About a year ago, Google introduced preliminary designs for Google Cloud Print. Today, Google and HP announced that all HP ePrint-enabled printers are now Cloud Print-friendly.
Google Cloud Print can actually be used with any printer, but the new printers are “Google Cloud Print Ready,” which makes for a more “seamless” experience, according to Google.
“Imagine printing an important email from your Chrome notebook on your train ride to work, then finding the completed printout in the printer tray when you reach the office. Or printing your airline boarding pass from your smartphone to your home printer, so you can grab the printout on your way out the door,” says Google software engineer Abhijit Kalamkar. “Today, we are one big step closer to this vision.”
“Simply associate your printers with a Google Account—preexisting or new—to start printing,” says HP. “You can add your HP ePrint-enabled printer (HP Photosmart, HP Officejet, HP Officejet Pro, HP LaserJet Pro) to your Google Account with the printer’s unique email address. When you’re ready to print, simply select from the list of printers associated with your account.”
“You can send a print job to the printer you’ve chosen when you want—whether the printer is in front of you, in another room or across the country,” the company adds. “And you’ll have virtually the same experience as if you were physically connected to the printer. Print your favorite vacation photo to the closest printer to you for quick-and-easy sharing. Or, send your business presentation to the printer at your desk.”
Earlier this year, Google launched Cloud print for mobile documents and Gmail for Mobile. It also works with Chrome OS notebooks.
“We’re also continuing to release enhancements to the Google Cloud Print service,” says Kalamkar. “We’ve released a Mac version of the Google Cloud Print connector for non-cloud printers in the Chrome beta channel. And over the next few days we’ll be enabling printer sharing for current Google Cloud Print users, so your family, friends and colleagues can print their documents from anywhere to anywhere.”
The first Chrome OS devices for consumers are expected to ship in the middle of the year.
