Neonode Partners with HP to Create Award-Winning Printers

Optical touch company Neonode (News - Alert) announced recently that it has entered the enterprise printer market with its zForce family of product solutions. The company has partnered with HP to produce the OfficeJet Pro family, geared toward small and midsize businesses. The OfficeJet Pro 8630 All-in-one, HP said in March, won the Computer Shopper accolade of "Editor's Choice."

Neonode makes optical touch solutions for a number of devices. This is the first time it has reached into the global printer market, however, an honor Thomas Eriksson, CEO of Neonode, attributes to his company's unyielding research and development.

"Our continuous R&D investments in improving the cost and performance of our zForce family of touch and proximity solutions, is finally paying off," Eriksson said. "This event finally validates and confirms the success of our strategy to out-compete resistive and capacitive touch for cost sensitive applications. Moreover, in light of our customers' long development and products cycles, this is certainly the start of a new era for Neonode."

zForce technology, Neonode's website explains, relies on infrared emitters and detectors alongside an optical light guide and control software. Infrared detectors can sense infrared pulses that sit just above a device's surface; detectors recognize when an interruption has taken place and then measure an object’s size and position, such as the size and location of a stylus or a digit.

It has a touch resolution of 250 DPI, which is sensitive enough to detect objects as small as a stylus, and it can operate in temperatures ranging from -40 degrees Celsius to 85 degrees Celsius. Furthermore, the optical touch technology can be placed over surfaces of any shape. zForce requires no glass or plastic film for it to work, reducing the possibility of glare that is a common occurrence on printers in office settings. And it can accept input from a person's finger even if it is covered with a glove.

A recent International Data Corporation report showed that HP was ranked number one in the hardware peripherals market with a 40 percent market share, producing nearly double the units of its closest competitor, Canon (News - Alert). HP's sales are not only indicative of its own performance, but indicate the exposure Neonode may expect to receive as a result of this partnership.