Archive For: 2012

Altrincham, UK – 01 May 2012 – Maxa Technologies, today announced the release of the DLXi, the newest member of the desktop printer line from CognitiveTPG, a leading provider of on-demand transaction and barcode printers.

The DLXi combines the CognitiveTPG reputation for ease of use, rugged design and exceptional reliability with best-in-class first label out performance and print speed. The DLXI also ships standard with several popular firmware emulations for ease of integration into legacy printer applications.

“The old Blaster and Advantage LX printers are true workhorses. We still see operational units in the field, some even after 10 or 15 years. However there comes a time when a customer realizes the importance of upgrading to the most recent communication interfaces, higher energy efficiency, faster print speed, and more memory. The DLXi offers a direct migration for our legacy customers and a field-proven thermal printer for new customers,” said Jay Elwood, Director of International Sales for CognitiveTPG.
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As this month draws to a close, things have taken a turn for the worse for the high streets with the announcement that the UK’s economy has taken a second plunge into recession, according to figures released by the ONS. With added costs to individuals and households, consumers are forced to cut back on many areas of spending.

However, there is a positive news story for retail: although employment is down in many sectors, there has been a 0.4% jobs rise in the retail industry.

Perhaps it is retailers’ efforts to innovate and enhance the shopping experience that is giving them a boost despite the recently announced double-dip recession. Marks and Spencer’s latest scheme could also prove successful with environmentally aware markets: their ‘Shwopping’ clothes swap drive aims to reduce the amount of clothes that are sent to landfill. A bold and innovative initiative that can see the British public raising millions of pounds for the world’s poorest people.

There’s more positive news for retail: according to Reuters, spending has increased, bucking the trend of the recession. With somewhat mixed messages from the retail industry it is hard to predict the future of consumer confidence. The mood of British consumers may however warm up as summer is approaching with exciting events and, we hope, brighter weather.

Altrincham, UK, 02 April 2012 : Maxa Technologies appointed Distributor for the Handheld Mobile Computer range from CATCHWELL.

Maxa Technologies (Maxatec), specialist supplier of hardware and services to the Mobile Enterprise, Automatic Identification and EPOS market sectors, today announced it has been appointed as a Distributor for the CATCHWELL range of mobile computers. The agreement covers Europe, Middle East and Africa.

CATCHWELL is a well established Korean designer, developer and manufacturer of mobile computing products. Established in 1999, CATCHWELL has been delivering high performance mobile computing products to the market since 2002. With nearly 50% of its workforce having a technical bias, CATCHWELL has made significant strides to position itself as one of the leading mobile computing companies in Korea.

Jun Kwon, Overseas Business Manager, said: “The CATCHWELL brand is well known in Korea and we have been hugely successful in recent years in closing large contracts with significant names including the Korea Post, LG and Hyundai. Whilst we are also successful internationally, it is our strategy to specifically develop our market share in the EMEA territory by partnering with key players in the mobile enterprise world.”
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March is here and spring is finally on its way. The weather may be feeling hotter, but is the climate on UK high streets improving? 2012 is certainly brightening up for catering outlets, even if large chains such as Game are continuing to fall victim of the crunch. Maxatec has scoured the web to bring you the latest industry updates…

Consumers are increasing the amount of interaction they have with retailers as technology opens up new channels of communications. Shopping experiences were described as increasingly ‘technology driven’ in a report produced by IBM after 28,500 respondents from 15 different countries were surveyed.

According to IBM, customers in the UK said they were happy to use three or more technologies to shop and browse retailer offerings, and 82% of UK consumers believed social networks saved time shopping. 63% also expressed a desire to use mobile devices as a way of comparing prices, rising to 67% wanting to use their devices at check out.

On the high street, it was bad news for Game Group, who announced that it had been put into administration in what the Financial Times has called “the biggest failure since Woolworths in 2008.” Other major names have also been experiencing difficulties – clothing giant New Look has revealed its plans to try to arrange monthly rent payments with landlords to try to deal with over 1bn of debt. Monsoon, Accessorize, Clinton Cards and Sports Direct have also all been seeking monthly rents, as has Dreams, the beds retailer.

However things are looking much brighter for the catering industry: there is an increase in the number of people looking for a more rounded day-out experience when they visit shopping centres. A sociable, relaxed way of shopping is becoming the order of the day, contributing to rise in the number of food and drink outlets appearing in shopping centres. According to a report by www.catersearch.com, the percentage of floor space dedicated to food service provision has tripled in the last 10 years. Sales of food and drink in large shopping centres is on the rise, despite the difficult trading climate experienced by many retail outlets.

Maxatec’s retail news roundup will be back next month with more industry insights.