Ramsey, N.J. – September 9, 2009 – Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta), a leading provider of advanced imaging and networking technologies for the desktop to the print shop, today launched the bizhub PRO® 1200 Series of monochrome production print systems.

Comprised of the bizhub PRO 1200, the bizhub PRO 1200P, and the bizhub PRO 1051, this high-end series is purpose-built to be a professional replacement for offset systems in the digital era.

The newest series in Konica Minolta's award-winning line of monochrome digital presses, the bizhub PRO 1200 Series combines long-run reliability and image quality with fast output speeds – 120 pages per minute (ppm) on the bizhub PRO 1200 and bizhub PRO 1200P, and 105 ppm on the bizhub PRO 1051. Featuring a modularity of more than 40 system configurations to allow end-users to match capability to workflow needs, the new series proves to be a one-stop-shop for all production print needs. Once installed, commercial printers, print-for-pay environments and large CRDs will benefit from new screening technologies and monthly duty cycles of up to 3 million pages.

“With the new bizhub PRO 1200 Series of digital presses, we are raising the bar in production print to meet the evolving needs and expectations of customers and allow them create a wide variety of premium print products,” said Kevin Kern, Vice President, Marketing, Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A. Inc. “Delivering unmatched flexibility, speed, efficiency and customized capabilities for each user, the bizhub PRO 1200 Series is further proof of how customers can count on Konica Minolta for their entire spectrum of production print needs.” continue reading...

Ramsey, N.J. – July 27, 2009 – Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta), a leading provider of advanced imaging and networking technologies for the desktop to the print shop, today announced that the bizhub PRO® C65hc was awarded the European Digital Press (EDP) Association Award for its dependable color and productivity, and brilliance in digital color.  The EDP jury, consisting of experts in engineering, journalism and independent consulting, chose Konica Minolta’s innovative printing system for its unsurpassed color reproduction as the best full color light production print system in the marketplace.

Featuring revolutionary High Chroma toner (HC toner) developed by Konica Minolta, the bizhub PRO C65hc color production print system provides an unprecedented number of colors and exceptionally bright color saturation for graphic arts companies, commercial printers, advertising agencies and other creative groups.  In particular, users will benefit from the large sRGB coverage area along with the facilitated sRGB color workflow. Additionally, the bizhub PRO C65hc reproduces a color gamut extremely close to the sRGB color space and also produces a far greater number of colors than any other device currently on the market. What you see is what you print (WYSIWYP) is the maxim for the new HC toner, making complicated conversion processes from sRGB into CMYK more accurate.

The bizhub PRO C65hc stands out from other products in its class due to its unsurpassed color quality, its impressive media flexibility and comprehensive inline finishing options.  The system processes up to 65 color letter-sized pages a minute and easily manages media of up to 300 gsm.  To facilitate selection, the bizhub PRO C65hc comes in different configurations, targeted to the most frequent customer finishing requirements.  In addition, HC toner requires lower fusing temperatures than conventional toners while also producing lower C02 emissions.

“We are proud to have received the 2009 EDP award for the bizhub PRO C65hc as the group honors only innovative companies and their breakthrough products,” said Kevin Kern, Vice President, Marketing, Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc.  “This honor positions Konica Minolta as a true pioneer in the production print marketplace, and allows our customers to count on Konica Minolta for all of their high impact color imaging needs." continue reading...

Ramsey, N.J. – July 24, 2009 – Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta), a leading provider of advanced imaging and networking technologies for the desktop to the print shop, today announced that Buyers Laboratory Inc. (BLI) has awarded Konica Minolta three Spring

2009 “Pick of the Year Awards” for the bizhub® 751/601 Series and the magicolor® 7450 II grafx, as well as awarded an “Outstanding Achievement Award” for Konica Minolta’s exclusive MyTab Printer Driver. BLI’s semi-annual awards are given to the hardware and software offerings that measure up as the best in BLI’s comprehensive evaluations, which assess a wide range of the most important features and performance factors for buyers.

BLI recognized Konica Minolta with the following awards:
bizhub 751 as “Pick of the Year Award” winner in the 70- to 90-ppm
monochrome MFP segment
bizhub 601 as “Pick of the Year Award” winner in the 51- to 60-ppm
monochrome MFP segment
magicolor 7450 II grafx as “Pick of the Year Award” winner in the
mid-sized workgroup color printer segment
Konica Minolta’s exclusive MyTab Printer Driver as an “Outstanding
Achievement Award” winner continue reading...

Austin, Texas – June 24, 2009 – Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta), a leading provider of advanced imaging and networking technologies for the desktop to the print shop, today announced BERTL® Inc (BERTL) has awarded two 2009 BERTL’s Best Awards to the magicolor® 7450 II grafx.  Earning awards for “Best Digital Imaging Workgroup Color A3 Printer” and “Best Value for Price Color A3 Workgroup Printer in Segment 2”, the magicolor 7450 II grafx is recognized for delivering superior color quality and reliability at a low cost of total ownership tailored for graphic arts professionals.

Keeping with the times and the demands of its end users BERTL left behind the simple speed and feed productivity, artificial reliability tests and theoretical SRP pricing lists and focused on the user and the business dynamics when putting together their 14th annual "Best of the Best."  The magicolor 7450 II grafx was awarded its 2009 BERTL’s Best recognition in part due to the following achievements:

• High-Performance in both Color and B&W with speed up to 24.5 ppm
• PANTONE® color tables for accurate stand-out proofs and commercial quality documents
• Photorealistic Quality with 9600 X 600 dpi-Class and Image CMYK gray feature for pure black non-text objects
• Supports page sizes up to 12.25” x 18” for full-bleed designs, and 12.25” x 47.24” for banner-size

"Congratulations to Konica Minolta on these two prestigious and well deserved BERTL's BEST Awards,” said Margie Davis, Managing Director, BERTL, Inc.  “The BERTL team of analysts found the magicolor 7450 II grafx to be extremely competitive in price and outperformed competitive products available to the design professional.” continue reading...

Innovative System Increases Security and Document Control for U.S. Department of Defense
Ramsey, N.J. and Fremont, Calif. – June 8, 2009 – Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta), a leading provider of advanced imaging and networking technologies for the desktop to the print shop, and ActivIdentity™ Corporation (NASDAQ: ACTI), a global leader in strong authentication and credential management, today announced that they have co-developed a Personal Identification Verification (PIV)-Compliant Card System that increases security and document control for customers using multifunctional products (MFPs – print, copy, fax, and scan all in one system). The ActivIdentity ActivClient™ security software is now available to U.S. Department of Defense customers – as well as customers of other government agencies – using Konica Minolta multifunctional products. The PIV-Compliant Card System can be used in conjunction with the Common Access Card (CAC) as well as the next generation CAC, a PIV-Compliant Identification Card.

“We have been able to leverage the knowledge, experience and expertise of ActivIdentity and their ActivClient security software to provide Department of Defense customers a comprehensive PIV-Compliant Card solution that best manages their MFP environment and workflow,” said Chris Bilello, director of business development, Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc.

“The Konica Minolta PIV-Compliant solution provides an entire application layer that we developed to reside and run within select bizhub MFPs, and the results are very impressive. As a result of our strategic partnership with ActivIdentity, our U.S. Department of Defense customers can count on Konica Minolta to meet their strictest security requirements.”
The Konica Minolta PIV-Compliant Card is being leveraged by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) in the form of a smart card that is issued as standard identification for active-duty military personnel, reserve personnel, civilian employees, non-DoD other government employees, and state employees of the National Guard and eligible contractor personnel. The PIV-Compliant Card is used as a general identification card as well as for authentication to enable access to DoD computers, networks, and certain DoD facilities. It also serves as an identification card under the Geneva Conventions. The PIV-Compliant Card enables encrypting and cryptographically signing Email, facilitating the use of public key information (PKI) authentication tools, and establishes an authoritative process for the use of identity credentials.
continue reading...

Ramsey, N.J. – June 4, 2009 – Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta), a leading provider of advanced imaging and networking technologies for the desktop to the print shop, today announced that the company will unveil a new security and document control software solution at the GSA Expo 2009 (Booth #2721) in San Antonio, Texas next week (June 9-11, 2009).  The company will also be showcasing bizhub and magicolor products that demonstrate Konica Minolta's commitment to providing high quality and reliable solutions that also support global green initiatives.

Available to U.S. Department of Defense customers, the innovative new software solution will manage the environment and document workflow on Konica Minolta multifunctional products (MFPs – print, copy, fax, and scan all in one system) to further enhance overall security.  The revolutionary solution will also provide identity management and authentication protection to meet strict government-issued authentication and credential standards. continue reading...

Ramsey, N.J. and Cleveland, Ohio – June 1, 2009 – Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta), a leading provider of advanced imaging and networking technologies for the desktop to the print shop, has been recognized as 2009 Supplier of the Year by Corporate United, a national Group Purchasing Organization (GPO) of Fortune 1000 and Global 2000 companies.  For the third time, this prestigious award has been bestowed on Konica Minolta, having also been named Supplier of the Year in 2004 and 2006.  The award was presented on May 14 at the annual Corporate United SYNERGY Conference in Chicago.

The Supplier of the Year Award is given to the vendor who ranks highest in overall member satisfaction based on a survey of Corporate United member companies.  The survey, which reviews 18 Corporate United category agreements, allows its members to rate suppliers based on relationship management, value, level of quality, scope of offerings and overall satisfaction.

“We are proud to honor Konica Minolta as our 2009 Supplier of the Year,” said Corporate United President Marc Rosen.  “This honor is a testament to the remarkable products, services and overall performance Konica Minolta provides our membership.” continue reading...

Ramsey, N.J. and Foster City, Calif. – May 20, 2008 – Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc., a leading provider of advanced imaging and networking technologies for the desktop to the print shop, and EFI™ (Nasdaq: EFII), the world leader in customer-focused digital printing innovation, have launched the Fiery® IC-305 v2.0 with customized color profiles for the newly available bizhub PRO® C65hc from Konica Minolta allowing production printers to support both traditional and new sRGB workflows.

The bizhub PRO C65hc ("hc" stands for High Chroma) incorporates innovative new toner technology enabling customers to expand their color printing palette beyond the typical four-color devices in the marketplace, expanding their capabilities and helping to differentiate their business with clients. The print production system creates brighter, more accurate color by reproducing a larger portion of the sRGB color gamut than previously possible.

EFI utilized its award-winning Color Profiler Suite technology to develop a set of color profiles specific to the HC toner. Fiery technology allows the bizhub PRO C65hc to be more flexible, supporting the use of traditional as well as new sRGB workflows, giving customers the ability to quickly and precisely produce a wider variety of customer jobs. Fiery support of the new sRGB workflow also enables the production printer to more faithfully reproduce colors on screen. This leads to increased accuracy with soft proofing, faster turnaround of jobs, and less waste.

"The bizhub PRO C65hc with its new High Chroma toner technology better meets the demanding color needs of our customers, particularly graphics professionals and commercial printers that require higher quality output," said Kevin Kern, vice president, marketing, Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. “Acting as the system’s color and workflow controller, Fiery plays a critical role in developing a solution that meets such strict requirements.” continue reading...

Ramsey, N.J. – May 5, 2009 – Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta), a leading provider of advanced imaging and networking technologies for the desktop to the print shop, today announced that BERTL® Inc. has named Konica Minolta a 2009 BERTL Readers’ Choice Award winner in two key color areas.  Earning awards for Color Range and Color Quality in Segments 1-3, 11-45 pages per minute (ppm) Division, Konica Minolta’s line of color printers and multifunctional products (MFPs – print, copy, fax, and scan all in one system) are recognized for their overall excellence.

For the fifth year, BERTL conducted a global, industry-wide survey covering all major manufacturers’ copier, printer and MFP performances.  BERTL asked its readers to relate their opinions about how different manufacturers handle key issues such as ease of use, reliability, image quality and training.  Responses were received from corporate executives, enterprise buyers, technical professionals, resellers and end users in more than 90 countries.  Konica Minolta was awarded 2009 Readers' Choice recognition in the following key categories:

Reader’s Choice Award: Color Range, Segments 1-3 (4th Year Winner) When considering pages per minute, features and options, Konica Minolta earned the highest rating for its Color Range this year.  Color is a diverse, fast moving and aggressively fought-over market where resellers vie for lucrative after-sales market sales, placing everything from desktop printers and workgroup MFPs through to pre-press proofing solutions and production megaliths.  Respondents were asked to explain how they view the color range of products for each manufacturer, with Konica Minolta earning the highest rating for its Color Range.

Reader’s Choice Award: Color Quality, Segments, 1-3
A print job can reflect back on the user, so output quality is an important attribute.  Konica Minolta’s high rating for Color Quality reflects well on what they hold important.  With color continuing to gain momentum worldwide, the Color Quality has become increasingly important to users. BERTL surveyed its readers to determine how they view each manufacturer's overall ability to deliver high-quality color output.  Konica Minolta continues its excellence in this area and is recognized with an award this year. continue reading...