Xerox rolls out pioneering ColorQube printer with crayon-like ink

Formerly codenamed Jupiter, the ColorQube 9200 series printers unveiled today will bring groundbreaking cost efficiencies to color printing through a combination of solid ink technology and per-click pricing plans, Xerox officials contended, in a series of press launches.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm pleased to announce that, for the first time, you can release your 'true colors' in the office," declared Xerox Corp. President Ursula Burns, touting ColorQube as the "most significant change in office printing in the past 30 years."

Of the roughly two trillion pages printed out in offices last year, almost all were printed on laser printers, but only 15% were done in color, Burns noted, during a launch event broadcast over the Web from Chicago.

"I know that the world is not black-and-white," she said. "[But] companies have put a lock on color printing."

"Price is the number one barrier to color printing," concurred David Bates, director of product marketing for the Xerox Office Group, during an earlier press preview in New York City.

Beyond saving money for businesses, the technology used in the ColorQube 9201/9202/9203 printers is "cleaner" than laser technology, and also much easier for office workers to deal with, the Xerox officials said.

Jim Rise, vice president and general manager of Xerox's Solid Ink Products Business Unit pointed to the "simplicity of the cartridge-free consumables."

In contrast to laser printers, which use cartridges containing powdered toner, Xerox' latest solid ink technology uses blocks of a crayon-like substance. Printing happens when the melts the waxy "ink sticks" and sprays the non-toxic substance on to a spinning color drum inside the machine. The printers contains 3,000 print heads apiece, with 900 ink nozzles each.

During a press demo in New York, Rise and Bates showed how office workers can quickly pop the ink sticks into the $20,000-or-so printers, without taking a chance on spilling toner anywhere. Solid ink printing also requires less energy power than laser technology, with no cartridges and less packaging to dispose of, according to Bates. The ColorQube printers power down when not in use.

The new printers from Xerox use only one customer-replaceable component. The long-life "Cleaning Unit," which yields an average of 200,000 prints, can be recycled through the Xerox Green World Alliance program.

Xerox' new ColorQube printers produce 90% less waste than laser printers, estimated Angela Boyd, an IDC analyst.

"We believe this is the easiest-to-use MFD in the industry," maintained Bates. In addition to printing, the network-ready ColorQube handles copying and faxing.

In Xerox' accompanying metered pricing plans, businesses can decide how much color they want to use on particular pages, and get charged accordingly. Choices range from full color, to spot color, to black-and-white only.

A business might opt to liven up the looks of a proposal by printing out its logo in color, while leaving the rest of the page in black-and-white. The use of spot color can also come in handy for printing out graphs and charts.

"Our mission is to make 'black-and-white only' printing obsolete," according to the product marketing director. The ColorQube's printing speeds are also "flexible," ranging up to 85 pages per minute, he added.

Industry analysts briefed on the announcement were largely highly impressed with the cost-saving capabilities of the ColorQube MFDs, in addition to their eco-friendliness and the quality of their print output. Asserted InfoTrends analyst Robert Palmer, "I believe that this product has a a disruptive capability."