By Lisa Reider, Research Editor, April 10, 2009

Last week, Philadelphia was home to some of the top document imaging vendors and software developers in the country with the hosting of the AIIM/On Demand International Exposition and Conference.

Although fewer vendors participated this year than last year, and a few of those who did attend demonstrated their wares in private meeting rooms rather than on the show floor, economic woes did not diminish the number of scanner product announcements. And many of the announcements this year were targeted more toward professional-level document imaging customers, which is in contrast of the lower-end scanners that dominated last year’s newcomers. Indeed, this year’s AIIM Expo showcased the recently launched Canon imageFORMULA DR-7090C, BÖWE BELL + HOWELL Ngenuity series and a sneak peek at upcoming high-end scanner offerings from Canon, Panasonic and HP.

Another trend evident at the show was first seen in the MFP market—the ability to integrate devices with third-party solutions. While Canon showcased its new eCopy-compatible ScanFront 220e, Fujitsu touted its fi-6010N iScanner’s ability to integrate with a wide range of solutions with the help of its software development kit option—a first of its kind in the industry, according to Fujitsu—that allows software developers who purchase the SDK option to leverage the fi-6010N’s full functionality. HP offers a similar SDK bundle for its networked scanners, but only to members of its solutions developer program. Although Kodak was not present at the show, its new Scan Station 500 could be seen integrated with various third-party solutions at software vendor booths as well. This new trend gives customers nearly anything they may need for scanning directly from the scanner’s control panel.

Following is a look at the new and improved product offerings from some of the top scanner vendors at the show.

BÖWE BELL + HOWELL

BÖWE BELL + HOWELL Ngenuity 9150

Although BÖWE BELL + HOWELL was one of the vendors with a meeting room instead of a booth this year, its new Ngenuity series was available for demonstration. Launched in early March, the Ngenuity 9150/9125/9090 series is one of the most robust production scanners available. With the ability to scan documents up to 219 yards in length and from 7- to 320-lb. bond (up to 0.070" thick) in weight, this series accommodates the widest range of documents in its class, according to the company.

In addition to its exceptional media-handling capabilities, it also features two programmable hard keys for frequently used scan operations. Maintenance procedures are also easier than with previous BÖWE BELL + HOWELL devices, as the new white LED lights for the scan camera are expected to last the life of the device. In contrast, the illumination technology in the BÖWE BELL + HOWELL Spectrum series, for example, is rated at 5,000 hours. Plus, each feed roller wheel is user-replaceable and lasts for up to 500,000 scans. This new series of scanners offers landscape speeds ranging from 90 ppm to 150 ppm and an unlimited daily duty cycle. For more information on this series, check out the Ngenuity First Look Reports now on bliQ.

Canon

Canon imageFORMULA DR-9050C

Although previewed at last year’s show, Canon’s new ScanFront 220e, the eCopy-embedded version of the ScanFront 220, was officially announced this year’s show. Canon also announced the new imageFORMULA DR-9050C production scanner, slated for availability later in the second quarter of 2009. With scan speeds up to 112 ppm (225 ipm) in landscape mode, the DR-9050C is built on the same platform as the imageFORMULA DR-X10C—a BLI Spring 2008 “Pick” winner. The DR-9050C includes a 500-sheet ADF that handles paper weights up to 55.59-lb. bond. Additional features include a long document mode that scans documents up to 118.1" and the latest Canon image processing features such as Advanced Text Enhancements I and II. While Advanced Text Enhancement I extracts text from documents with dark-colored backgrounds, Advanced Text Enhancement II enhances documents containing light-colored text on patterned backgrounds. This unit also offers up to 99 programmable one-touch scan profiles that can be accessed at the control panel and the ability to maintain its rated scan speed for black, grayscale and color at up to 300 dpi, according to the company.

Upon launch of the DR-9050C, Canon will also introduce two sister models: the 90-ppm (180 ipm) DR-7550C and the 65-ppm (130 ipm) DR-6050C, which both offer most of the same features as the DR-9050C. Pricing and recommended daily scan volumes have yet to be determined.

Fujitsu

Fujitsu fi-6010N

Fujitsu Computer Products of America also did not have a booth, but instead set up several fi-6010N iScanners in a meeting room above the show floor. To demonstrate Fujitsu’s new software development kit (SDK) offering, each fi-6010N networked scanner was set up with integrated software programs. According to the company, the fi-6010N is the only scanner in its class to offer third-party software developers an SDK to allow for the integration of their software into the fi-6010N networked scanner. What’s unique about the Fujitsu SDK is that the kit is open to any software developer who wishes to purchase the SDK option. SDK offerings such as HP’s are designated for software developers that are members of its developer program. Solutions shown integrated with the fi-6010N include ABBYY TouchTo OCR, ImageTek Accounting software and NSI AutoStore, as well as solutions from DRIVVE, KnowledgeLake and Kofax. Software developers can work around the Fujitsu touch screen template or develop their own. Although MFP vendors have had software integration platforms for several years now, Fujitsu’s SDK is said to be the first of its kind for the dedicated network scanner market.

According to Scott Francis, Fujitsu’s senior director of product marketing, as this is basically uncharted territory, Fujitsu is targeting the software vendors’ customers first, since they already have the solutions in-house, but he feels Fujitsu will be a pioneer in this new technology.

HP

HP Scanjet 7000

In addition to showing off its recently launched Scanjet N6350, 5000 and 7000 scanners, HP offered previews of its upcoming Scanjet 7000n and Scanjet 9000. The 40-ppm (80 ipm) Scanjet 7000n is built on the same engine as the Scanjet 7000, but adds network functionality and a wide screen display for $2,999. According to David Haining, HP’s product marketing manager for scanners, the Scanjet 7000n uses the same network capabilities as networked HP MFP devices, including network security functionality such as LDAP authentication. The HP Scanjet 7000n also offers a virtually unlimited number of scan profiles, or “Quick Sets,” for programming frequently used scan jobs, a scan preview, scan to USB functionality and a built-in keyboard. Plus, as with previous HP networked scanners, HP will offer a software development kit to allow software vendors the ability to integrate their software into the scanner’s touch-screen display. This SDK is the same as one that is used for HP LaserJet MFPs. According to Haining, HP has partnered with Omtool and Kofax for this offering. Any software vendor who is an active member of HP’s solutions developer program can use the HP SDK to design an integrated solution for the Scanjet 7000n free of charge. The Scanjet 7000n is slated for availability in October 2009.

Building on the functionality of the recent Scanjet release, the 60-ppm (120 ipm) Scanjet 9000 has a suggested retail price of $3,399. The Scanjet 9000 offers the same control panel design as the Scanjet 7000 but offers a four-line LED display instead of a one-line display and comes with a 150-sheet ADF, the latest version of HP Smart Document Scan Software and a new proprietary HP TWAIN driver that will offer advanced features such as the ability to access pre-configured scan profiles on the main screen of the driver and various forms of batch separation. According to Haining, the new HP TWAIN driver will be included with all future non-networked HP scanners. The Scanjet 9000 will be officially launched in September 2009.

Panasonic

Panasonic KV-S7075C

Panasonic introduced the new 95-ppm (190 ipm) KV-S7075C mid-volume production scanner with a built-in flatbed. With a suggested retail price of $8,995, the KV-S7075C offers a 15,000-page daily duty cycle, 200-sheet automatic document feeder, blank-page removal, dynamic threshold, auto crop and page separation for two-page spreads scanned from books. Plus, users can place multiple documents on the unit’s flatbed and, using the multi-crop function, scan each as an individual file or document.

Panasonic also previewed its upcoming 40-ppm (80 ipm) KV-S1045C. Although pricing and duty cycle have not been set yet, the KV-S1045C is based on the 25-ppm KV-S1025C series, but offers a faster speed, a 75-page ADF, and ultrasonic multi-feed detection. This scanner also offers an auto orientation feature that automatically corrects documents scanned upside down, for example. The KV-S1045C, which is slated for availability in June, can also be equipped with an optional KV-SS080 flatbed.

Visioneer

Visioneer is another vendor that opted for a meeting room instead of a booth. It gave a sneak peek at some upcoming products, including PowerTools, a free plug-in for Visioneer OneTouch, which enables users to program frequently used scan jobs for easy access from the scan driver or at the scanner’s control panel. PowerTools leverages the functionality of OneTouch and adds features such as the ability to scan a single document to multiple destinations, a feature best suited for environments that need to simultaneously archive and distribute scanned documents. Additional enhancements include the ability to customize file names during the scanning process and remember and select previous file names and scan destinations. PowerTools also comes with image-processing features such as blank-page removal, edge cleanup, background removal and redaction. PowerTools, which was launched in the United States on April 7, is available for Visioneer and Xerox-branded scanners.

And The Rest

While smaller scanner vendors such as Plustek, The Neat Company and Avision were present at the show, they did not announce any new products. Plustek showcased its recently announced Book scanner and Mobile Scanner, while The Neat Company displayed its NeatReceipts mobile scanner and its 25-ppm NeatDesk sheet-fed scanner, which was launched in October 2008. Avision displayed a multitude of networked and sheet-fed document scanners as well.

This article was originally posted on BLI.