HP puts marketing millions behind printing

HP on Tuesday launched a marketing campaign for its so-called "Print 2.0" technology at a cost of $300m (£150m).

Following the initial Print 2.0 launch in May, HP has followed up with a raft of new products focused on capturing printouts of web pages. HP estimates that 48 percent of printouts are directly from web pages.

Initiatives include "Printo Gizmos", also announced back in May, which provide webmasters and users with greater control over how their web pages are printed, whatever the make of printer used.

HP has released unrestricted access to the APIs of its multifunction printers (MFPs) and workflow software, which should enable third parties to better integrate their own products with HP's hardware and software.

Enterprises are being offered a print-management service, backed by an initial audit aimed at rationalising printers and excessive printing within organisations. HP has devised a per-page payment model that covers all support hardware and consumables backed by device and workflow, audit and management software.

HP has also produced several offerings tailored for specific vertical markets. A point-of-sale materials workflow management package is being targeted at retailers, while pharmaceutical companies are being offered HP's Smart Labels and Packaging service, which HP claims provides secure serialisation and anti-counterfeiting features. Web developers now receive access to HP's Open Extensibility Platform, which enables them to produce their own device-agnostic vertical market applications.

Also announced was a one-third reduction in the price of HP's high-end videoconferencing product set, Halo Collaboration Studio. And the vendor announced a gateway appliance, which enables interoperability with most vendors' H.323, H.320 and SIP-compliant products, apart from Cisco.