Palo Alto, CA -- In a press release dated May 20, 2010, HP announced their plans for a new, faster way to print photos. In conjunction with Walmart, the service, aptly named “Prints In Minutes” will be available in 3600 stores nationwide by the end of the summer of 2010. This agreement follows those already in place with Tesco, Rossmann, Duane Reed, and Kmart Australia and represents a 300 percent growth in their global retail publishing presence in 2010 alone.
Under this new service, customers will have the ability to print 4 x 6, 5 x 7, and 8 x 10 photo prints as well as collage prints, calendar pages, and greeting cards. This service, it should be noted, is only available in stores. To order from home, customers will still be using Snapfish (also owned by HP).
The technology behind this new service is HP’s Instant Print Solution which reportedly will enable customers to pick up their prints “within minutes of ordering or at a later time by using a secure order storage and release feature.” Another triumph of this system is that it is basically unattended and thus allows Walmart employees in that area to focus their efforts on sales. The printer being used for this is HP Photosmart pm2000e Microlab printer.
As an aside, HP’s commitment to the environment with this endeavor remains strong. The dry-assembly photo books which are available alongside the photos are can be reused or added to and use no glue. All of the supplies are part of HP’s Planet Partners program and will be recycled properly. Finally, the photo paper comes from suppliers who are committed to sustainable forestry practices.
A nice additional feature of this service is access to a variety of branded images from partners which include Nickelodeon, Warner Bros. Consumer Products and Live Nation. These images can be incorporated into one’s photos for extra personalization.
