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06
The interface
speeds up
common tasks
by allowing the
user to effect
changes with
smartphone-
like gestures...
To the untrained eye, MFPs are
indistinguishable: one looking very
much like another. Sharp MFPs are the
exceptions that prove the rule.
Having broken ranks two or three years
ago with the introduction of an unusual
tactile finish, Sharp last year became the
first MFP manufacturer to introduce a
customisable touch-screen display with
finger-swipe controls.
This revolutionary interface speeds
up common tasks by allowing the user
to effect changes with smartphone-like
gestures, so that you can change the
orientation of a scanned page by swiping a
preview with your finger; or edit a scanned
document using your finger to re-order
pages, insert blank sheets or erase a photo
or line of text.
Finger-swipe technology provides great
ease of use and is a real talking point but
it’s far from being the only benefit of the
new user interface.
The 10.1in, high definition colour
touchscreen is also customisable, enabling
each individual to have their own home
screen, with their own selection of apps
and pre-programmed copy/scan jobs; and
there is an ‘intelligent action panel’ that
automatically presents a list of actions based
on selections already made, which removes
the need to drill down through menus.
Sharp group product manager Tom
Primett told
Business Info
that the ability
to customise the display was a very
popular feature of the new machines.
“A lot of customers are very proud of what
they have done. They take photos of the
interface and send them to us saying ‘Look
at what we’ve achieved’,” he said.
He added that Sharp itself had
personalised machines for customers
in the education sector with images of
school buildings on the homepage and
small photos of teachers as icons, so that
scanning to them becomes more intuitive.
The new interface and high definition
screen is also being exploited by solutions
providers, such as Equitrac, Pcounter and
PaperCut, who have produced versions
of their products with big icons,
images and a better choice of
fonts.
The new user interface
is the most obvious
improvement on the
MX-2610N & MX-3110N.
But there is much else to
recommend these MFPs,
including:
•
Impressive green
credentials. The new models
are 33% lighter than their
predecessors and come with
energy-saving features,
such as a white LED
scanner that uses 75%
less power than conventional
Xenon lamps; an Eco Scan mode
that stops the fuser from heating
up when the MFP is only being used
to scan; and new toner that fuses at
a lower temperature;
•
An integrated, pull-out keyboard
•
that makes it easier to complete tasks
and interact with applications that
require text input;
•
A built-in web browser that lets you
go online and print a web page or
PDF via the MFP display;
•
A new version of Sharp’s application
development platform, OSA Version
4.0., that supports Software-as-a-
Service (SaaS) applications, as well as
premises-based solutions, reducing
the need for large-scale investment in
servers and software; and
•
Enhanced Security. At the end of a
lease, an MFP can revert to its factory
settings, ensuring that all data is
wiped prior to its disposal or re-use.
Increased sales
Since introducing its interface on the 26
pages per minute MX-2610N and 31ppm
MX-3110N, Sharp has extended it to five
other MFPs with print speeds of 36, 41 and
51ppm. New launches in the pipeline for
2012 will give customers even more options,
bringing the number of devices with finger-
swipe technology to more than a dozen.
With so many enhancements on the new
MFPs, it is impossible to quantify the precise
impact that the new interface has had. But
with sales of the MX-2610N and MX-3110N
50% higher than their predecessors and
Sharp’s overall share of the 20-50ppm A3
MFP market up 7.5% in 2011, it has clearly
gone down well with customers.
www.sharp.co.uk
Touch of brilliance
Sharp MX-2610N
& MX-3110N
What we liked:
•
finger swipe technology
•
customisable high definition
touchscreen display
•
scan previews and easy
editing
•
integrated keyboard
•
web browser for internet
access
•
OSA 4.0 development
platform with SaaS support
•
compact, energy-efficient
design
Editor’s Choice: Business Info, Issue 102 & PrintIT, Spring 2011
Editor’s Choice Awards
Business Info 102 & PrintIT Spring 2011