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| April Fool's Day Special Report: |
Hewlett-Packard Mixes Ink and Water and Gets WInk April 1, 2003 - Hewlett-Packard thinks ink and water mix just fine. HP has introduced a water-soluble powder that needs only water to create a new ink the company calls WInk (WaterInk). The powder is a complex chemical brew that mixes with water to create inks of remarkably vibrant colors that dry fast and, in conjunction with a new fuser technology, can provide waterproof, archival-quality prints projected to last up to 500 years. Through an arrangement with Pantone, it is expected that Wink will be offered in the full palette of Pantone colors, including metallics, day-glows, and pastels. More details on the Pantone alliance will be released shortly. "Pantone is only the beginning," says Benoit L'Eau, HP's Chief Ink Technologist and the visionary behind WInk technology. "We can make any color imaginable--and even some you can't imagine. In our labs we've seen colors you wouldn't believe. We've seen colors you can't even see." The same WInks will work on all new HP printers, from desktop models to wide-format devices to the exotic high-speed HP-Indigo 9-color production printers. This lets HP focus its ink production efforts entirely on WInk instead of making different inks for its many models. Although pricing for WInk is expected to be about 11% higher than for present HP inks, customers benefit from longer print life, a broader range of colors and the ability to mix colors to create unusual effects. Most existing HP-Indigo presses and most wide-format printers can be retrofitted to accept WInk. A new line of desktop printers, called WInkjets, supporting CMYK and up to four special colors, will be released on May 1. "Imagine what people will be able to do with a limitless selection of colors!" says L'Eau. "It will be like having a million fonts, only better." Use any kind of paper L'Eau says WInks are compatible with virtually any type or brand of paper without the need for special coatings, long a requirement for its HP-Indigo presses. However, the water used with WInk must be conditioned via a special process. To that end, HP has acquired three water filtration companies, Breta, Colligon and Puyr which will provide appropriate conditioning systems designed specifically for HP presses and printers. On the HP-Indigo and wide-format families, the conditioning unit is integrated with the machine and water is plumbed directly to the conditioner. WInkjets will use bottles that can be swapped between a wall-mounted conditioner and the printer. Conditioners will be available at WalMart, Best Buy, Staples and other mass retail outlets where HP printers are sold. - Back to the April Fool's Home Page Special Note: All these stories are presented in the true spirit of April Fool's Day. None of these stories are true, nor are they intended to reflect the strategy and intent of any real person or company. Our purpose with the April Fool's Edition is to elicit a smile, and we hope you will enjoy our spoof! We are an Equal Opportunity Offender: Our contributors name many industry companies in their stories, none of which should be taken seriously. Please offer your feedback. This was a collective effort by many of our contributors. We decided a universal byline was best since so many helped with each story. Thanks to Gail Nickel-Kailing, Molly Joss, Frank Romano, Cary Sherburne, CAP Ventures, Bill Farquharson, Noel Ward, John Dunn, Paul White, Dr. Joe Webb, Robert FitzPatrick, Steve Aranoff, Vince Marini, Jeremy Smith, John Zarwan |
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