HP Launches ALL-IN-ONE Multi-Funtional Smallest Inkjet Printer

On Monday HP revealed their latest printer series, called DeskJet Ink Advantage 3700 All-in-One Series. Available in the market from September 26th with a price of Rs 7,176, the new DeskJet is said to be world’s smallest all-in-one printer.

The HP DeskJet Ink Advantage 3700 series offers easy printing on smartphones and tablets for social media accounts like Instagram and Facebook by combining robust print, scan and copy capabilities.

“Today’s launch has unfurled a new chapter about amazing engineering experiences that weoffer to our customers. HP’s new DeskJet Ink Advantage printers is yet another innovation which is an answer to the evolving customer needs,” Rajiv Srivastava, HP Managing Director in India, said.

The company claims that the device is “half the size of other inkjet all-in-one printers”, fundamental reason for its inclusion in TIME Magazine’s 50 Most Influential Gadgets of All Time. The Hp All-in-One printer measures only 15.86 inches wide by 17.75 inches deep by 10.39 inches tall. For a multi-function printer, that’s very small.

Is the Claim Correct?

Well what’s strange is that HP’s claim that this is the smallest all-in-one printer doesn’t quite check out. It seems a company named Primera has an all-in-one printer which is far smaller than this one. Even HP itself has launched an all-in-one printer smaller than this, dubbed HP Officejet 150.

So how can HP claim that this is the world’s smallest printer in the world? It seems HP’s claim comes with an asterisk (*). The claim is limited for any all-in-one printer which costs less than $250 while the two all-in-ones we just mentioned cost even more than that amount.

Considering the price of the HP 3755 all-in-one, it definitely makes more sense to buy a small multi-function printer than to spend upwards of 25K for one. So HP has definitely done well with this one, keeping the price and size to a minimum, albeit their claim is a little misleading.

Standout Feature

Apart from being compact, the 3700 All-in-One Series provides facility for HP All-in-One Remote mobile application to be synched with the device.

Features such as print, scan and copy can all be carried out wirelessly using the free application. The app is available across all three major mobile platforms; iOS, Android and Windows devices.

The mobile devices can not only access their printer without a network but also print directly using Wi-Fi Direct.

Internet of Things (IoT)

Parikshet Singh Tomar, Director, Printing Systems claimed that HP will introduce IoT if the demand increases.

He said, “The company has a different thought process today. We are working towards satisfying the needs of the Next-Gen consumer. If IoT printer is required, I’m sure HP will build one.”

A bottle of monochrome ink is capable of printing 480 pages and the device is available in cardinal red, sea grass and electric blue colors. However, do keep in mind that HP has recently disabled third-party (cheap) cartridge support for their old and new printers. So, you’ll have to pay a handsome amount when changing printer cartridges from now on.

INTEL's view on USB Type-C : Future Industry Standard

If you need convincing on why you should give up on that nostalgic headphone jack, Intel may have something under its bag to convince you.

While Apple is likely to nix the audio jack in favor of Lightning port, Intel is providing reasons why you should embrace the Type-C standard instead which you’ll see in way more phones than Lightning.

To be clear, the most surprising thing I find is how quickly people tend to forgot when the headphone jack came in your run-of-the-mill smartphone.

It wasn’t always there. It wasn’t there when Apple first outed its revolutionary touchscreen phone in 2007. Yes, that’s right, it only came next year. The first mainstream phone to get it was the venerable Nokia N95 after which we got an explosion of these devices, all with the 3.5mm jack.

After that, everyone simply started taking these tools for granted and more than a billion and a half phones later, they are everywhere. And arguably, it is that mainstream acceptance which is coming to bite makers now.

In the beginning it seemed like a simple standard. But a decade later it is no way near as sophisticated as the rest of the phone. That is certainly not an unexpected phenomenon, as we’ve seen elsewhere with Windows 7 and the 30-pin connector.

Consumers hate change, especially when it makes you spend more. We always do, particularly when the gains are minimal. But at least in this case, they are not.

Why USB Type-C

For once, the Type-C standard brings much more sophistication in audio. Features like noise-cancelling and bass boosting will be more accessible, making accessories even cheaper.

It also helps with power management, allowing the phone to shut off the connector if the user isn’t using it for a period of time, saving useful amounts of battery. It will also be used for authenticating a user’s device.

Going Type-C won’t require analog-to-digital circuitry in phones any longer, meaning even more slim designs. Finally, Intel is also unveiling a new video format for the Type-C connection, which is not really meant to be a replacement for HDMI but will be good enough for movies or productivity (though, not for gaming).

Lastly, there is the hard fact that the headphone jack is plain dumb and ill-suited for a smartphone as high-end as, say, the Galaxy Note7. Manufacturers have been trying to shrink components (like the SIM card) or replace them with newer technology in this digital age to bring much more efficiency and innovation.

Yet the audio jack stands out as the lone single-purpose device which, if not for its mass usage, could’ve likely been among the first components to get the axe.

Of course, you can argue that you will require a new dongle (which is somewhat absurd as you can simply leave it plugged to your headphones) and can only either charge the phone or get your media at the once (you can always go wireless).

But at this point, for someone like Apple or Intel, points like these don’t matter because that technology is simply archaic and is hindering the arrival of more sophisticated technology. The only point of slight contention are the various standards for Type-C connections, meaning the port on your phone may not be as capable as the one on your laptop.