Remember Memjet? Silverbrook's 60-pages-per-minute printer shocked the technology industry in March of 2007, when the startup disclosed its innovative inkjet technology. Soon after, the company started talking about releasing 360-pages-per-minute technology in the future.
Silverbrook's technology (which will be commercialized under the business name Memjet) was supposed to be released in early 2008, according to what company executives told me then. Now, a company spokeswoman says that the "A4/letter printhead and related
components" will be shipped to OEMs by the end of this year, with products slated for sometime in 2009. This is consistent with "early timetables," according to the spokeswoman.
Memjet isn't going to manufacture the printers themselves. Instead, they're going to sell the components to OEMs, who can put their own stamp on the technology.
Delays associated with new technology are nothing new. Still, in 2007, Memjet officials promised: a photo printer, which the company hoped to sell for less than $150 by the end of the year or early 2008; the 8.5-inch x 11-inch (A4) color inkjet, due to arrive at the end of 2008 for under $200; a label printer; and a large-format photo printer, expected to cost about $5,000, and capable of printing poster-sized prints at rapid speed.
The Memjet technology uses a series of individual MEMS-based inkjet nozzles, fabricated using conventional semiconductor manufacturing techniques. Each chip measures 20 millimeters across and contains 6,400 nozzles, with five color channels, the company said. A separate driver chip calculates 900 million picoliter-sized drops per second. For a standard A4 letter printer, the result is a total of 70,400 nozzles.
However, the Memjet spokeswoman said that the company's technology is still being shown off to potential customers. "The company has been doing demonstrations for business partners and potential partners for many months, including demonstrations at DRUPA last month." DRUPA is billed as the "largest printing equipment exhibition in the world," she said.
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August 18, 2008 7:07 PM
Dear Sirs:
I would like to contact people from Memjet technology.
I´´m thinking in the photo printer for my country.
Thanks.
September 5, 2008 6:20 PM
Quisiera saber si ya lo venden esas maquinas pues como hago para comprar la impresora de 60ppm pues me interesa yo tengo unas HP K5400 y una HP K8600, peor quisiera mayor velocidad, pues en verdad imprimo todos los dias algo de 2 mil impresiones por dia y quisiera imprimir mas rapido esoty buscando nuevas formas de bajar mis costos y ser mas eficiente por la velocidad
October 13, 2008 7:42 PM
Gary escribió: Quisiera saber si ya lo venden esas maquinas ... (I would like to know if these machines (printers) are already sold ...)
Respuesta: No. El artículo dice que tal vez in 2009, más que un año después de la fecha original. Tenemos que esperar. (No. The article says perhaps in 2009, more than a year after the original date. We have to wait.)
October 29, 2008 5:27 AM
I hope that at least one of Memjet's mystery clients offers a CD/DVD printing feature. It's a must-have amenity for desktop printers, believe me.
I also look forward to someone pumping pigmented superglue through A4 Memjet heads while whiffing these repeatedly across an ever-deepening bed of compacted cornstarch, as such a device could finally bring "solid printing" to the mainstream market.
October 31, 2008 12:48 PM
I have read and read about your product, now when are you going to put on the market for the consumer? I am tired of promises.
December 22, 2008 10:21 AM
Er, John, no I won't believe you. Nice, yes; must-have, no.