Fujitsu takes on HP in network scanning

Until now, HP was the only game in town when it came to distributing scanned documents from a central server but now the Japanese giant believes it has come in with a contender that is more flexible then its rival's offering.

The firm's Axis Network Scan Server (NSS) is a CD-ROM drive-sized box that can connect any Fujitsu scanner to the network to offer colour or monochrome scanning at any format up to A3. Because the box contains a Web server, resulting files can then be sent as SMTP e-mail, to the local browser or stored to any drive on the network.

All software management is done via the Web, saving administration and install time. Although connected scanners must be Fujitsu, the unit still offers more range than the HP alternative, which restricts users to monochrome and A4 format media, according to John Goodyear, marketing manager at Fujitsu Europe..

Out now at £1,020 + VAT, Fujitsu expects to sell most units combined with scanners through mail-order catalogues and resellers.

Also new from Fujitsu is a partner product for mobile users, the Mobile Fax 2000 (£399 + VAT). Little larger than a handheld PC, the unit allows monochrome scanning of documents that can then be printed or sent by fax or e-mail when the unit is plugged into a cellular telephone's data card.