Printers

Lexmark International Introduces New
UHF RFID Laser Printing Solution

Lexmark International, Inc. (www.lexmark.com/rfid) premieres the new Lexmark RFID Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Laser Option. With an estimated street price of $1,899, it is an option designed as an add-on for Lexmark T640, T642, or T644 monochrome laser printers. It contains a radio and antenna that programs and verifies RFID media and provides an easy and affordable way for customers to add RFID capabilities to their existing printing infrastructure.

Laser printers offer a cost-effective alternative to thermal printers for RFID solutions because they can print on a wide variety of media and can help speed up distribution processes and increase productivity. For example, using the Lexmark RFID UHF option and Lexmark's Forms Composer software, customers can print a packing slip, print a shipping label, and program an RFID tag all at once on a single 8.5" x 14" document. By consolidating multiple devices into one printer, customers can reduce costs and minimize errors and processing time.

"Customers can now add RFID printing capabilities to the long list of benefits the T640 family of printers brings to business customers, " says Marty Canning, Lexmark Vice President and President of its Printing Solutions and Services Division. "These monochrome workhorses are a perfect fit for customers in the retail and manufacturing industries who are looking to affordably upgrade and utilize RFID to improve their business processes. "

Zebra Enhances Best-In-Class Z-Series Printers

Zebra Technologies (www.zebra.com) introduces its Zebra RZ400 and RZ600 UHF RFID Gen 2 midrange printer/encoders. The new RZ Series offers broad functionality at an affordable price point, making the products well-suited to lower duty cycle EPC Gen 2 RFID compliance and closed-loop RFID applications.

Zebra developed its RZ Series to enable smaller suppliers to retailers such as Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, Target, Metro, and Tesco, and companies just getting started with RFID implementation, to comply more readily with RFID tagging mandates. These new printers/encoders can also help suppliers to the U.S. Department of Defense design affordable systems to meet their case-and-pallet labeling requirements. Zebra will launch the RZ Series in North America in summer 2008 and in international regions later this year.

Enhanced with such broad and flexible RFID functionality, the Zebra RZ Series offers an optimal combination of price and performance that makes it a highly affordable choice for creation of smart tags, tickets and labels for compliance applications, as well as for numerous other applications in packaging, parcel handling, warehouse/distribution, transportation/logistics, healthcare, pharmaceutical, and retail operations.