Developers Using Cardboard to Test VR Environments at PAX East 2019

PAX East, which was held in Boston, MA, March 28^th to 31^st, 2019, is one of the largest gaming technology expos in the world. The four-day event, which in the past has drawn crowds of over 80,000, once again enjoyed a well-attended year. While no official number has been given, Keypoint Intelligence – InfoTrends (InfoTrends) estimates that around 100,000 people visited the show. While PAX is an event mainly focused on video games and gaming as a whole, it also serves as a technology showcase. Over the past several years, we have followed developments in virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and 3D printing at PAX East.

Read more »

What Does Hololens 2 Mean for Businesses?

On February 24, 2019, Microsoft unveiled Hololens 2, the successor to its augmented reality headset, Hololens. Almost three years have passed since the developer edition of the first Hololens became commercially available. In that time, numerous other AR, virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR) headsets have come to market. All the while, software creators and content developers have used this time to create a wealth of programs – some simple, some quite complex.

For Microsoft, the three-year gap means one significant detail: DATA. The company has had several years to see exactly how its intended clients use Hololens and have created Hololens 2 with what it says are significant improvements for the enterprise space.

Read more »

WHEN DID SNEAKERS BECOME ACCEPTABLE BUSINESS ATTIRE?

I haven’t done the rounds of many exhibitions the last few years. My focus area of office print is generally served by Vendor specific events and the one global event the industry had, CeBIT has now finally been put to bed. So I was quite surprised at my first visit to ISE (Integrated Systems Europe) 2019 in Amsterdam. It was full, thriving and so many people were wearing sneakers.

Does this have something to do with the meeting of two worlds that ISE has emerged from?  The vibrant Audio Visual (AV) high tech hardware focussed industry and the IT world that can integrate practically anything without having to heed to standards or obligations?

Founded in 2004 and boosting 3500 visitors that year, the exhibition has grown to some 1400 exhibitors and an expected 90,000 visitors in 2019. For me, it felt far more than that. The growth has undoubtedly been supported by the portfolio breadth of AV boasting 8k, curved as well as inflatable screens and flashy displays and its acceptance across many horizontal and vertical sectors. What attracted me most to the show however, was the connection to IT and looking at how the AV industry hooks up with business IT, the hub of our digital world today. I see a lot of parallels to the office printing industry and I knew this industry was in a similar stage of disruption when I saw the likes of Google & Uber speaking about workplace trends at ISE 2019. Read more »

Cybersecurity: Understanding the Inside Threat

When stories of cyberattacks reach the media, the culprit is often an outside source. Whether it is a foreign government or malicious hacker, organizations are conditioned to seek external threats to data security. This approach, however, misses a common cause of cyberattacks and data breaches—a company’s own employees.

Research has shown that more than half of all businesses are either at risk or have been attacked from the inside. To move forward with a fully developed data protection strategy, PSPs must be cognizant of inside attacks and minimize their risk.

Read more »

China’s Suzhou Ruifa Looks to Disrupt the Printhead Manufacturing Segment

For decades, precise deposition of materials was achieved by utilizing a range of technologies that  produce range of products from graphics arts, decorative, functional, and a host of other applications. Today, several key inkjet technologies drive markets and applications. These are enabled in part by a new generation of micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) deposition / jetting devices, whether continuous inkjet (CIJ), piezoelectric drop on demand, or thermal inkjet drop on demand (TIJ). These technologies have been – for most part – the domain of a handful of companies that had the intellectual property and made the investment in silicone-based printhead manufacturing for several quite some time.

While the main suppliers of existing inkjet heads are almost all clustered in Japan, Western Europe, and the USA, a new competitor is now launching in China. After a significant investment in technology and resources, China’s Suzhou Ruifa Printing Technology Co. has announced its entrance as a supplier of thermal inkjet printheads. The company’s new printhead, SUREJet T7680, is a 41mm/1.6” wide thermal head, with 7680 nozzles. According to Suzhou Ruifa, SUREJet T7680 has two meter per second print speed and is capable of 1800×1200 DPI print resolution.

Read more »

What genARate Means to the Print Market

Released last month, genARate is a new software tool from Konica Minolta. The platform specifically focuses on applying augmented reality (AR) technology to print products. Although it is not the first tool to encourage AR application creation, or even the first to target the print market (see HP’s Reveal platform), genARate is notable for its ease-of-use and its application focus.

Read more »

Highlights of Adobe’s Marketing Summit 2017 in Las Vegas

Recently at the Venetian in Las Vegas, Adobe employees, partners, customers, press and analysts gathered for the annual digital marketing conference, Adobe Summit 2017. With over 250 sessions this year, the event drew over 12,000 attendees—a 20% increase over last year’s participation—including more than 120 sponsors and 1,500+ partners.

Adobe Summit 2017 Welcome Banner

The event took place over the course of three jam-packed days with a little something for everyone in attendance. Keynotes and break-out session topics ranged from cross-channel marketing, to customer experience, data-driven marketing, integrated marketing, mobile marketing, and programmatic advertising.

Read more »