It's been a few minutes since we've heard any news regarding color e-paper, and now Ricoh has announced that they've taken a tip from their copier business to create a technology that displays hues fifty percent brighter than those currently available, retaining the graphics even when power is turned off. Unlike other technologies, which use layers of red, green, and blue light separated by sheets of glass, this new iteration uses layered electrochromic compounds that turn cyan, magenta, and yellow variously when electricity is applied -- and if that weren't enough, the company's gone and altered the molecular structure of the compounds to retain their color even when electricity is removed. Rather than using glass, the layers are separated by some sort of clear insulation, resulting in a lighter device and a brighter appearance. The company is looking to bring this to market within the next five years. [Warning: read link requires subscription.]

The kids at Photography Blog have finally got their hands on that Ricoh CX1 that won our respect not too long ago, and they've been cool enough to post a review online. The camera, the reviewer said, begins where the ol' R10 left off, throwing features like multi-pattern auto white balance, multi-target auto focus, and 4fps continuous shooting speed into the mix, making this "the best Ricoh point-and-shoot yet." That said, it can't all be groovy -- the review goes on to cite the camera's "bog-standard" 640 x 480 / 30fps video and rudimentary face detection as "nothing to write home about." Image quality -- often a deal-breaker for this company -- has greatly improved, with a new 9 megapixel CMOS sensor sporting "a now usable ISO range of 80-800." Of course, the big news is the camera's high dynamic range. DR mode is, for the most part, "radical and very effective." But there's much more to it -- hit that read link for all the gory details.

It's taken a little while for Ricoh's 10-megapixel GR Digital II to make the rounds since it was announced late last year, but it's finally wound up in the capable hands of the folks from Photography Blog, who've now turned out a full review of the camera. Among other things, this one is particularly notable for its use of a 28mm fixed focal length lens, which Photography Blog found helped deliver some solid images with "very little distortion." They were also pleased with the addition of a RAW shooting mode (even though it slows things down quite a bit), and the camera's intuitive control system, which can be "almost completely configured to suit your way of working." On the downside, they found the camera suffered from the common drawback of excessive noise at ISO 400 or above, and there is the small matter of the $699 price tag, which puts it on the level of some pretty impressive non-28mm cameras, and within striking range of the 28mm Sigma DP1. Still, the GR Digital II appears to hold its own, and seems like it'd be an even better buy if you can find a good deal on it.

There's already plenty of wireless printer options out there, but those looking for a few more capabilities than your standard offerings provide may want to keep an eye out for Ricoh's new HotSpot series models, which the company says are the first printers that let users "print documents from any Wi-Fi enabled location or device." That, however, is done is a rather roundabout way, with users required to either upload the file to a website associated with the printer or forward the file to the printer's own email address. On the upside, that means you won't have to install any drivers, and you'll be able to print from a handheld or cellphone in addition to a computer. No official word on a price from Ricoh just yet, it seems, but CDW already has the monochrome SP 4100N-KP listed for a cool $1,700, with the color SP C410DN-KP model undoubtedly set to demand a good deal more.

Ricoh's recently-released Caplio R7 digital camera certainly has the specs to get the job done and, judging from Photography Blog's new review, it looks like the camera as a whole stacks up pretty nicely as well. While it's apparently not a huge leap over the previous R6 model, the Photography Blog folks nonetheless found a few welcome improvements, including a four-way "joystick" that apparently works particularly well with the updated interface, and a new "vibration correction system" that should lead to some better pictures even in difficult shooting situations. Otherwise, it appears to be pretty much in line with the R6, including that same 7x wide-angle optical zoom lens, and the same speedy performance that Photography Blog says "easily beats the competition."