HP Takes the Lead in Top-End Consumer and Professional Photo Printing

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, November 14, 2006 - HP is taking the lead in top-end consumer and professional photo printing with the new advances in ink, papers and printing technology. HP is taking the lead in top-end consumer and professional photo printing. This year at GITEX, HP is boasting several new photo printers which are light, stylish, compact and feature-rich including the world's fastest photo printer for consumers - the HP Photosmart D7363 - printing 10x15cm in as fast as 12 seconds. HP will also showcase the recently launched the HP Photosmart Pro B9180 A3+ Photo Printer, designed specifically for professional photographers.

Amr Hassan, General Manager, Imaging and Printing Group, HP Middle-East said: "HP has worked hard to ensure its new line-up of printers provides the best user-experience possible, with features such as the HP Photosmart Express interface for organising, editing and printing digital photos. Our latest range of products create experiences for all of HP's photography customers - from consumers, hobbyists and professionals to retailers and print service providers. It remains our constant endeavour to create personal and memorable experiences for consumers around the world."

Taking on the professionals- HP Photosmart Pro B9180

Drawing on HP's heritage in the graphics and commercial printing marke, the HP Photosmart Pro B9180 is an efficient, powerful new printer produces high quality, instant dry, durable, waterproof prints that resist fading for up to 200 years, a new benchmark in photography. The printer has already won a much coveted Technical Imaging Press Association (TIPA) award for Best A3 Photo Printer, and has captured the imagination of professionals around the world. 

The newly designed printing system features HP's proprietary scalable printing technology for increased productivity, versatility and affordable cost per page, along with eight individual pigment ink cartridges, four two-colour printheads and a range of professional photo and fine art papers. The high-capacity ink cartridges allow professional photographers to print up to approximately 80 A3+ prints or 840 10 x15 cm photos³. In addition, HP Pro print plug-in for Adobe Photoshop, and a host of ICC profiles in the printer software, deliver precise, predictable colour quality, print after print.

Industry leading image quality with HP Vivera Inks

The eight high-capacity HP 38 Pigment Ink Cartridges, with new patented waterproof⁵ HP Vivera inks, deliver durable life-like colour for professional portraits, landscapes, proofing and fine art prints. The new ink cartridges have been engineered to deliver consistent results with the HP Photosmart Pro B9180 A3+ Photo Printer.

Professional quality papers

For photographers without large format printing facilities, producing A3+ prints that meet professional requirements is a challenge. Industry leading HP Advanced Photo Paper solves this problem. Featuring retail quality finishes, in glossy and satin-matt, customers will appreciate the durability of the thick, heavy paper. The paper's instant dry porous coating allows immediate handling without smudging, helping to create a more productive and efficient studio.  Additionally, new A3+ HP digital fine art papers, based on HP's professional large format media range, provide photographers with the materials needed to display their work in a gallery.  Four types of papers - Watercolour, Aquarella Art, Smooth Fine Art and Artist Matte Canvas - provide professionals with greater choice when printing work for display. 

Professional performance and versatility

The HP Photosmart Pro B9180 A3+ Photo Printer also delivers ICC profiling options for perfect colour reproduction on a variety of standard and specialised media.  Professional photos will look just as they did through the lens or on the calibrated monitor, with precision colour consistency for the highest quality prints, colour control and accurate photo proofs available for a variety of HP and non-HP media as well as digital fine art paper. Photographers can immediately print their photos and proofs with HP's fast, professional printing technology without having to rely on a photo lab. Proofs can be printed in less than 2 minutes for A3+ prints and less than ten seconds for 10 x15cm prints, a new speed benchmark⁷. The printer is perfectly suited to master the most challenging photo printing tasks as well as the everyday printing of documents.

Ground breaking photo printing- HP Photosmart D7360

The HP Photosmart D7360 Photo Printer with large, 8.6cm colour touch-screen display for easy editing and organising of images is the world's fastest photo printer for consumers. Home users can now perform advanced photo-editing tasks right on the printer without the need for a PC. Simply plug the digital camera into the USB port or place a memory card into the slot to rotate, crop, zoom and remove red-eye.

The HP Photosmart D7360 comes with six individual HP Vivera inks for beautiful, professional-quality photos that resist fading for over 100 years. ^(1A) The printer is the world's fastest, creating 10x15cm photos in fast as 12 seconds.^(2A) It's also economical at high volumes - the individual ink cartridges mean less waste as each can be replaced when the colour runs out.  

Key features:

• 8.6cm colour touch screen for editing and organising without a PC

• Six-ink colour with HP Vivera Inks for rich and realistic photos that resist fading for generations

• Printing without a computer from PictBridge-enabled cameras using the USB port

• PhotoFix button for one-touch cropping, zoom, red-eye removal and automatic photo corrections

• Efficiently designed individual ink cartridges allow users to replace only the colour that's run out - ideal for high volume printing

• HP Real Life technologies allow users to edit photos direction on the printer for professional-quality photos at home

• Automated 10x15cm tray for dedicated photo printing

• HP Photosmart Premier software for editing, organising, printing, sharing, archiving and creating photo projects

• Effortless panoramic printing up to 210x594mm with or without borders^(3A)

• Optional HP Bluetooth? Wireless Printer Adapter enables wireless printing from camera phones, handheld PCs or other Bluetooth? enabled devices ^(4A)

Study reveals HP provides best overall photo printing experience

An HP-commissioned study conducted by third-party research firm Doxus⁴ testing a variety of HP Photosmart printers showed:

• HP Photosmart printers deliver the best overall photo printing experience as compared to other tested photo printers
• Most digital camera owners chose HP Photosmart printers over other major brands to print digital photos at home
• HP Photosmart printers are the fastest and easiest way to print lab-quality photos at home as compared to other tested photo printers⁵
• People new to printing photos without a PC said HP was the fastest and easiest way to print a photo from a digital camera versus other major brands
• On average, digital camera owners printed a photo one minute faster with HP Photosmart printers versus other printers in their class.

-Ends-

About HP
HP is a technology solutions provider to consumers, businesses and institutions globally. The company's offerings span IT infrastructure, global services, business and home computing, and imaging and printing. For the four fiscal quarters ended July 31, 2006, HP revenue totaled $90.0 billion. More information about HP (NYSE, Nasdaq: HPQ) is available at www.hp.com.

About HP Middle East
HP is the largest technology and solutions provider in the Middle East with 670 employees and subsidiaries in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Jeddah, Khobar, Cairo,  Ramallah and Oman servicing the GCC, Egypt and the Levant. HP has been present in the Middle East since 1968 and opened its first regional office in 1994. HP Middle East is the market leader for enterprise, small and medium business and consumer technology products and offers a large portfolio of solutions and services in various business domains.

More information about HP in the Middle East is available at www.hp.com/me

¹ Based on December 2005 competitive landscape and similarly priced printers, HP internal testing

² "When displayed framed under glass, prints made with the HP Photosmart Pro B9180 printer, Vivera pigment inks, and select HP papers have WIR Display Permanence and Album/Dark Storage Ratings of more than 200 years and are among the longest-lasting prints in the entire 130-year history of colour photography. Tested HP papers include HP Advanced Photo Paper, HP Hahnemhle Smooth Fine Art Paper, HP Hahnemhle Watercolor Paper, and HP Matte Photo Paper." Henry Wilhelm, www.wilhelm-research.com

³ Preliminary yield estimate:  Approximately 80 A3+ prints or 840 10x15cm photos.  Actual yield depends on specific use. For tested results by printer, see www.hp.com/go/pageyield

⁴ Tested HP papers include HP Advanced Photo Paper, HP Hahnemhle Smooth Fine Art Paper, HP Hahnemhle Watercolor Paper, and HP Matte Photo Paper.  Additional HP papers are also being tested with Vivera pigment inks. For test details visit, www.wilhelm-research.com

⁵ Waterproof with HP Advanced Photo paper; water resistant with other HP-recommended papers. Based on HP image permanence lab's comprehensive water resistance testing.  Please contact HP for further details.

⁶ This website www.hp.com/eur/hpoptions is available to all customers in EMEA to purchase HP 38 Pigment Ink Cartridges, HP 70 Printheads, HP Advanced Photo Paper A3 and A3+ size and the range of HP Fine Art Media

⁷ Based upon HP internal testing

^(1A) Based on WillhelmResearch.com light-fade testing under glass (as of November 2005) on HP Premium Plus Photo Papers. For more information on additional permanence testing factors, visit http://hp.com/go/premiumplusphoto.

^(2A) Speed comparisons in default and fastest modes, when printing from a computer, based upon HP internal testing of comparable consumer photo printing products available as of April 2006.

^(3A) Borderless printing up to 210x594mm using brochure and photo paper.

^(4A) Wireless printing requires HP bt400/bt450 Bluetooth Wireless Printer Adapter not included, purchased separately. Visit www.hp.com/support/bluetooth for a list of compatible devices. Not included, sold separately.

⁽⁵⁾ The price stated is EMEA Manufacturer's Recommended Selling Price (MRSP) including VAT and is subject to change - actual price may vary by country.

© Press Release 2006