Today, printers. Tomorrow, 'integrated peripherals'?

Out went 42 aging black and white copiers with interface boxes that let them serve as printers. In went 42 new networked multi-function printers (MFPs) that could do color printing and copying and scan directly to e-mail, fax or files. And the owner, the Park Hill School District in Kansas City, MO, saves $19,000 yearly.

By Lamont Wood | 08 May, 2012 20:56

Tags: roi, it strategy, it management, hardware systems, hardware, Gartner

Printer ink: Tired of feeding the cash cow?

Human blood costs about $17.27 an ounce, silver about $34 an ounce. But both are bargains compared to the ink sold to the owners of inkjet printers, which can exceed $80 an ounce. Meanwhile, the ink used to print newspapers costs about 16 cents an ounce.

By Lamont Wood | 28 March, 2012 21:58

Tags: Gartner, hardware, hardware systems, Small Enterprise

Phones become electronic wallets

In a recent pilot project, about 30 regular guests at a Clarion Hotel in Stockholm were given smartphones enabled with Near Field Communication technology, enabling them to bypass the check-in counter and access their rooms by tapping their phones on an NFC reader, which replaced the typical card-swipe door lock.

By Lamont Wood | 26 March, 2012 15:31

Tags: consumer electronics, mobile apps, near-field communications, networking, smartphones, wireless

Gamification goes mainstream

Increased sales, increased participation, increased engagement. It doesn't sound like a game, but those are some of the goals, and reported achievements, of the new field of "gamification."

By Lamont Wood | 25 January, 2012 03:20

Tags: games, it management

Future world: Today, the Internet - tomorrow, the Internet of Things?

Embedded in the heel of his shoe was an early example of the Internet of Things -- but Andrew Duncan didn't know it at the time.

By Lamont Wood | 10 November, 2011 02:22

Tags: email, internet, Internet of Things

3D chips: The next electronics revolution

To accomplish anything in the suburbs, you need to get in your car and drive to another address. Downtown, in a skyscraper, you just use an elevator.

By Lamont Wood | 03 November, 2011 01:06

Tags: Components, Emerging Technologies, freemium, hardware, hardware systems, Intel, processors

Got cyber insurance?

Heartland Payment Systems figured it was in pretty good shape when it took out a $30 million cyber insurance policy. Unfortunately, the credit card transaction processor was the victim of a massive data breach in early 2009 that resulted in losses estimated at $145 million. The insurance company did pay Heartland the $30 million, but the company was on the hook for the remaining $115 million.

By Lamont Wood | 24 October, 2011 15:29

Tags: data breach, Ingram Micro, security

The wild, wacky world of webcams grows up -- kinda

A decade ago, it was a clever novelty: a webcam pointed at an office water cooler. The first one is still online, at www.coolercam.com, broadcasting a fresh picture every 10 seconds.

By Lamont Wood | 22 September, 2008 08:51

Tags: webcams

Forgotten history: the true origins of the PC

This year marks an almost forgotten 40th anniversary: the conception of the device that ultimately became the PC. And no, it did not happen in California.

3-D printing: The next big thing?

Heading a start-up after leaving his position as head of Microsoft Game Studios, Ed Fries thought that he might be able to sell 10,000 units of his product -- personalized online game figurines -- the first year.