The CES (Consumer ElectronicShow) in Las Vegas wowed tech lovers in its 2018 edition, with amazing new smart home gadgets, innovative robotics, and new printing solutions making clear that the future is looking extremely bright for those in the technology sector. New technology is promising to make printing faster, more secure, and more versatile than it has ever been. This post highlights just a few interesting trends that will be moving and shaking the industry, with uses that range from scientific to mediatic.
Cartridge Free Printing
For professionals and students relying on printers to perform optimally, one of the biggest bugbears is the moment when a printer runs out of cartridges. The latest top printers rely on ink instead, and the good news is that the system satisfies users’ needs for up to two years. A typical ink system lasts as long as 20 sets of cartridges, which means that users enjoy a bigger bang for their buck.
3D Metal Printing
3D printing technology has existed for decades but it has mainly been the domain of designers wishing to give life to avant-garde prototypes. The once costly and slow process of printing plastics and metal was given a big boost in 2017 when researchers from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory developed a method for printing stainless steel pieces that were double the strength of their conventionally made counterparts. In late 2017, GE unveiled its large-sized 3D Printer for Metals, said to herald an “epiphany of disruption” because it is capable of printing parts that are one meter in diameter by fusing thin layers of metal powder together using a special laser. The printer is expected to be commercially available this year.
New Models of Cybersecurity
Global analyst Louella Fernandes notes that as printers become more connected, they will also become targets for security attacks. The key defense to cyberattacks, she says, “is authentication and intrusion detection.” Any further risks can be reduced through more sophisticated algorithms and anomaly detection, to identify and inform of threats in real-time.
Artificial Intelligence and the Print Industry
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to broach new revenue streams for print businesses, by improving the printing process from start to finish. AI will be making its presence felt through smart algorithms, which allow a printer to optimize document layouts so as to lessen printed waste. Xerox predicts that AI will also enable companies to make real-time adjustments of image quality, paper alignment, etc. Finally, AI software will intuitively discover which presses at a printer’s are busy, assigning work to available or soon-to-be-available presses.
Need a printer for college students?
We have mentioned just a few printing trends to watch out for. There are many more fascinating things ahead of the industry of course, including 3d printed organs for use in transplantation, voice recognition to deliver orders to printers, and predictive analytics to refine products and services. What is clear is that both big businesses and individual users can already look to safer, more efficient printing methods that deliver quality in record speed.
Author: Sally Phillips
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