At last, the news we've been waiting for for the best part of a year - Heidelberg has revealed the identity of its digital partner and it is Ricoh. Dammit, I only had them at 10/1 - both parties really have done an enviably/annoyingly good job of keeping this under wraps.

Now we know the who, and the what - in the shape of Ricoh's Pro C901 engine - we just need to settle down and wait to see how the how pans out.

Not through choice, but through the vagaries of the west London bus network, I spend a fair bit of time hanging around at the bus stop opposite Heidelberg's Brentford HQ. The showroom is currently a hive of activity in preparation for its reinstatement as the firm's main UK demonstration venue. It's great to learn that the UK and Germany will be the first markets for the roll-out of this new partnership, too, so we will be able to see this new 'solution' in action sooner rather than later. I bet Chris Matthews' phone has been red hot this morning.

When Ricoh launched the Pro C901 at the end of last year it sold three machines to commercial print customers more or less immediately. The spec for the device is certainly appealing, and the test sheets displayed by Heidelberg when it revealed some details of its digital plans (and which we know now to have come from the Pro C901) were impressive. Ricoh is a giant company globally (more than 100,000 employees and sales of 2,000 bn yen), but Heidelberg is the giant when it comes to commercial print reputation and an established route to market. It has the makings of a successful combination. Now things will get really interesting.