ORLANDO, Fla. — Although Nexpo attendance continues to plateau — the Newspaper Association of America said about 2,600 attended this year’s show, the same as last year’s Nexpo in Chicago — many vendors said interest in their products and services remained strong. Of particular interest: computer-to-plate and outsourced ad production services and citizen and Web publishing products. Four outsourcing vendors made their Nexpo debuts: Express KCS, Affinity Express, CCI Sourcing and 2AdPro. Reps said they were busy throughout the show with meetings from newspapers that wanted to evaluate using offshore services to bolster their prepress operations (see related story, page 12).

Vendors Kodak and Saxotech Inc., meantime, debuted products aimed at enabling citizen publishing and further empowering newspapers to bolster their online properties with breaking news stories, respectively.

Among Nexpo developments (companies are listed in alphabetical order):

Photo: Newspapers & Technology
Nexpo attendees file into the Orange County Convention Center
during first day of the show.
 

2AdPro Media Solutions debuted its outsourced ad production services. The Los Angeles-based company is partnering with Indian software developer Ninestars Information Technologies Ltd.

5 Fifteen Inc. displayed ad Depot, a browser-based ad-booking app that’s built entirely from Web services software. The app is designed entirely in .Net and Java with no proprietary legacy application beneath it and conforms to service oriented architecture (SOA) specs, the firm said.

Polish prepress vendor ACCHSH Group introduced PuzzleFlow 3.0, which includes advanced job preparation, workflow management and configuration features. The prepress app also includes a new version of Pdfpreflighter, called PuzzleFlow Express, which supports automatic PDF creation, the company said.

ACCHSH also announced a distribution agreement with Flashlight Digital to distribute its products in the United States.

AdLizard demonstrated its AdLizard SBS, or Simple Booking System, software. Among other features, SBS allows advertisers to create a booking only on valid publishing dates in publications that have not reached deadline.

Advanced Technical Solutions Inc., Bluefin, Creative Circle Advertising Solutions Inc. and Kodak teamed up to offer MicroZone Publishing, software papers can use to offer community journalism sites. The Chicago Tribune is the first paper to roll out the software (see related story, page 1).

Agfa and Kodak previewed chemistry-free and no-process plates, respectively, for newspapers (see story, page 32).

Anygraaf said the Kenosha (Wis.) News and Attleboro (Mass.) Sun Chronicle rolled out its Doris32 editorial software. The papers deployed Anygraaf’s asset management, Planner edition management and ad layout software. Two other dailies, the Lewiston (Idaho) Morning Tribune and The Moscow-Pullman Daily News, are also installing Doris32 software in projects slated for completion in May.

Aragon System Products showed its planning/network totalizing software. The product is an expanded version of ASP’s MicroTotalizer and lets users track and monitor printed products to pinpoint production problems, the firm said.

Cannon Equipment demonstrated its new Comet ST (formerly known as the 5500) stacker. The machine features PLC control, a new bucket design and a redesigned user interface. The unit is currently being tested at The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer and is being installed at the Kingston (Ontario) Standard. The firm also displayed its RFID-enabled cart system, currently in operation at The Dallas Morning News (see Newspapers & Technology, April 2007).

CCI Europe said the San Antonio Express-News will roll out its AdDesk advertising software. The Express-News will leverage AdDesk for cross media/product packaging, enabling the paper to tailor advertising products across their core brand and other niche publications, according to Nina Brooks, vice president of technology and chief information officer at the Express-News

“We were really impressed with how easily new packages and advertising products could be established in the system,” Brooks said. Meantime, CCI showcased its CCI Sourcing ad production services developed as a joint venture between its parent company and Indian newspaper The Hindu.

CellSigns displayed its Cellifieds software, which enables customers to use their cell phones to shop a newspaper’s classified ad listings and to obtain other sales information.

CNI Corp. showed the latest release of its AdDesk e-Proofing, version 4.

Creative Circle Advertising Solutions Inc. said West Australian Newspapers and the Jackson Hole (Wyo.) News & Guide and Valley Breeze rolled out its online ad software. It is also  rolling out its adQ Web-based ad software at Albuquerque (N.M.) Publishing Co.

Database Publishing Systems Inc. unveiled several Web-based apps including AdVantage, an ad production package that DPS said allows newspapers to serve customers without requiring direct sales support. The template-based app can post to a billing system, insert into the ad tracking system, produce and flightcheck the final EPS/PDF and route files to the user’s pagination system, DPS said.

Data Sciences Inc. said The Press Enterprise of Bloomsburg, Pa., is upgrading its current DSI Papertrak circulation app to DSI’s Oracle based DSI/Circulation. The daily will implement the vendor’s DSI/WebCirc web portal app at later date.

Journal Register Co. Senior Vice President of Technology Allen Mailman, meantime, told Newspapers & Technology that JRC also began installing DSI/Circulation at some of its newspapers. The company also introduced a business intelligence app, BA, which features advanced reporting and analysis. The app extracts raw data from circ software and organizes it into six models that cover a variety of circulation operations. BA can work with any circulation software, DSI said.

Digital Technology International sponsored a series of speakers at Nexpo from various newspapers to discuss industry trends and developments. Sue Stone, the (Minneapolis) Star Tribune’s subscriber retention manager, spoke to attendees about how her newspaper is empowering its subscribers through DTI’s Web-based iServices customer service apps, in the process improving customer satisfaction. Other speakers included Brandon Erlacher and Jeff Laderer, general manager and controller, respectively, at The Truth in Elkhart, Ind.; Chris Frederickson, IT director for Stephens Media; Bob Mason, chief technology officer for Impremedia LLC; Burgett Mooney, president of News Publishing Co. in Rome, Ga.; and Jared Thorson, marketing manager at the Kenosha (Wis.) News.

 


Photo: Newspapers & Technology
Sue Stone, subscriber retention manager of the (Minneapolis)
Star Tribune spoke to Nexpo attendees about her
newspaper’s use of DTI’s iServices app.

 

ECRM released WorkMates News, its automated, PDF-based workflow software. The app is equipped with a Web browser interface to enable remote publication planning, template creation, page monitoring, viewing and proofing. The technology is based on Polkadots Software’s Newsflo app through an OEM agreement between the vendors.

Enfocus unveiled Neo, its native PDF editing app, as well as the latest versions of its PDF tools, including PitStop Professional, PitStop Server and Instant PDF. The vendor also showed its latest version of PitStop Automate in conjunction with Artwork Systems.

The New York Times selected FMC Technologies Inc. to supply a paper roll handling system for its College Point, N.Y., production facility.

The roll handling system includes 17 laser guided vehicles serving existing presses and The Times’ new Goss International Corp. Colorliner press. The system also includes rebuilding and upgrading 34 automatic press loading vehicles, and replacing obsolete host computer controls.

The guided vehicle fleet will be responsible for transporting newsprint rolls, waste carts, core carts and butt cradles to and from the presses and automatically loading existing presses with paper.

Fusion Systems International showcased the latest versions of its prepress software, which support Intel-based Macintosh systems.

Glunz & Jensen K&F debuted its KPL-series of high-capacity plate loaders for the Kodak Trendsetter family of platesetters. The KPL-1 model is a single-cassette loader with a compact footprint, and the KPL-3 model is a multicassette plate loader capable of distributing up to 1,800 singlewide or 900 doublewide plates before reloading, the vendor said (see photo next page).

G&J K&F also unveiled its Wide Gap No-Tool stainless steel plate-to-press registration lockup for Goss International Corp. Metro presses.

The Times Herald-Record in Middletown, N.Y., upgraded the control consoles of its Goss International Metro presses with software and equipment from Harland Simon. Harland Simon said it is providing six consoles and Prima software for the paper’s presses in a project that is slated to begin this fall. Harland Simon also demonstrated its Prima Commercial MIS and Mailroom Copy Count System software. Prima Commercial supports job ticketing, estimating, invoicing and analysis.

ICanon Associates released Newzware version 7.0, designed to run on any OS or database that supports open standards. It’s engineered to work with front-end editorial and advertising software from Pongrass Publishing Ltd. Pongrass, meantime, displayed a beta release of Version 6 of its newspaper advertising software.

IntegrationX launched Ad Page Assembly, software that lets users place ads on pages without manual intervention. The software also supports automatic placement of folios and bleed control, the firm said.

Kansa Technology LLC debuted the Intelli-Jog, a standalone machine that straightens out products ready for inserting. The machine turns on and off automatically as a worker either nears it or walks away. The company also debuted a conveyor system comprised of extruded aluminum. The lightweight, standalone system is equipped with a 14-inch-wide belt and self-contained motor and controls. Kansa said the Washington (Mo.) Missourian purchased the conveyor system, along with two Kansa 760 inserters, for its upgraded production facility. Independent Publications Inc. also purchased a 760 inserter, slated for August installation, for its Lakeland, Fla., site.

Managing Editor Inc. announced that The Christian Science Monitor purchased a 75-seat installation of the K4 Publishing System for its newsroom. Editors at the Monitor are using the software to produce the paper’s print edition as well as to package content for its Web site, csmonitor.com.

“MEI has positioned the Monitor, from a technical perspective, in the best possible position for growth and innovation,” said Christian Science Monitor Chief Information Officer Curt Edge. MEI displayed an updated version of the K4 Publishing System’s Web Editor module, 2.1. It was demonstrated alongside new versions of MEI’s Page Director Ad Layout System, Integrated Production Suite and additional apps. K4 Web Editor lets users write, edit and copyfit articles in SoftCare’s K4 Publishing System from any computer, using a Web browser and an Internet connection.

Finally, MEI announced a joint development with Clickability to integrate K4 with Clickability’s cmPublish, an on-demand Web content management app.

Photo: Newspapers & Technology
Paul Harris, vice president of corporate marketing and communications, Wendy L. Mozingo, marketing program manager and Peter Ibsen, executive vice president of strategy and products for Saxotech, at the vendor’s booth during Nexpo.

 

Manugraph DGM Inc. rolled out a new version of its 430 press, capable of printing up to 40,000 copies per hour. The machine is based on MDGM’s existing 430 foundation, featuring a three ink former and three oscillator ink former design with oil-lubricated drives and operator side. Meantime, MDGM said it purchased Offset Services Inc., a Sacramento, Calif.-based vendor of remanufactured presses. OSI, which will become a unit of MDGM, will continue to remanufacture press equipment and be expanded into a full service center designed to serve the Western United States, the firm said.

MediaSpan Online Services said that more than 50 newspapers from across the United States, including those from the Jones Newspaper Group, Harris Enterprises and Turley Publications, agreed to use MediaSpan software to manage their publications’ Web sites.

 The publishers include Consolidated Publishing (six publications), Gazette Publishing (10 publications), Harris Enterprises (eight publications), Jones Newspaper Group (12 publications), the Ketchikan (Alaska) Daily News, the Messenger-Inquirer in Owensboro, Ky., the Observer-Reporter in Washington, Pa., Tooele (Utah) Publishing, and Turley Publications (15 weekly newspapers).

“Newspapers have seen a circulation drop in recent years,” said Harry Funk, online editor for the Observer-Reporter. “By offering more special features on our Web site through MediaSpan’s content management system, we can maintain our readership and also provide news to people who might not be print customers.”

MediaSpan Media Software, meantime, demonstrated the latest version of its LiveIQue online content management app. LiveIQue uses a set of customizable templates to format stories and photos automatically and also includes multipage story views that can break up a story across multiple pages, logs that can be e-mailed to system administrators, enhanced access control for multiple Web server directories and a subscriber database tie-in with circulation systems.

MerlinOne Inc. demonstrated an HD video-capable version of its Merlin 5 Content Manager that lets users search for words spoken in audio tracks. Merlin 5 can find digital video files that contain specific words or phrases that are cued to the spot where the search term is spoken, the firm said.

Meantime, The San Diego Union-Tribune selected MerlinOne for its E-Sheets electronic tearsheet service.

Photo: Newspapers & Technology
Glunz & Jensen K&F’s new KPL-3 plate loader, designed for Kodak’s line of Trendsetter News thermal platesetters.
 

MetaCarta displayed software that creates map-based views of online content as well as provides geographically relevant search results of requested content.

MindTouch is developing online wiki communities for The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Web site signonsandiego.com in a project beginning this month. The first wiki, AmplifySD, is aimed at the city’s music scene and visitors can post articles, images, video and MP3 clips of their favorite bands.

Miles 33 debuted DCS, a distribution, circulation and subscription module that plugs into the vendor’s advertising database software. The Telegraph in Nashua, N.H., is the first U.S. paper to buy the integrated software, Miles 33 said.

Morris Communications picked Mediaspectrum’s Ad Services platform to provide the publisher with a central advertising repository across all of its publications.

“By implementing the Mediaspectrum Web services infrastructure, we can manage advertising sales, production and multichannel distribution from a single repository,” said Steve Strout, Morris’ chief information officer.

The (Jacksonville) Florida Times-Union, the Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, and the Grand Island (Neb.) Independent will be the first papers to deploy the software, including AdWatchEX, eProofs, AdRouter and DAV tearsheets, with all of the apps centralized in Augusta.

Finally, Mediaspectrum inked a deal with outsourcing company Affinity Express that calls for Affinity to use Mediaspectrum’s ad production software as a foundation for its prepress services.

MyNewzNow introduced social content management software that lets users generate their own content that ranges from video, podcasting and photos to forums and event listings.

Nela said it sold 17 lines of its Benchmark V Vision Bender to Indian publisher Dainik Jagran. One unit will be installed at each of the newspaper’s 17 sites. The first Nela lines will be installed at Dainik Jagran’s production facility in Kanpur, where the newspaper is installing three Manugraph Cityline Express towers, comprising 21 four-high towers.

The publisher is using CTP equipment from Screen and Krause.

Nela also rolled out two new products at Nexpo. Nela Evolution is a punch bender that can process up to 320 plates per hour, and Nela Benchmark V is an inline-capable punch bender designed for publishers converting to CTP.

NewsEngin introduced TeamPlayer, a browser-based app that collects, organizes and automatically reverse-publishes all of a region’s high school sports scores and statistics.

Photo: Newspapers & Technology
Dave Hannon, system engineer for Profitpackaging Inc.
 

OmnEpresence demonstrated its newspaper marketing service that enables papers to offer Web site development support to small businesses. Services include software, hosting and customer service to allow advertisers to create their own Internet sites.

OneVision introduced WorkSpace, software that provides prepress operators quick access to their production workflows. The browser-based app serves as a remote monitor for Asura and Asura Pro, OneVision’s flagship apps for streamlining and preflighting.

Plasmon released UDO2, its second-generation archival storage app. UDO2 touts doubled capacity built on its blue-laser storage technology. In combination with Plasmon’s flagship UDO Archive Appliance, customers can now consolidate and scale their archives from 1TB to over 76TB in a single Archive Appliance.

Meantime, Plasmon said Spanish-language newspaper publisher ImpreMedia LLC installed UDO, as part of its content management and archiving upgrade project (see related article, Newspapers & Technology. April 2007). ImpreMedia’s Chief Technology Officer Bob Mason cited longevity and affordability as key factors in choosing the app.

Polkadots Software Inc. released Plateflo Intro, its introductory computer-to-plate workflow production software. The app is a 4-up version of its CTP workflow app with queue-based, client-server database-driven file management, automatic preflighting, auto fixes and soft proofing features. Files can be accessed via a Web browser. Plateflo Intro will be priced at $12,995.

Photo: Newspapers & Technology
Mary L. Van Vonderen, manager of marketing services, and Andy Keil, marketing director for Megtec Systems S.A.S., with Markus Feldenkirchen, chief executive officer of ppi media

 

Plastic Source LLC demonstrated a patent-pending plastic newspaper bag the company maintains eliminates double bagging. The bag is engineered with a flip top that closes after a carrier drops a paper into it. The Boston Globe and Mobile (Ala.) Register already are using the bag; the News-Press in Fort Myers, Fla. and the Tallahassee (Fla.) Democrat are evaluating the bags, the firm said.

Pressline Services said it’s cutting the web widths of the Corpus Christi (Texas) Caller-Times and San Angelo (Texas) Standard-Times to 46 inches at the E.W. Scripps-owned dailies. The projects will be completed later this year. Pressline is also reducing the web widths at the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel and South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale to 48 inches (see related story, page 10).

Presteligence said it sold its Serendipity BlackMagic press-ready soft proofing app to the San Antonio Express-News. The daily will install the app in July, Presteligence said. The software allows contract soft proofing at the press console, limitless GUI client connections at different press consoles and a variety of input formats.

Serendipity BlackMagic is suited for web offset and sheetfed presses and features built-in ICC monitor calibration and reverse page viewing.

 Presteligence also debuted NewsXtreme, the latest upgrade of its production workflow app.

Prime UV said it has equipped more than 50 four-high towers with its UV curing processors since the first UV system was installed on a coldset press in Buffalo, N.Y., in 2001. Recent installations include Venezuelan newspaper Diario Panorama and Interco Print (formerly Trader Publishing).

Profitpackaging showed a vacuum feed-equipped Big Stuff feeder that enables the machine to process everything from standard inserts to large metro completes, according to the firm. The feeder can also work offline with Profitpackaging’s P-3 labeler for TMC operations, the company said, or be used with a Muller Martini 227 inserter to refeed pre-inserted products back into the inserter.

Left to right, Professor Jack Nuckols, West Virginia University Institute of Technology; Bob Clay, director of operations, Frederick (Va.) News-Post; Peter Herman, chief executive officer, Sinapse Graphic International; Myron Randall Jr., publisher, News-Post; and Greg Harabin, president and chief executive officer, TKS (USA); following a demonstration of a press simulator console that is being donated to the school’s Publishing Information Center. TKS, Sinapse and Randall Family LLC, the owner of the News-Post, shared in the cost of providing the system to the school. Students will be able to use the technology to learn how to operate and troubleshoot a press. The simulator will be installed this fall.

The Tallahassee (Fla.) Democrat installed ProImage’s NewsWay to automate its prepress workflow. Meantime, ProImage debuted version 5.0 of its NewsWay newspaper workflow app in Orlando. The firm said the app provides full PDF and TIFF prepress workflow for single or multiple sites. A new press plate allocation tool provides the option to define the position of each plate on the press (the tower, cylinder and location on the cylinder). Using the plate allocation tool, NewsWay will calculate the required number of plates to be made and will output the plates with appropriate text annotation and barcodes for sorting, ProImage said.

Version 5.0 also tightens and makes more efficient the integration of ABB’s MPS Plateworkflow (developed by ProImage) with ABB’s production software, and incorporates a new MPS Import Wizard, the vendor said.

ProImage also trotted out its NewsWay Blaze app for small-circulation papers and iNewsProof, an app that provides secure Internet proofing and approval.

Look for more on the Tallahassee Democrat’s workflow installation in the June issue of Newspapers & Technology.

Gannett selected Publishers Circulation Fulfillment Inc. to provide home delivery distribution of The Journal News in southern Westchester and Putnam counties in New York.

“Their business model — one car down the street delivering multiple products — makes great economic sense for us, while still allowing us to ensure the superior delivery service our subscribers have come to expect,” said Anthony M. Simmons, vice president of circulation at The Journal News.

The Journal News (daily, 137,415; Sunday, 122,356) will leverage PCF’s distribution management teams as well as their logistics and routing expertise to rationalize delivery operations and reduce costs. It is anticipated that PCF will assume additional home delivery responsibilities in Westchester and Rockland counties in the months ahead, PCF said.

The Providence (R.I.) Journal, meantime, recently tapped PCF to deliver the daily in the Fall River and Westport, Mass., markets.

Q.I. Press Controls said it’s installing an IRS automatic color register control system at the Evansville (Ind.) Courier & Press. The paper will get eight IRS scanners and an IRS progressive control system to orchestrate registration on its Koenig & Bauer Motterflex FX-4 press.

Photo: Newspapers & Technology
Dave Pendergraf, system sales for ProImage America Inc., and Tony Petersen, regional sales manager, West, at Nela.
 

Quark Inc. previewed a completely reengineered version of its Quark Publishing System. QPS 7 is built on open standards-based technology and provides an advanced level of connectivity to existing apps for improved workflow and system interoperability, stability and scalability, Quark said. Release of QPS 7 is slated for the third quarter of 2007.

Quark said it also collaborated with picturesafe to develop software that facilitates the management of graphics and images including rights, royalties, royalties calculation, billing and usage reports.

Rima-System demonstrated information about its line of press stackers, conveyors, bundle distribution equipment and other postpress systems.

Saxotech unveiled its Always On Media House, the vendor’s fully operational digital news production software for Web-first publishing and integration with print channel content management and creative production. The app facilitates management of breaking news events.

Saxotech also announced a partnership with Castfire, which develops content management, distribution and payment software, to enable media Web sites to launch ad-supported Internet video channels, syndication initiatives and user-generated media campaigns.

The Castfire app will integrate with Saxotech Online to allow the publication of video content, Saxotech said. The Castfire app also facilitates management and distribution of audio and enhanced audio.

Meantime, Saxotech sold publishing software to the Daily Herald in Arlington Heights, Ill., for both its print and online operations. The Daily Herald will implement Saxotech Online followed by 300 seats of Saxotech Editorial (see Dateline, April 16, 2007).

Photo: Newspapers & Technology
Left to right, Mike Wehner, sales manager, Eastern region and Todd Wheeler, marketing manager, US Ink; with Kevin Sean Conner, quality assurance manager, The Washington Post; and Ken Abbruzzese, executive account manager, and Dennis Cheeseman, director of customer service, US Ink.


Screen (USA) rolled out its Spekta Screening app for newspapers, which the vendor said provides users with greater print quality. The app, originally marketed to commercial printers in 2000, does not require any special press management and combines certain components of AM and FM screening, Screen said.

Screen also demoed its Trueflow Rite News PDF workflow app, which is based on Trueflow 3, but offers users increased speed and control, Screen said; and displayed its PlateRite News2000S thermal CTP device, which can image 41 doublewide plates per hour. The platesetter features a 64-channel laser diode and offers newspapers a compact footprint.

Screen also said Bradford (Pa.) Publishing and Owyhee Publishing Co. Inc. in Homedale, Idaho, purchased its PlateRite News 2000 thermal platesetters to improve production. BP prints the Bradford Era, Olean Times Herald and Salamanca Press, as well as grocery inserts and numerous commercial jobs, while OPCI owns and prints the weekly newspaper Owyhee Avalanche, as well as printing area weeklies and shoppers.

Meantime, Screen said this year marks the vendor’s 40th in the newspaper industry.

Seidel Enterprises said it’s developing an automated collating system that employs a top-loading feeder and bottom-up collating design. The system, the SE 6000, can process as many as 60,000 packages an hour and also features a cart-loading component. The system will be tested at an undisclosed site this summer and commercially available in 2008, the company said. The firm also introduced a 25,000-copy-per-hour remanufactured inserter, the SE-2500, which is expandable up to 40 feeders  and equipped with a PC control system. It also rolled out a line of conveyors, stream separators and hopper loaders.

Southern Lithoplate launched a new line of affordable computer-to-plate hardware and software as part of the Southern Lithoplate CTP Alliance.

Rapid ROI CTP includes products designed for Southern Lithoplate’s newspaper customers that range from workflow software and platesetter to punch registration. The program also includes a financial calculator aimed at helping customers determine break-even, ROI and internal rate of return values, the Alliance said.

Rapid ROI is built around the PlateRite News 2000 LE platesetter from Screen (USA) and Viper 830 thermal lithoplate from SLP. The program also includes special prices on Nela’s Benchmark V vision punch bender, as well as the new Introflo workflow management software from Polkadots Software. Additional show discounts were available for Presteligence’s NewsXtreme SN, ProImage’s NewsWay Blaze and Screen’s Trueflow Rite News workflow.

“It brings together the advantages of technologically advanced prepress systems in the most cost-effective, efficient and productive way,” said Edward A. “Trip” Casson III, chairman and chief executive officer of SLP.

Photo: Newspapers & Technology
Attendees watch a demonstration of 4-color printing at Web Press Corp.’s booth.
 

Tansa Systems announced integrated support for the latest upgrades of Adobe’s CS3. Tansa Text Proofing customers will soon be able to use Tansa’s advanced, server-based spelling and hyphenation tools from within InDesign and InCopy.

Gannett Co. Inc. said it is launching electronic editions of all of its papers using software supplied from Tecnavia Press Inc. Several papers, including the (Phoenix) Arizona Republic, the Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky., Indianapolis Star, the Greenville (Fla.) News and Florida Today in Melbourne launched e-editions using the NewsMemory app for its NIE program. Several other papers are planning to launch electronic editions mid-to-late summer, Tecnavia said.

Tera Digital Publishing showed its GN3 front-end publishing software, which has been recently implemented at Impremedia LLC (see Newspapers & Technology, April 2007), and The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn. E Polis in Italy, publisher of the Unione Sarda in Sardinia, Italy, and Zycie Warszawsy in Poland; and PCM Uitgevers in Amsterdam, publisher of four of the Netherlands’ five daily newspapers, have also rolled out GN3 software.

TKS said it will build a new $84 million engineering and manufacturing plant in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, replacing its current Tamagawa site. The new Kazusa Techno Center, near Tokyo, will open in April 2009 and house research, development and manufacturing, servicing eastern Japan. A sister site, the Iga Techno Center, will be renovated and cover western Japan as well as act as a mirrored site to Kazusa to ensure continued production and service, TKS said. The Tamagawa site will be redeveloped into commercial and residential space.

Photo: Newspapers & Technology
John Hawkins, chief executive officer, and Johan Seeman, Global CEO of advertising solutions and worldwide sales and marketing for Atex, talked to newspapers about the company’s future strategies at Nexpo.
 

US Ink rolled out a Web-based coldset press simulation program and a new family of ink products aimed at reducing page-to-page setoff.

The press simulation program, UseIT, was developed as part of an exclusive agreement with press simulator vendor Sinapse Graphic International.

UseIT will be priced on a per-user, per-hour basis, making the training more economical for customers, said Greg Lawson, US Ink’s president. “This addresses our goal of addressing the needs of our customers for multisite, affordable and structured on-demand press training solutions,” he said.

UseIT will be part of US Ink’s RealColor customer service and support initiative, said US Ink Marketing Manager Todd Wheeler.

The new Spectra LS System, meantime, is an expansion of US Ink’s Spectra portfolio of ink products. It’s engineered for low setoff, said Larry LePore, vice president of operations. The product “represents the next generation of low setoff technology and was achieved through the identification and optimization of key raw materials,” he said.

US Ink also showed its specialized fountain solutions and press washes from sister company Rycoline. It’s the first time US Ink and Rycoline teamed up to show newspaper consumables. Rycoline’s products include Main Edition mild-acid fountain solutions and Magnitek news washes.

Meantime, Steve Lilley, product director, Europe, for Sun Chemical presented the results of the PrintCity Value Added Printing of Newspapers VAPoN study at Nexpo. US Ink represents Sun Chemical in the United States.

Scandinavian newspaper publisher VG demonstrated News Portal, software that lets users submit information to a newspaper’s Web site from their cell phones. The software can support text, photos and video formats and instantaneously and automatically routes incoming information to appropriate editorial departments for Web, radio, TV and print distribution.

VoicePort said Gannett selected its CircPort voice response software to anchor a new call center serving 27 of its newspapers.

Woodwing USA announced a partnership with Alfresco Software Inc. to jointly deliver WoodWing’s Smart Connection Enterprise editorial software and Alfresco’s open source enterprise content management software as an integrated app to the publishing industry.

“The Alfresco-WoodWing partnership brings together some of the best innovation in publishing, Web content management and content delivery systems built on top of an open-source and standards-compliant enterprise technology,” said Terry Barbounis, chief technology officer at The Christian Science Monitor.

WoodWing also announced integration with Timone workflow planning software from Tell.