Canon Pumps Up Network-Focused Lineup

At Canon's annual partner conference in Las Vegas, company executives said the products also would be able to leverage new management and document software that the vendor has been developing for the past two years.

"We've been on a steady march forward to greater levels of integration," said Dennis Amorosano, director and general manager of integrated solutions at Canon USA, Lake Success, N.Y. "We've been transitioning from a traditional, stand-alone, box-related business to one characterized by our ability to connect to the network and reduce costs."

Canon's latest offerings include a new lineup of ImageRunner multifunction devices: the ImageRunner 2270 and 2870 for small businesses and workgroups, and the ImageRunner 3570 and 4570 for midsize departments. All four products, which perform both laser printer and copier functions, are integrated with Canon's software-based Multifunctional Embedded Platform management technology. The units print between 22 ppm and 45 ppm, and they come standard with 512 Mbytes of RAM and a 20-Gbyte hard drive. Pricing runs between $5,800 and $11,200, according to Canon.

The highest-end device that Canon introduced was the ImageRunner C5800, priced at $21,000. The unit comes integrated with Canon's proprietary imagePlatform management architecture, which enables advanced document functions as well as color capability.

In the second half of 2005, Canon plans to release a wireless LAN kit, which will help the vendor get in early on the emerging segment for wirelessly networked office devices, Amorosano said. "While that particular marketplace is not growing significantly yet, from the standpoint of printers we expect that over time it will," he said. "As that happens, even more applications will develop for wirelessly connected devices."