July 08, 2010

Smartphone Owners Rejoice: HP and Google Introduce Cloud Printing

By Sean Doherty

DoubleSided: HP's ePrint Technology Bypasses Drivers With Email; Google Also Has a Plan

John Gage is credited with coining the phrase "the network is the computer" when he worked for Sun Microsystems well before the Internet became commonplace. If the statement wasn't true then, it certainly is now as we all benefit from so-called cloud-based services ranging from online banking to word processing.

As we move to the cloud and go mobile with smartphones, what happens to the printer? The folks at Hewlett-Packard have a plan as does Google.

HP's ePrint Technology

Last year we reported on HP's Photosmart Premium With TouchSmart Web. This printer features Web-enabled apps that enable you to print calendars, Sudoku puzzles, and more. Also, the ePrintCenter technology enables you to manage your Photosmart printer from any Web browser.

Recently, HP announced a much more interesting technology — ePrint. Following in the footsteps of the HP-designed Presto, HP printers with ePrint technology have an embedded email address. To print a file, just send it to that email address. This technology eliminates the need to deal with printer drivers — a significant problem on smartphones like the iPhone. Every smartphone can send email. To prevent spam, your printer only prints files received by email addresses it recognizes (a white list that you create). We like ePrint and think it has a bright future.

Google's Cloud Print

HP is not the only company with a cloud printing plan. Google is working on Cloud Print, a technology that enables any Web, desktop, or mobile application to print to any printer connected to its service. In effect, registered Google users send print jobs to the cloud service that directs those jobs to selected printers registered and associated with your account.

HP's ePrint and Google's Cloud Print share the same goal. The difference lies in the user experience. HP's use of embedded email may have more limitations in terms of number of available printers, but seems easier for consumers to understand and use. Besides, I certainly wouldn't want to pay for ink used for Google advertisements.

About DoubleSided
We all have our idiosyncrasies. So do printers as it turns out. In our DoubleSided feature, we explore the lighter side of printers as well as the esoteric and bizarre. We also peer into the future of printing. From fabbers to printing on toast, you'll find it all here.