Today, Lexmark announced a line of new laser printers it's calling "green machines"--printers that reduce their environmental footprint in a number of ways. The E series mono lasers and the C530 series of color printers all come equipped with duplexers, which allow for automatic printing on both sides of a page. This feature is not only eco-friendly, because it reduces paper waste, but it's easy on your wallet, too.

Another "green" feature of these new printers is their new printhead technology. Lexmark claims that its new laser scanning units are smaller and more energy efficient than the traditional scanning units, with fewer moving parts that need to be powered. Also, Lexmark's toner units come in two pieces: The first is just the toner, and the second piece houses the photoconductor. The largest toner cartridge Lexmark makes for the E series has a life of about 11,000 pages, but the photoconductors are good for about 20,000 pages. When your toner cartridge finally bites the dust, you can switch out only that component and keep the still-good photoconductor until it meets its demise. Again, less waste, which we like.

Finally, the E series uses Lexmark's instant warm-up fuser, which reduces the time to print to 6.5 seconds. On the other end, instant cool-down reduces the amount of power spent cooling the machine and also moves less air, which cuts down on the amount of dust and cat hair that clog your machine, resulting in a longer life for your printer.

The new E series includes three product familes: the E250d (and E250dn); the E350d(dn)/E352d(dn); and the E450d(dn). The E250d retails for $200 and prints 30 pages per minute (ppm); the network-ready version, the E250dn, retails for $250. The E350d costs $350 and prints 35ppm. The E350dn is $100 more. Finally, the $600 E450dn has a GUI and the option of an 11,000-page toner cartridge.

If you need color to brighten up your life, check out the C530 series. All three models--the C530, C532, and C534--print mono text at up to 24ppm and color at up to 22ppm. The C530dn comes standard with built-in networking and a duplexer, and retails for $500. The C532 and C534 families both have duplexing, networking, and additional paper trays as options. The dn version of each (duplexing and networked) cost $700 and $1,000, respectively.

Check back soon for full reviews of these printers.

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Lexmark added three new printers to its lineup this week: the P350, the Z845, and the X5470.

The P350 is a portable photo printer that uses Lexmark's new Evercolor II pigment-based ink technology. Lexmark claims that this new ink, in combination with its new PerfectFinish Photo paper, dries faster and is highly water resistant. The printer can operate in stand-alone mode or connected to a computer (PC or Mac). It features memory card slots, a PictBridge port, and a 2.4-inch color display for previewing photos. The estimated street price for this model is $129.

The Z845 is a high-volume color inkjet printer that costs only $50. Lexmark claims output of 24 pages per minute (ppm) for black prints and 18ppm for color. It's capable of borderless photo printing and can use an optional color cartridge for six-color printing.

Rounding out the announcements is the X5470 all-in-one with fax. Ninety-nine dollars is already a rock-bottom price for an all-in-one with fax capabilities, but you also get media card slots, a PictBridge port, and a 10-page automatic document feeder.

We're working on getting all these models in for review, so check back.

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A while back, we reviewed a VoIP alternative called Jajah, which allows you to use your normal landline or cell phone to make VoIP calls for a small per-minute fee. Today, Jajah announced free global landline and mobile phone calls between registered Jajah users.

Jajah divides the globe into a couple of groups. The first comprises the United States, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. The second includes Australia and most of Europe. Calls between Jajah users within each group are free, whether you're calling to or from a landline or cell phone, as long as you initiate your call from Jajah's Web site. If you're in a country not covered by Jajah's free global calling plan or the person you're calling isn't a registered Jajah user, you'll still pay Jajah's per-minute rate, which is usually less than 3 cents. (Registration is free.)

The really interesting part of this is that Jajah isn't asking customers to sign any sort of contract. Instead, it's relying on the hope that Jajah users will stick to a "fair use" policy, which asks that callers keep their calls to a "reasonable" number of minutes, which Jajah says is about an hour per day, five days per week, or about 1,000 minutes per month. Jajah will monitor individual usage and contact users they feel are taking advantage of the system. Users who continue to abuse the system will find their free calling suspended, though they can still make paid calls.

Skype recently announced a similar plan, though it limits free calls to within the States and Canada. And unlike Skype, whose promotion lasts only until the end of the year, Jajah's new free calling plan is its new business model. Jajah hopes users will take to Jajah and purchase value-added features, such as an 800 number with a Call Me button that users can add to their Web sites. Jajah already offers a number of free tools, including plug-ins for Outlook and Mac OS X address books, an extension for Firefox, and a toolbar for Plaxo.

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Today, Trendnet joined the likes of Belkin, Linksys, and Netgear by announcing the upcoming availability of its Wireless N-Draft Router (TEW-631BRP) and PC card (TEW-621PC). Trendnet has opted to integrate Atheros's XSPAN MIMO-based chipset into its N-Draft offerings, the same chipset used by Belkin in its N1 router and PC Card.

Products based on the first draft of the 802.11n specification are said to be capable of data rates of up to 300Mbps, though Trendnet is up front in specifying that this will translate to real-world throughput of 150Mbps to 180Mbps. Real-world tests--both our own and those of industry analysts have not borne out these claims, and analysts are recommending that users wait to see if improvements come with the final 802.11n spec.

Trendnet's router and PC card will be available July 25. The suggested price for the TEW-631BRP router is $129.99 and for the TEW-621PC PC adapter it's $99.99.

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Seagate announced today 10 new products, including Seagate-branded devices, those intended for consumer electronics, and some enterprise-level products.

Branded retail products
Seagate Mirra Sync and Share Personal Server--this is a refresh of the Mirra Personal Server 2.0. It now works with both PCs and Macs and comes in 320GB ($499) and 500GB ($599) capacities. The server allows you to back up all of the computers on your network, as well as share data between computers. You can also share data on the device with users not on your network through the user interface: simply designate which folders or files you want to share, enter the person's e-mail address, and the recipient will receive an e-mail with a link back to the files you delineated. The Mirra Sync and Share Personal Server will be available in late June or early July.

8GB Pocket Drive--this is a capacity upgrade to Seagate's Pocket Drive, a mini hard drive. The round drive fits in the palm of your hand and the pivoting case houses a retractable USB drive, a great design for a portable drive. The 8GB version will be available at the end of June for $149.

The recently announced 300GB and 500GB eSATA Pushbutton Back-up Hard Drives and the 750GB Pushbutton Back-up Hard Drive are now available on retail shelves.

PC products
Momentus hard drive family employs perpendicular technology--three members of this family of 2.5-inch notebook hard drives (Momentus 5400PSD, Momentus 5400.2 FDE, and Momentus 7200.2) are now using perpendicular recording technology, which allows them to pack 160GB of data onto a single drive.

Seagate also announced a number of hard drives geared for the consumer technology arena. Members of the ST18 series, the LD25 series, and the DB35 series will appear in devices such as MP3 players, digital cameras, GPS systems, DVRs, game consoles, and palmtop PCs.

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At HP's Digital Imaging event in San Francisco today, the company rolled out a veritable army of printers, from the most basic Deskjets on up to Photosmart all-in-ones. Brace yourselves:

Deskjets
Deskjet D1360: available in June for $39
- 16ppm black/12ppm color
- 80-sheet fold-up tray

Deskjet D2360: available in June for $49
- 20ppm black/14ppm color
- 100-sheet fold-up tray

Deskjet D4160: available in June for $79
- 30ppm black/23ppm color
- 100-sheet fold-up tray
- front USB port for downloading pictures from a camera to a PC

Deskjet F380 All-in-One: available in June for $79
- print/scan/copy
- 20ppm black/14ppm color prints
- scan: 1,200x2,400 dpi

OfficeJets
OfficeJet 4310 All-in-One: available now for $99
- print/scan/copy/fax
- 20ppm black/14ppm color prints
- fax: 200-page memory, 100 speed dials
- scan: 1,200x1,200 dpi
- 20-sheet automatic document feeder (ADF)

OfficeJet 4350 All-in-One: available now for $129
- same product as 4310 AIO but has a handset phone

OfficeJet 6310 All-in-One: available now for $279
- print/scan/copy/fax
- 30ppm black/24ppm color prints
- 35-sheet ADF
- network ready (Ethernet)
- built-in memory card slots, Bluetooth, and USB port for PictBridge cameras

Photosmarts (all of these Photosmart printers have a built-in USB port for printing directly from a PictBridge camera)
Photosmart D5160: available in August for $99
- 31ppm black/24ppm color
- 26 seconds to print a 4x6 photo

Photosmart D7160: available in August for $149
- 32ppm black/31ppm color
- 12 seconds to print a 4x6 photo
- 6-ink printer cartridge
- 2.4-inch color display
- built-in memory card reader

Photosmart D7360

Photosmart C3180 All-in-One: available in June for $99
- print/scan/copy
- 22ppm black/20ppm color prints
- scan: 1,200x2,400 dpi

C4180 All-in-One: available in June for $149
- print/scan/copy
- 30ppm black/24ppm color prints
- scan: 2,400x4,800 dpi
- 2.4-inch display

C5180 All-in-One: available in September for $199
- print/scan/copy/fax
- 32ppm black/31ppm color prints
- scan: 2,400x4,800 dpi
- 6-ink printer cartridge
- 2.4-inch display
- built-in memory card reader

C6180 All-in-One: available in September for $299
- print/scan/copy/fax
- 32ppm black/31ppm color prints
- scan: 4,800x4,800 dpi
- fax: 50-page ADF
- 2.4-inch display
- 6-ink printer cartridge
- built-in memory card reader

C7180 All-in-One: available in September for $399
- print/scan/copy/fax
- 32ppm black/31ppm color prints
- scan: 4,800x4,800 dpi
- 3.6-inch display
- 6-ink printer cartridge
- built-in memory card reader
- built-in networking: Bluetooth; Wi-Fi (802.11b/g); Ethernet

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Lexmark announced today several new printers in its product lineup:

Lexmark C500n color laser printer
The C500n is a color laser printer designed for small and midsize businesses. It comes network-ready and prints 31 pages per minute (ppm) in mono and 8ppm in color. The estimated street price is $399.

Lexmark X642e mono laser multifunction
The X642e laser multifunction printer is designed for larger workgroups. The unit has a built-in 5.7-inch mono touch-screen interface that can be adjusted for optimal viewing angles. Along with the standard print, copy, fax, and scan-to-email functions, the X642e will also allow you to scan to or print PDFs and images from a USB flash drive. The estimated street price for this workgroup MFP is $1,499.

Lexmark 646ef laser printer bundle and the 4600 scanner
The new Lexmark 4600 scanner lets current users of the Lexmark T640 series of mono laser printers add copy, scan, e-mail, and fax functionality. The legal-size flatbed scanner has duplex scanning capabilities in color and mono and includes a color e-Task interface. The estimated street price is $2,099.

For users who are ready for a new multifunction product, the 646ef laser printer bundle rolls together a 4600 scanner and a T644dtn laser printer for $4,449. The combo features a scan preview function and a color touch-screen interface.

Lexmark X340n and X342n
The new X340n is a monochrome laser all-in-one (printing, copying, faxing, and scanning). It is network-ready and includes a legal-size flatbed scanner. The X340n series includes two models: the X340n comes with a 2,500-page toner cartridge and costs an estimated $349. The X342n comes with a 6,000-page toner cartridge for high-volume printing and costs an estimated $399.

All products are available immediately.

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Dell announced today five new additions to its family of laser printers--both color and monochrome--as well as a new printer manager for larger work groups.

The new color lasers are the 3010cn and the 5110cn, which feature the ColorTrack 2 control tools, letting network administrators control user access to save money. Admins can define color printing rights at the group or individual level, set print volume limitations, and track usage via a Web browser. The 3010cn is network-ready, prints black-and-white at 25 pages per minute (ppm), and starts at $379. The 5110cn has built-in duplexing, prints black-and-white at 40ppm and color at 35ppm, and starts at less than $1,000. The 3010cn is geared for SMBs, while the 5110cn is a larger work group machine.

The 5210n and 5310n are monochrome laser printers designed for large work groups and offer built-in networking and expansion options. The 5210n is wireless ready and starts at $899. The 5310n prints up to 50ppm and starts at $999. Finally, the 1815dn is a mono multifunction laser for SMBs. It comes with built-in duplexing and starts at $429.

Dell's new OpenManage Print Manager is a free utility that allows office managers to remotely troubleshoot and manage a fleet of printers. Users can configure the tool to provide a variety of information and statistics, such as consumption rates, hardware problems, and printer configurations. It requires a dedicated serving PC and can manage many third-party machines.

The 3010cn and 5310n are available now in the United States. The 5210n will be available in the States on May 25, while the OpenManage Print Manager, the 5110cn, and the 1815dn will be available in June.

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Pioneer Electronics announced today that it is shipping a Blu-ray computer drive, the industry's first. The BDR-101A uses blue laser technology to burn up to 25GB of data onto a single-layer Blu-ray disc. It ships with Roxio Blu-ray Disc software and blank TDK Blu-ray discs.

As expected, the BDR-101A write speeds are slow when writing to BD-R and BD-RE (rewritable): 2X. What's surprising is its slow DVD write speeds: 8X to single-layer -R and +R; 4X to -RW and +RW; 2.4X to double-layer +R; and 2X to double-layer -R. As soon as we can get our hands on a unit, we will test it and let you know how it performs.

Thinking about getting one? Hope you have $1,000 to spare, because this drive ain't cheap. Also expensive are the Blu-ray discs. A quick search on the Internet shows TDK BD-R discs for about $18 apiece and BD-RE discs for about $20 apiece. Yikes!

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For those of you who wonder how Skype is making money, here's another head-scratcher: Skype announced today that all calls within the United States and Canada--to other Skype users and landlines and cell phones--are free until the end of the year. No need to use SkypeOut to call your tech-averse uncle in Montana; just dial his number in Skype's dial pad, and you're gabbing for nothing. According to the e-mail I just got from Skype, the company hopes that the goodwill it garners from this offering will woo users into making international calls (the normal per-minute rates still apply); paying for features such as SkypeIn, voicemail, or ring tones; or purchasing Skype-branded accessories, such as headsets, from its online store.

As baffled as I am, I have never been one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I am off to Skype everyone I know to debate this unforeseen move--everyone I know in the United States and Canada, that is.

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