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Where’s all the paper
gone?:
Colour laser devices like the newly
launched Xerox Phaser 7100 A3 colour
laser printer bucked the trend in EMEA
last year with a 5% increase in page
volumes.
EE (formerly Everything Everywhere)
launches the first 4G service in the
UK at least six months ahead of the
competition. Faster connectivity
has the potential to transform the
productivity of mobile workers and
provide rural Britain with better
broadband connectivity. But questions
remain over patchy coverage, poor
battery life and pricing.
At launch, EE’s 4G service for smartphones,
tablets and PCs (via dongle or WiFi router)
was available in 11 cities and is due to be
rolled out to a further five cities and 30% of
the population by end of this year. EE plans to
cover 70% of the UK population by the end of
2013 and 98% by the end of 2014.
EE 4G offers mobile broadband at speeds of
8-12 Mbps – up to 5 times faster than the 1.5 Mbps
UK average speed for 3G – making it attractive
for data-hungry applications, such as HD video
streaming. Yet, EE’s price plans turn this strength
into a potential weakness by capping data usage
and applying relatively high charges for excess data
(rising from £3 for 50MB to £20 for 4GB).
Pointing out that the entry-level £36 per month
contract has a data allowance of just 500MB and
that an HD video stream uses 2GB an hour, Andrew
Ferguson, editor of Thinkbroadband, said: “The
handsets on offer with 4G contracts [from Apple,
Samsung, Nokia and HTC] all support HD video
streaming, giving a big screen experience in the
palm of your hand. But with the high prices who will
actually benefit from this?”
Even though EE’s 4G consumer tariffs, by
Ovum’s estimation, have a premium of only 10-
20% over most 3G plans, 71% of consumers polled
by Thinkbroadband said that the higher price would
put them off upgrading to 4G.
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01732 759725
magazine
05
Decline in printing
accelerates
The number of pages printed on
home and office devices* in 2011
fell by 5.0% in developed markets
due to a combination of economic
factors, digitisation of business
processes, new technology (e.g.
tablet computers) and attempts by
enterprises to reduce print volumes.
According to IDC, this fall exceeded
the growth in page volumes enjoyed by
developing regions leading to a worldwide
decline of 1% compared to 2010 figures.
IDC’s figures show that while page
volumes continue to grow steadily in
developing nations (up 7.5% in 2011 and
7.3% in 2010), the decline in developed
nations is accelerating (down 5% in 2011
compared to a 1.3% fall in 2010).
The Europe, Middle East, and Africa
(EMEA) region mirrored worldwide trends,
with more than a 3% decline in page
volume inWestern Europe (WE) and an
almost 2% increase in Central and Eastern
Europe, the Middle East and Africa (CEMA).
* IDC’s analysis is limited to mono laser
devices (printers and MFPs) with speeds
under 70 pages per minute, colour laser
devices under 45ppm and personal and
workgroup inkjets.
www.idc.com
4G comes to the UK and the grumbling begins
Turn to page 28 for
examples of possible
business applications
of 4G.
4G-ready: the Nokia 820
Making life easier for people who have to work on the move Sharp
has launched a new App, reinforcing its campaign to create a wide
portfolio of tools focused on making workflow easier.
Sharpdesk Mobile
, which is available free of charge from Apple’s App
Store and Google’s Play Store, wirelessly connects Smartphones and Tablet
PCs with the printing and scanning capabilities of Sharp’s MFP’s.
Sharpdesk Mobile
addresses three key requirements: printing,
scanning and sharing.
Printing
– users can print PDF, JPG and TIFF files from a Smartphone or
Tablet PC directly to any supported Sharp MFP.
Scanning
– users can scan documents from any supported Sharp MFP
directly to their mobile device.
Sharing
– once a document has been scanned to the Smartphone or
Tablet PC it can be emailed to other users and shared with other mobile
applications.
“Our aim is to make all of our Apps easy to use. Some of them will be
developed by our technology partners and others will be written in-house,”
said Chris Hale, Software Solutions Product Manager. “All of them will make
life a lot easier for mobile workers.”
To download the free
app go to the Apple’s
App Store or Googles
Play Store and search
‘Sharpdesk Mobile’ and
look for the icon.
For further information on this
or any Sharp products please
email [email protected]
One to Watch:
Watch out for our recently
launched light production
colour and mono devices –
both available with innovative
Image Consistency Systems
ensuring the same high quality
printing from your first print to
your last.
www.sharp.co.uk
This is Why