Print from Mobile will be easier than from the PC, according to Brian Schmitz of HP

Taking advantage of the recent Mobile World Congress, HP announced its latest mobile printing for your printing equipment. The American brand is one of the companies you are more investing in new technologies to integrate smartphones and tablets in the everyday printing tasks. Proof of this is that HP is one of the first manufacturers to launch a printer market with the new Mopria standard.

A protocol created by the leading manufacturers to print from your mobile as easy as opening a menu and choose the appropriate option. No need for drivers or additional applications. To speak of these changes that is experiencing the world of printers interviewed Brian Schmitz, Director of Marketing, LaserJet and HP Business Solutions, a manager with over a decade of experience in the U.S. Company.

How has evolved in HP mobile printing?

Mobile printing on HP began four or five years ago when we realized that people were beginning to access information not only on computers but also on other devices like smartphones. And we anticipate the idea that they would surely want to print documents to take with them everywhere. To address this emerging reality, we begin to develop two technologies are very close in time. One was ePrint , to print our technology through the cloud. AirPrint The other was that we launched in collaboration with Apple.

Through ePrint, we can perform printing tasks anywhere, while AirPrint was more local, designed to help you print documents when you’re on the same local network. Also, another option we have more recently developed Wireless Direct is a technology with which you can create a direct connection between the mobile computer and printer.

Nor have we been left unattended the field of business. To do this, we have developed ePrint Enterprise, a technology to print remotely within the corporate firewall. And many companies want these solutions but do not want to use public clouds that then move their data by an external server.

And what are the next steps in this field?

One of the last steps we have taken with Xerox, Canon and Samsung is to found an alliance called Mopria (Mobile Print Alliance). The fundamental idea behind this partnership is to create a common standard for mobile printing channel. That is, any mobile or tablet that has Mopria certification can print on compatible equipment without need for different applications or drivers. To this end, we have presented the first printer Mopria certification, HP Laserjet MFP M476.

Mopria How it works?

Mopria is very similar to the AirPrint technology (used in the iPad and iPhone). It is a technology that is developed in the operating system itself. To print, just open the menu in an application and among the options we have one that allows the document or send the file to print. It’s that simple.

Do not any installation necessary?

Nothing, neither drivers nor dedicated applications.

 

Now let’s talk about the printer HP Laserjet M476 MFP. In addition to this certification, which brings us back this team?

In addition to this award, this model also has NFC so that mobile phones that have this technology can print directly to the printer at the touch. Another feature that we are promoting on this computer is its ability to connect to cloud-based as Box, Dropbox or Google Drive service. Through the HP MP476 user can scan a file directly to a service and then print them from the control panel of the printer. Whenever there are more small and medium companies that use this type of cloud services.

When the HP MP47 be available?

Its global launch date is April 1. Its U.S. price is $ 430 and I imagine the cost in euros will be similar, but currently do not have final figures.

I guess in the next few months they will be coming with new models Mopria certification, but … are there any plans to incorporate this certification on previous models?

I’m glad you asked me. Of course, this is the first of many printers that come with Mopria. We are also developing an accessory called Mobile Print Accesory (MPA) is a small box that connects to the USB port and add the Mopria technology to any printer of the brand since 2008.

As for Android devices, what will be compatible with this technology?

Initially only the models upgrade to Android 4.4 will be compatible with Mopria KitKat. For computers with previous versions of the system may use the dedicated application HP ePrint.

What are the next steps in mobile printing?

Our strategy is to deploy Mopria in our new releases. Thus mobile printing will become very easy for people. That will be our focus, rather than on our own dedicated applications. What we do with Mopria mobile printing will make it even easier than when printing from a computer, because the PC have to download a driver and install it.

And what is your opinion about the supposed battle between ink and laser?

I really do not see it as a battle. But it is funny that many people on the outside see it as a battle. There are many customers who use computers at the same time the two technologies. Each has its own benefits. Laser printers are more reliable for example when different types of media are used, while inkjet printers are more dependent on the type of media used. For example, if you want to make prints of your photos in high quality the most interesting choice is ink.

It’s a funny story because for years we had a clear idea of what the dominant technology but with the advent of teams like the HP Officejet Pro things have changed a lot.

At the end is a matter of choice. We want to give consumers the best choice for your business. Out of the advantages of each technology, we are working together in both ink and laser to deliver a similar use of functions and connectivity.