationship management system for BSkyB's operations in 2000.
The contract soon became entangled in cost overruns and delays, and BSkyB sacked EDS and used its own staff to finish the job, at an eventual cost of £265m.

"EDS was not found to have been systematically negligent, and the ruling centred on the conduct of one particular employee," said Patrick O'Brien, a senior analyst at Ovum.

"It is not hard to imagine that there are a number of sales people at other firms who will say and do anything to get a signature on a major contract." read more

Xerox Girls

2010-02-06T15:02:00.000-08:00

Vancouver Live City- Winter Olympic Games 2010

2010-02-06T14:54:00.000-08:00

New Technology 2010

2010-02-06T11:17:00.000-08:00

Obama to Back Raising Small Business Loan Limits to $1 Million

2010-02-06T11:10:00.000-08:00

By Nicholas Johnston

Feb. 5 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama will today back a temporary increase in Small Business Administration Loans from $350,000 to $1 million to encourage small business hiring, an administration official said.

Obama will announce his support for the higher loan limits and SBA assistance for commercial mortgage refinancing when he appears at a small business in Lanham, Maryland, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The two proposals would require congressional approval.

Obama has called job creation his top priority this year as administration projections forecast the unemployment rate to average 10 percent through 2010.

Obama has previously endorsed $33 billion in small business tax cuts and incentives for hiring as well as a plan to use $30 billion of bailout money paid back by Wall Street financial institutions to help community banks make loans to small businesses.

Office Paper to Toilet Paper

2010-02-06T03:17:00.000-08:00

At Eco-Products 2009, Oriental Co., Ltd. exhibited a revolutionary recycling machine called White Goat, which makes toilet paper from shredded paper.

White Goat also has a shredding machine in it. The shredded paper first goes into a hopper, where it is untangled in small batches, and it’s then dissolved in a pulper. Any foreign matter is removed in a tank, and the pulp consistency is adjusted. Next, the wet paper is thinned out and dried. The dry paper is wound into finished toilet rolls, which emerge from the outlet one at a time. All of these tasks are done automatically.

White Goat won a top prize at the Monozukuri Nippon awards. It has patents pending, and Oriental is getting ready to release it in summer 2010.
http://www.diginfo.tv/2010/01/29/09-0427-d-en.php

Sales & Marketing -Branding

2010-02-06T02:46:00.000-08:00

How to Build a Brand Internationally
For decades, Coca-Cola and IBM were among the scant few globally-recognized brands. By crafting a universal message and increasing brand awareness, here's how yours can be next.
Forty years ago, there were only a handful of truly "global brands" and they were made up of only the biggest corporations -- Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Colgate-Palmolive, IBM, Shell. Then a rash of upstarts came along, such as Nike, Microsoft, Apple, and Honda, and pushed their brand reputation further than their actual sales footprint. But now that barriers to international trade have come down and the Internet has helped small and mid-sized companies compete on the global stage, building an international brand is a realistic goal for more and more businesses.More

Tell Us About Your Printer

2010-02-03T19:58:00.001-08:00

Are you happy with the performance of your printer?