New printer improves smartphone, iPad printing
June 16, 2010 by Steve HannafordPosted in: In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, New Products
As the presence and importance of wireless devices from smartphones to tablets grows, the problem of printing from them has become more critical. One manufacturer may have a viable solution.
Traditional driver-based printing becomes impractical as mobile users confront a wide variety of devices, many of which they will print on only once. The time-consuming task of downloading separate drivers and clogging limited storage space with little-used programs is definitely a no-no.
HP just announced a move to help resolve the problem for its newer machines. They’ve set up a unique email address for a number of new printers. The mobile device user can send an email to the printer, then walk up, sign in on a touch screen, and print out the email and/or attached document.
For example, users will be able to take a photo with a smartphone, and then e-mail it to the printer. Or they might access a Google or MapQuest map, contact information, a document on Google Apps, ticket receipts, and so on.
HP is also establishing a Website called the ePrintCenter, that will work with third-parties to offer apps that allow users to format and send special print jobs to a printer.
In addition, HP is working with FedEx Office to provide print kiosks at wide variety of sites. HP is also developing ways of authenticating users and billing an account to ease the process.
The main idea, of course, is to get people to print more, especially on HP ink jet printers that offer generous returns to the company. The fear is that Androids, iPads and the like are making it easier not to print (you can carry the directions, schedule, photos, etc.) and making it harder to print (the driver problem).
If this new initiative works and HP captures some of the pages it was losing, it’s not hard to see other printer and MFP companies scrambling to follow suit. As the computing world changes (we think that tablets will replace laptops within three or four years), the printer industry has to keep up, and HP’s move is an interesting first step.
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Tags: HP, iPads, iPhones, mobile printing
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July 8th, 2010 at 12:40 pm
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