New Entries Announced In Scanner Market

By Greg Scoblete -- TWICE, 12/1/2008

NEW YORK — The fourth quarter will see an influx of novel scanner options from new and established players.

Epson said it would enter the sheet-fed scanner market for the first time in December with a pair of models in its new Workforce line of small- and medium-business products.

The Pro GT-S50 and Pro GT-S80 feature dual-color CCDs for duplex scanning and are capable of scanning business cards, rigid ID cards and documents up to 8.5 inches by 36 inches.

Both scanners feature automatic background-color removal, auto paper-size detection, one-touch scanning, and Epson's ReadyScan LED technology, which enables the units to turn on without warming up.

The GT-S80 ($899) can scan at 40 ppm or 80 images per minute. It features a 75-page feature feeder and a duty cycle of 1,800 sheets per day.

The S50 ($499) features a 25 ppm scan speed or 50 images per minute, a 75-page feeder and a 1,200 sheets per day duty cycle.

Epson will also sell a roller assembly kit for $49.99 and carrier sheets for scanning fragile documents for $29.99.

Digital photo frame maker Pandigital also made its entry into a new market with its PhotoLink handheld scanner.

The $99 unit scans 4- by 6-inch photos at 1,800 by 1,200 (300 dpi) to flash memory via a five-in-one card reader. It will ship with an SD card. It also features USB 2.0 connectivity for loading images onto a PC.

Imaging accessories firm Wolverine Data will ship a PC-free negative scanner to dealers this month.

The F2D scanner accepts 35mm film negatives and slides and scans a 5-megapixel resolution image to a removable SD memory card.

The unit features a 1.5-inch LCD to preview and edit images. Each negative or slide is scanned in five seconds.

For a limited time, Wolverine will offer the scanner with a 1GB SD card. The unit also comes with a USB cable if a consumer wishes to connect to a computer.

The F2D will retail for $149.