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Printing specialist Epson America announced its latest Expression Photo XP-860 Small-in-One printer, aimed at families, home offices and photo enthusiasts.
The Expression Photo XP-860 outputs professional-quality photos up to 8 inches by 10 inches borderless, with six-color Claria Photo HD Inks, and is available for $299.99.
The printer also comes equipped with Epson Connect for the ability to access, print and scan documents, photos, emails and web pages from a tablet, smartphone or computer from anywhere.
Connect is a suite of free mobile printing solutions including Email Print, Creative Print, iPrint, Remote Print and Scan to Cloud, to print documents, photos, emails and web pages from remote locations to any Connect-enabled printer.
The platform supports Android Printing, Kindle Fire Printing and Google Cloud Print, and the Solutions Finder feature is available to help users determine and compare which mobile solution supports their mobile devices or printer.
“Small business and home office users require printers that fit seamlessly into their work environment with no hassle or set up issues, produce high quality prints – both text and with images and aren’t ridiculously expensive to operate,” Rodrigo Catalan, senior product manager, business ink jets for Epson, told eWEEK. “As such, having an MFP such as the WorkForce Pro WF-4630 powered by PrecisionCore that produces print-shop quality color prints, laser-sharp black and color text, and fast print speeds at up to half the printing cost of color laser and even less expensive than third-party businesses can be invaluable.”
Catalan explained that PrecisionCore is Epson’s next generation printing technology. Printers powered by PrecisionCore offer high-speed solutions for commercial, industrial and office printing.
The process by which PrecisionCore print chips increase print speeds is two-fold. First, the print chips are comprised of a higher number of nozzles in a more condensed area, resulting in more ink flow.
Secondly, because the print chips are scalable, they can be combined to deliver more ink and boost print speed.
Although the Expression Photo XP-860 does not feature Precision Core technology, it does enables users to edit, scan and share photos directly to Facebook or other cloud services all in single workflow.
The printer provides wireless support as well, including built-in Ethernet, WiFi Certified n2 and WiFi Direct for network-free printing, plus built-in USB and memory card slots for PC-free printing.
Other features include a dedicated photo tray, a rear paper feed for specialty media, and direct CD/DVD printing.
The printer also offers several productivity features, including a 30-page Auto Document Feeder for automatic two-sided color printing, copying, scanning, and faxing, as well as a 4.3-inch LCD touchscreen with gesture recognition capability.
In addition, the auto-extend output paper tray allows users to print and be assured that projects and papers will be organized, especially when printing remotely.
“Printers and printing technology the gamut of users and needs; this ranges from home printers catering to families and photo enthusiasts who print the occasional photo at home, to prosumer printing solutions that cater more to advanced amateur photographers who prefer to preview, edit and print their photos and graphics at home,” Catalan said.
The printer also boasts eco-friendly features including Energy Star qualifications, support of recycled paper, Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) compliant and designed to be recycled.
Individual ink cartridges allow users to replace only the color needed, while standard and high-capacity (XL) black and color ink cartridges are designed to accommodate a variety of printing needs.