Innovative EFI Fiery Technology and New Konica Minolta MFPs Bring Mobile Printing and Productivity-Boosting Tools to Office Workgroups


FOSTER CITY, Calif., Feb. 7, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EFI™ (Nasdaq:EFII), a world leader in customer-focused digital printing innovation, and Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. today launched the Fiery® IC-414 controller for the new Konica Minolta bizhub® C754/C654 MFPs, bringing office workgroups high-quality color, automated workflows, and unique productivity-boosting tools. Based on the latest award-winning Fiery System 10e platform, the controller delivers fully finished documents faster than ever before and offers multiple ways for mobile device users to print from their smartphones and tablets.

"Once again we have paired our advanced Fiery technology with the latest bizhub products from Konica Minolta to provide customers with an exceptional color printing solution," said John Henze, vice president of Fiery marketing, EFI. "This launch includes many hallmark Fiery controller features that ensure outstanding color quality and ease of use along with some unique tools that boost productivity in today's office environment, including the Fiery VUE visual application and direct mobile printing for on-the-go professionals. These are all wrapped around a scalable and modular architecture that can easily grow as the print requirements grow."

"Konica Minolta's ongoing partnership with EFI and Fiery technology helps boost the productivity of our products, from the bizhub family to our production print systems and digital presses," said Kevin Kern, senior vice president of marketing, Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. "With the introduction of the IC-414, we can offer customers from the high-end office to graphics and entry light production advanced capabilities and performance to maximize their efficiency."

The Fiery controller and bizhub MFP combination enables workgroups to increase productivity and produce more professional-looking documents in-house with easy to use tools, such as the unique Fiery VUE visual print application. It allows users to interact with a document on-screen in 3D to sculpt and preview exactly how the finished piece will look, saving time and reducing waste and costs. Integration and support of the bizhub C754/C654 finishing devices and advanced tab printing* increases productivity and further simplifies the creation of finished documents such as booklets.

With the recent explosion of smartphones and tablets, now more than ever, mobile workers need to be able to access and print their documents whether from their desktop computer or mobile device. With this launch, the Fiery controller provides a built-in mobile print option for no additional cost, enabling users to print directly via Wi-Fi from their iPad™, iPhone® and iPod touch® applications to a Fiery-driven printer. The Fiery controller automatically discovers and presents users with choices of Fiery-driven printers and print options for fast and easy printing.

The Fiery IC-414 delivers high-quality color and images right out of the box with Fiery ColorWise® technology. Spot color reproduction are built-in to the controller in Fiery Spot-On®, enabling the most flexible and accurate tools for achieving the best match for PANTONE colors or any other specialty colors to ensure corporate colors are always right.

As printing needs grow, Fiery technology provides additional capabilities with the optional Fiery Productivity Package including features such as Image Enhance Visual Editor for on-the-fly per image correction and Fiery Hot Folders to automate document preparation in distributed print environments. These tools help users meet tight turnaround times and produce top-notch color documents the first time, while automating processes to make users more productive than ever before.

Availability

The EFI Fiery IC-414 can be ordered now from Konica Minolta. For more information, go to www.efi.com or contact 800-875-7117.

About EFI

EFI (www.efi.com) is a world leader in customer-focused digital printing innovation. EFI's award-winning solutions, integrated from creation to print, deliver increased performance, cost savings and productivity. The company's robust product portfolio includes Fiery® digital print controllers and solutions; VUTEk® superwide digital inkjet printers, UV and solvent inks; Rastek™ UV wide-format inkjet printers; Jetrion® industrial inkjet printing systems; print production workflow and management information software; and corporate printing solutions.

The Electronics For Imaging, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=7332

Follow EFI Online:

Follow us on Twitter: @EFI_Print_Tech

Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/EFI.Digital.Print.Technology

View us on YouTube: www.youtube.com/EFIDigitalPrintTech

About Konica Minolta

Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. is a leader in advanced document management technologies and Managed IT Services for the desktop to the print shop. For the fourth consecutive year, Konica Minolta was recognized as the #1 Brand for Customer Loyalty in the MFP Office Copier Market by Brand Keys. BLI has named Konica Minolta 2012 "Document Imaging Solutions Line of the Year" and "A3 MFP Line of the Year" award winner for the company's solution portfolio and award-winning line of bizhub Multifunctional Products. For more information, please visit www.CountOnKonicaMinolta.com and follow Konica Minolta on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.

* These features available in Q2

NOTE TO EDITORS: Electronics For Imaging, Fiery, PrintMe, Command WorkStation, ColorWise, Spot-On, VUTEk and Jetrion are registered trademarks of Electronics For Imaging, Inc. in the U.S. and/or certain other countries. EFI, FreeForm and Rastek are trademarks of Electronics For Imaging, Inc. in the U.S. and/or certain other countries. All other terms and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners and are hereby acknowledged.

Nothing herein should be construed as a warranty in addition to the express warranty statements provided with EFI products and services.

This news release contains forward-looking statements, that are statements other than statements of historical fact including words such as "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "consider", "plan" and similar, any statements related to strategies or objectives of management for future operations, products, development, performance, any statements of assumptions or underlying any of the foregoing and any statements in the future tense. Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual or future results to differ materially. For further information regarding risks and uncertainties associated with EFI's businesses, please refer to the risk factors section in the Company's SEC filings, including, but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K and its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. EFI undertakes no obligation to update information contained herein, including forward-looking statements.



            

Contact Data