Okay this is definitely one that I didn’t see coming but according to researchers at Columbia University there is a vulnerability affecting millions of printers that could literally see them being hacked into setting themselves on fire.

Professor Salvatore Stolfo has found that the devices are totally open and exploitable; which is possibly due to the increasing amount of technology that is being crammed into printers while at the same time security has been lagging.

One of the leading printers found to have this vulnerability is the HP LaserJet line of printers that allows hackers to push unauthorized firmware updates to the printers. Apparently the HP printers will go out to the web before printing to see if there are any updates that it might need. The problem is that the printers don’t do any kind of source check before downloading and installing any updates. this means that anyone with any kind of know-how can trick the printers into accepting the bad update.

When it came to demonstrating the kind of damage that could be done Professor Stolfo showed how it was possible to get the printer to overheat the fuser until it melts, and while there are protection switches to stop the printer from actually catching on fire Stolfo showed that it could be done.

There are more subtle applications as well. In another demonstration, an infiltrated printer was used to copy printed documents and send them off to hackers. In this case, tax returns being printed on an infected device were copied and sent off to hackers where they could be scanned for information like social security numbers. And of course, any hackers who wanted to just disable printers in an entirely mundane fashion could do that as well, easily.

via Geekosystem

Of course this possibility of hacked printers never thought it would happen as they push for an Internet of Things eh.

image via chaz6.com on Flickr

HP printers prone to an exploits that could light them on fire is a post from: The Inquisitr

Does any device ever of all time cause as much heartache and distress as the humble home printer?

[via reddit]

This Is Why I Tell People I Don’t Have a Printer is a post from: The Inquisitr

Random porny pop-ups?

[via]

How do you know if your computer is connected to the internet? is a post from: The Inquisitr

…and it smells like Otto’s jacket.

[TDW]

My printer is jamming… is a post from: The Inquisitr

A few months back HP announced their Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web Printer. With that printer came the promise of an App Studio for the web and touch friendly printer. Now that App Studio has officially been revealed by HP.

The printers apps already allow users to take advantage of such printer friendly online options as movie tickets, photos from Flickr accounts, art projects from Disney and even articles taken from CBS’s popular 60 minutes programming.

While the apps available are still extremely limited HP has offered an open API to programmers in the hopes that it will help spur new applications for the TouchSmart Web offering. In fact given it’s open nature and large push by HP, we won’t be surprise to see the technology creep up on more of their printers in the near future.

To be honest, I’m not sure how much time I would spend sitting in front of my printer trying to find movie tickets to print or articles to read. The app store just seems like a case of “Apple Syndrome” at this point, in which a company releases an app store in the hopes of receiving programmer based applications, while reaping the benefits from programs they didn’t have to create on their own. Then again I can’t fault HP for making some extra cash, but if games appear on a printer I’m throwing in the towel.

HP Printer App Store Revealed. See What You’ve Done Apple! is a post from: The Inquisitr

The PCP-1300 and PCP-300 print postcard-sized pictures and are a compact 251×130×151(147) mm. PCP-1300 features a 7″ LCD touchscreen display with 480*234 resolution and is compatible with most memory cards, but it’s not cheap at $577. PCP-300 is lighter, offers a 3.5-inch display with 240*320 resolution and costs $420.

Nice little preview screens on printers are hardly new, but this is getting insane now, because both printers include a full QWERTY keyboard. Yes, a keyboard on a printer. So it has a touch screen and a keyboard (presumably allowing you do add text to images) and just happens to print as well….sounds an awful lot like a locked down single purpose computer that just happens to print as well.

Given you can buy a netbook for a under $300 and a decent enough printer now for under $200, why would anyone hand over $577 or even $420 for one of these? I’m beat. Both go on sale in the Unites States in September.

Casio’s new printers are so involved they should just call them computers is a post from: The Inquisitr

There are all kinds of interesting stuff being these days when it comes to advertising products, especially from recognizable brands like HP. All it takes is a bunch of people with some unique ideas and a a company willing to go out on a limb and try something new.

In this case HP is promoting a recent project from a pair of graphic design graduates, Matt Robinson and Tom Wrigglesworth, where they wanted to show how HP workstations and printers could be used, along with some music, to bring ideas to life.

HP – invent from Tom and Matt on Vimeo.

hat tip toMy Modern Metropolis

Printing to the music is a post from: The Inquisitr

It’s a stupid game that besides the ecological implications of making the printers cheaper to buy than the ink it uses makes us really pissed off consumers. This must be the thinking behind a new ad campaign from Kodak that started airing last night called Feeling Ripped Off?

DUH! what took you so long – of course consumers are getting ripped off, how nice of you to notice Kodak but it’s a shame it took an economic recession for you to get the idea. An idea that is very similar to Microsoft’s recent “I’m a PC” ad campaign that centered in on the price rather than the ‘cool’ factor.

[hat tip to Ryan Spoon]

Kodak takes a page from Microsoft’s “I’m a PC” ad is a post from: The Inquisitr