Hewlett-Packard Co. (Palo Alto, CA) announced its entry into the commercial printing market with the HP Digital Press 6600.

"The introduction of the HP Digital Press 6600 is the first step in a company-wide initiative to give customers the ability to target and customize their business communications much more accurately than they have before," said Bill McGlynn, vice president, HP commercial printing solutions. "Blending HP's information technology expertise with the digital printing workflow will provide exceptional value to print service providers."

Highlights of the HP Digital Press 6600 include:

• up to six process colors, custom colors and high-fidelity printing;

• Quick turnaround

• Operating software that enables a user to prioritize, interrupt and resume jobs and accept submissions directly from company intranets;

• The flexibility to enable one-to-one marketing; and

• Cost-effective short runs

HP also announced its first HP Digital Press 6600 corporate customer Colourcare Group, the largest photofinishing company in the United Kingdom. Colourcare plans to expand its business opportunities with the sophisticated document customization technology that the HP Digital Press 6600 offers.

"The HP Digital Press 6600 will enable us to transform our offering to our rapidly expanding estate agent (realtor) business," said Chris Sheath, managing director, Colourcare. "Not only will we be able to simplify our workflow processes and reduce costs, but we have the confidence of working with HP, which brings more than 20 years of networking and printing expertise to the table."

The HP Digital Press 6600 uses liquid electro-photography (LEP) technology, which combines a digitally powered laser imaging system with the use of ultra-small ink particles and a liquid transport system.

The HP Digital Press 6600 is available now in the United Kingdom and Spain. It is expected to ship in the United States this summer with a base model at an estimated U.S. price of under $200,000. More information about the HP Digital Press 6600 can be found at http://www.hp.com/go/digitalpress.