FOSTER CITY, Calif. & RAMSEY, N.J.--June 6, 2005-- EFI, the world leader in digital imaging and print management solutions for commercial and enterprise printing, and Konica Minolta Business Solutions today announced a partnership for the future availability of the IC-402 Image Controller, embedded Fiery technology optimized for the bizhub C450, a 35 page-per-minute color printer/copier/scanner. The new solution is designed to greatly improve business efficiency for customers in the office environment. The bizhub C450 color-centric device with IC-402 is the newest in the Konica Minolta line of multi-function machines providing such office-essential functions as copy, print, and scan. The IC-402 Image Controller is embedded Fiery system technology that enables the bizhub C450 to deliver maximum speed, even for the most complex color documents, high image quality, authentic Postscript, exceptional reliability -- as well as enhanced security. "We're continually impressed by EFI innovation, and the Fiery-driven IC-402 Image Controller is clearly no exception. Konica Minolta customers demand high performance and high value, and Fiery system software enables the new bizhub C450 to deliver beyond expectations," said Kevin P. Kern, vice president, product planning and development, Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. "Our customers in the office workgroup environment will find tremendous value in this competitively priced MFP with an incredibly rich feature set." Feature highlights of the Fiery system software for the bizhub C450 include: Enhanced Productivity New Fiery intelligent processing software, Gigabit Ethernet support and 2GHz speed (the highest ever for embedded Fiery technology) accelerates the processing of documents and ensures the fastest printing possible on PDF, MS Office (particularly PowerPoint), and other large, color image files. Fiery technology virtually eliminates waiting time at the printer, distinctly important in the office environment. The multi-award-winning Fiery Command WorkStation(TM) sets the standard in centralized print job management with an intuitive interface and a variety of sophisticated, productivity-enhancing tools. The familiar, consistent interface means seamless integration into Konica Minolta environments. EFI Fiery Impose allows users to edit and modify jobs to create booklets, business cards, and calendars, among other materials. PDF jobs can be edited quickly and easily without compromising color, fonts, or job properties. Impose enables the merging of different page sized jobs into landscape or portrait layout without relying on other graphics applications. Additional Fiery productivity enhancement tools include: Enhanced USB-based capability for walk-up media printing; Fiery NetWise(TM) for seamless connectivity to all popular network platforms; Fiery WebTools(TM) for easy remote job management; Fiery FreeForm(TM) for flexible variable data printing capabilities; Optional Hot Folders for automated batch processing of PostScript and PDF files. Color Management / Great "Out of the Box" Color Fiery ColorWise, industry-leading color management software, offers built-in intelligence for producing consistently precise colors from all applications, platforms and file formats. Leveraging EFI's renowned expertise in developing digital color profiles and tools for the most demanding color professionals, Color Profiler is a turnkey application that enables novices and professionals alike to readily create, communicate and manage color. Advanced functionality includes auto trapping for layering graphics. Also bundled with the Konica Minolta bizhub C450 is Fiery Spot-On, which enables accuracy and consistency and helps manage named color and corporate colors. Spot-On matches Pantone library colors with their best CMYK equivalents and supports branding efforts by standardizing the appearance of corporate colors. Authentic Postscript In addition to PCL, the Fiery controller includes an EFI/Adobe co-developed PostScript interpreter to process the print job. Fiery office accelerator technology enables the printing of Postscript and Native PDF files with a level of accuracy and color rendering that emulators cannot achieve. Improved Security To secure information, Fiery system software provides formidable digital solutions. Fiery security features for the bizhub C450 include: IP Filtering to control access to the printing device; Port Blocking to control access to the Fiery through remote management; Secure Erase to remove all traces of job data from the Fiery hard disk drive. "We are pleased to add Konica Minolta's bizhub C450 customers to the 12 million EFI Fiery users around the world who make Fiery the industry's print server of choice," said Frank Mallozzi, Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Marketing, EFI. "When customers opt for the IC-402 controller, the Fiery server optimized for the bizhub C450, they are choosing increased productivity that will save them time and money as they produce outstanding prints." Availability The bizhub C450 will be available through Konica Minolta's North American direct sales, authorized dealer and value-added reseller channels Summer 2005.