Toshiba financial issues update
– Toshiba sued again in 32nd claim tied to its accounting scandal
o New lawsuit filed by 2 corporate shareholders seeking 572 million yen ($5.08 million) in compensation for losses.
o Total damages Toshiba faces in lawsuits now total $1.2 billion
– The Japanese Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission announced it has launched a probe into Toshiba’s accounting and reporting practices
o Will review “specified concern” and exchanges between Toshiba and its auditors, and why financial reports from previous years were delayed
o “serious misstatement remain in Toshiba’s securities report”
– Bain Capital, whose consortium plans to acquire Toshiba’s NAND flash memory division for $18 billion, is now considering investing in Toshiba should the acquisition fail to be completed by end of March, 2018
o Move is aimed at preventing Toshiba from being delisted by the Tokyo Stock Exchange
– Former Toshiba chairman, Taizo Nishimuro, passed away at age 81
o Helped lead Toshiba into the nuclear business with acquisition of Westinghouse in 2006, which has resulted in major financial troubles
o Started at company in 1961 before it changed its name from Tokyo Shibaura Electric Company to Toshiba
HP launches new camera/printer
– Now shipping the HP Sprocket 2-in-1 with base MSRP of $159.99
– Is a pocket-sized photo printer with a built-in instant camera
– Produces 2”x3” photos in under a minute
– Rather than inkjet or toner, uses special ZINK (zero ink technology) thermal paper
HP wins wide format contract
– Award from Technipirnt in Phoenix, AZ
– Installed two new HP PageWide XL8000 wide format color inkjet system
HP Inc.’s CEO gives press briefing
– At press briefing, CEO, Deon Weisler made following comments:
– Will be accelerating its 3D printing strategy
o The new Multi-JetFusion 3D printer will be the “one and only” that can produce manufacturing quality full color parts
§ “breakthrough speed, quality and cost”
o Will also launch a new 3D printer that uses metal
§ “Now we are going to disrupt metals. Our 3D printing metals technology is unique and includes extensive HP intellectual property”
o Both new models will be brought to market in 2018
– Announced plans to continue to heavily advertise its MFP and printer security offering, while informing market of vulnerabilities
o “That is why we produced ‘The Wolf’ series (ad campaign with actor Christian Slater as a hacker invading corporations and hospitals). It is incredibly powerful, very directed marketing”
o “And now we have ‘The Fixer’ (new ad campaign featuring actor Jonathan Banks), which is a fun kind of sequel to ‘The Wolf ‘ to raise awareness. Job number one is to raise the awareness.”
Xerox wins production print contracts
– Award from Just Digital, a commercial printer in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England
o Installed two new iGen5 production color laser systems
o Included Duplo iSaddle stitchers
o Reasons given for choosing the iGen 5s:
§ 2400x2400dpi
§ Handles coated stocks up to 350gsm
§ Max sheet size of 364mm x 660mm
– Award from Master Print in West Rand, Florida
o Installed a Versant 80 production color laser system
o Reasons given by Shaun Baily, owner, for choosing include:
§ 2400x2400dpi
§ 10 bit color
Xerox hosts app builder forum
– Invited 50 potential solution providers to first U.S. Personalized Application Builder forum
– Taught attendees how to build, price and market custom apps for Xerox MFPs
– Claims that 131 US channel partner/dealers have joined the app program since it launched in 2014
– Claims to have 4500 solution provider partner/dealers in the U.S.
Xerox exec discusses MFP security
– Enterprise Cloud News magazine recently interview Dr. Alissa Johnson, Chief Information Security Officer of Xerox
– “"Yes, I do consider printers to be part of the Internet of Things".
– "I don’t consider it (MFP/printer) a solid network piece because it’s really an endpoint.”
– “That’s why I can’t consider it like a firewall or a switch that is integrated with so many other things.”
– “So, I consider it, and I think Xerox considers us, as part of the Internet of Things."
– "I consider the printer an opportunistic commodity"
– “I say that because it connects based on an opportunity. It may not always be connected to the Internet. It may be connected locally.”
– “It doesn’t always reach back out and say ‘Do I need a firmware update?’ … We are more reactive than proactive and the proactive part has to become more prevalent as we think about all these Internet of Things devices."
– "We have a responsibility that the connection is secure and we have encryption on there"
– “You now have to look at the printer not as taking a sheet of paper and printing on it, but instead it’s a way into the cloud, the data repository, the storage networks. We have to be able to deliver that in a seamless way and a secure way."
– Published new firmware for various Xerox MFP and printer models to resolve security problems with SSL protocol in print controller.
Canon goes after non-OEM supplier
– Canon reported it has obtained a preliminary injunction, granted by the District Court Düsseldorf in Germany against JT Company, maker of non-OEM printer and MFP supplies
– based on the infringement of Canon patent EP 2 087 407 relating to a drum unit and a toner cartridge used in HP laser printers
– preliminary injunction granted by the District Court Düsseldorf is not yet final
– can enforce the decision after service of the preliminary injunction on the vendors
Ricoh wins production print contract
– award from Bharti Digital Prints, a commercial printer in
– installed a new Pro C7100 production color laser system
– will be used to produce visiting cards, albums, brochures, invitation cards and magazines
Apple ordered to pay damages
– U.S. District Judge Robert W. Schroeder III ordered Apple to pay $439 million in a verdict over patent infringement
– Claims that Apple infringed on VirnetX Inc.’s patents when it launched Face Time technology
Hyland Software wins ECM contract
– Award from the University of Nevada, Reno
– Will install OnBase ECM across 30 departments, including Planning, Budget and Analysis, Office of Business and Finance, Human Resources and the Division of Student Services
– Replaces Nolij (fka Lexmark) and integrate with PeopleSoft and Workday
– Campus
– will deploy OnBase in the Hyland Cloud
– total cost not published
Wisconsin dealer buys another
– James Imaging Systems, a Konica Minolta and Toshiba dealer headquartered in Brookfield, Wisconsin, announced it has acquired two locations from Imagetec (Konica Minolta, Toshiba & Samsung)
– Imagetec, which is headquartered in McHenry, Illinois, had acquired the 5 locations of Ross Imaging (Toshiba & Samsung dealer) in 2005, but has now sold the Sheboygan and Appleton locations of Ross in Wisconsin to James, but has retained the 3 Ross locations in Illinois
– James will keep the Ross name on the two locations, and retain the existing 30 employees
– Purchase price not announced
Ohio dealer buys another in West Virginia
– Donnellon McCarthy (Toshiba, Sharp, Ricoh & Kyocera dealer) announced it has acquired NOE Office Equipment of Parkersburg, WV
– NOE is a Toshiba and Lexmark dealer
– Purchase price not announced
– Donnellon has locations in Cincinnati, Dayton, Lima & Columbus, Ohio
More dealer acquisitions
– Prosperity Plus Consultants stated they were involved in the following acquisitions:
– Kelley Imaging Solutions (Toshiba, Sharp & Kyocera), headquartered in Kent, Washington, acquired Benchmark Document Solutions, a Xerox dealer in Bellingham.
o Kelley also acquired Superior Business Equipment of Great Falls, Montan
o Kelley now has 16 offices covering Washington, Montana and Oregon
– Visual Edge acquired Image Source, a Xerox dealer in San Bernardino, CA
IBM beats earnings expectations
– IBM posted earnings of $3.30 per share and revenue of $19.2 billion
– The performance may be partially a result of new policy that forces many IBM direct sales reps to work from office, rather than from their homes
Umango announces bizhub MFP integration
– Umango Software of Australia announced that it has been awarded bEST Platinum Partner accreditation from Konica Minolta
– Plans to launch MFP panel integration for its Umango Extract document capture solution
– Pricing not announced
– (competes with AutoStore, eCopy, etc.)
Kyocera makes another acquisition
– Kyocera (aka Kyoto Ceramic Company) announced it has acquired SENCO Brands of Cincinnati, Ohio
– SENCO is a maker of pneumatic and cordless nailguns, staplers and screwdrivers
– Purchase price not announced
Samsung phone causes another fire
– It was a close call for nearly 120 passengers onboard the Indian Jet Airways flight 9W 791 from New Delhi to Indore as the cabin crew could somehow major to avert what could have been a major disaster due to an exploding smartphone
– New Delhi resident Arpita Dhal, was carrying a Samsung J7 smartphone and 15 minutes after take off, she noticed smoke emanating from her handbag and called the cabin crew for assistance.
– The flight crew put the phone in a tray of water to subdue the flames
Hyland launches healthcare software
– Announced it has officially completed the acquisition of Perceptive Software from Ninestar of China (which acquired Perceptive as part of Lexmark acquisition)
– The new Hyland Healthcare Product Suite offers:
o PACSgear for capture, integration and sharing of medical images to EHRs or PACS (picture archiving and communication systems)
o Acuo is a VNA (vendor neutral archive) that stores all medical imaging content and provide clinical access
o NilRead is a web-based, zero-footprint medical image viewer for enterprise
o Brainware provides document capture, classification, extraction, validation archiving and uploading of data
o OnBase is ECM
Lexmark (aka Ninestar) launches new solution
– Lexmark announced the availability of “Lexmark Downtime Assistant for Healthcare”
– leverages Lexmark MFPs to “help healthcare delivery organizations maintain information access and continuity of care when systems are down.”
– “Continuity of care and patient safety are critical considerations in healthcare,” said Ken Woodruff, director, Lexmark Healthcare. “Whether infrastructure is out of service for routine maintenance or the downtime is unplanned, Lexmark Downtime Assistant for Healthcare keeps clinical staff from missing a beat when systems or networks are down.”
– With Lexmark Downtime Assistant, the reports, forms and checklists needed during downtime are stored on a central file share
– app constantly refreshes reports from EHR other key applications and stores them on the MFP hard drive
– Document uploads and overwrites occur automatically throughout the day, so updated forms and information can be accessed anytime.
– Pricing not announced
– (similar solution provided by integrating Nuance AutoStore MD with bizhub MFPs)
Paper records versus EMRs
– Study published by the Journal of Clinical Nursing
– Study compared 434 paper and electronic medical records from medical and surgical wards to evaluate nursing documentation
– Results showed EMRs were more accurate in process and structure
– Paper based records maintained a higher quality and higher quality of content
Doctor forfeits license over paper records
– Dr. Anna Konopka of New London, New Hampshire was ordered by the state to surrender her medical license
– Apparently she has refused to get an EHR system, and still uses all paper records
– “I cannot practice medicine because the system practices with electronics”
– “The computer is giving the diagnosis and telling them what medicine to prescribe. They practice medicine, and I practice medical art”
– “They manage the patient, and I treat the patient.”
– Prior to the decision from the state, Dr. Konopka was seeing 25-30 patients a week, and has never been sued for malpractice
Canon updates its medical acquisition
– Purchased editorial space in Financial Times magazine to provide more info on integrating the Medical Systems division of Toshiba (which it acquired last year) into its business. Will change name to Canon Medical Systems on 1/4/18
– “As Canon’s first president was a doctor, there was always a yearning to make health care one of our main businesses. We are delighted that Toshiba Medical is joining our group; it feels as if our dream of launching into the global health care market has been achieved all in one fell swoop.”; stated Fujio Mitarai, CEO
– “We have now lined up new businesses in 4 key growth areas – commercial printing, network cameras, industrial devices and health care. From this year, we plan to redouble our efforts, particularly in health care”
– “We expect Toshiba Medical to take initiatives, including in the selection of merger/acquisition candidates, with the full backing and funding from the Canon group”
