HP Inc. claims to usher in the "4th industrial revolution" with the Metal Jet-- a 3D printer able to handle "high volume manufacturing of production-grade metal parts," with greater productivity at lower costs compared to other 3D printing methods.

Already employed by manufacturers GKN Powder Metallurgy and Parmatech for the factory production of final parts, the Metal Jet printer combines years of HP printhead and chemical know-how in a "groundbreaking, voxel-level binder jetting technology." The printer has a 430 x 320 x 200mm bed, and promises x4 the nozzle redundancy and x2 the printbars compared to other metal 3D printing solutions.

The Metal Jet produces stainless steel finished parts, with isotropic properties meeting ASTM and MPIF standards. It works at a very high resolution, with smallest printing particles measuring just 20 x 20 x 50 microns, and after printing it reuses the unused metal powder before the finished part goes through a heating process to fuse into a solid component.

Brother presents a next generation of digital colour printers, with models ranging from single-function printers to all-in-ones, aimed at home and small office customers-- the MFC-L3710CW, MFC-L3750CDW, MFC-L3770CDW, HL-L3210CW, HL-L3230CDW, HL-L3270CDW and HL-L3290CDW.

The flagship printer in the lineup is the MFC-L3770CDW, a full-function model offering features such as an auto document feeder and multi-purpose tray. A successor to the popular HL-L3170CDW, it promises to be even better through improvements such as laser-quality sharp text and vivid images, as well as faster printing speeds, robust build improvements and "touch to connect" printing via NFC.

HP pays £380 million for Apogee, the UK-based office equipment dealer (OED) and the largest independent provider of print, outsourced services and document and process technology in Europe.

As the company puts it, the acquisition is part of a plan to disrupt the $55 billion A3 copier market, as well as a furthering of printing strategy. As such, HP wants to ehances its A3 and A4 product portfolio, build differentiated MSP solutions and tools and invest in direct and indirect go-to-market (GTM) capabilities.

“The Apogee acquisition extends HP’s print leadership by boldly leveraging the industry shift to contractual sales as we aggressively pursue the A3 office market,” HP adds. “We’re augmenting our go-to-market and enhancing our ability to deliver the services necessary to win in the profitable contractual market. This deal complements our broader channel strategy and HP remains committed to building our business through our best-in-class partner program.”

Xerox looks to cater for the mobility and security requirements of the current workplace with Workplace Solutions, a range of print management and mobility offerings available in either cloud or on-premises versions.

Ideal for companies operating fleets of printers and MFPs, the Workplace Solutions ensure customer print devices are as connected as the employees, without affecting convenience, security or affordability.

Workplace Solutions feature 2 security offerings designed to guard data and device accessibility-- Content Security and Mobile Phone Unlock. Content Security enhances security procedures to protect IP by monitoring all printed, copied and scanned content. It automatically notifies content owners or admins in case of the printing or sharing of sensitive material, making it valuable for organisations handling sensitive or confidential information.