HP launches wireless printers

It is now possible to print from your cell phone by sending e-mail to a printer following the unveiling of Hewlett Packard’s web-based wireless printers.

HP Imaging and Printing Group said smart phones had posed a considerable challenge to its business as many users reading more from the internet could not print.

At its innovation summit held in Istanbul, Turkey, the Group revealed a new category of printers that users will only need to send e-mails to print.

The printers will each have their own e-mail address, to which smart phone users can send their photos and any other files they want to print.

They will also be able to connect to an HP website, from which users can command to do specific things at certain times, such as printing out copies of the day's top news stories every morning.

“We have transformed the flow of content for all customers letting them access, share, print and manage content virtually any time or anywhere in the world,” said the Group’s executive vice president Vyomesh Joshi.

Mr Joshi said the changes answer demands from customers to make it easier to print from any Internet-connected device, including smart phones, net books and tablet computers as Apple's i-Pad.

It is equally possible to print from the desk tops by simply sending a mail to the computer.

"We think this is one of the most exciting moments ever in the printing category for HP," said Mr Ron Coughlin, senior vice-president strategy and marketing for HP's LaserJet and Enterprise Solutions Group. "This is about innovation of how printing happens and enabling new capabilities.”

He said that the company had developed the new platforms based on extensive research with its customers.

This research had revealed four key market trends: The explosion of content, the shift from analogue to digital, mobility and the Web; and the concept of everything as a service.

"Content will increase 10 times over the next two years and it will be similar in printing content where a three-fold increase is predicted by 2010," he said.

"It is estimated that 200 billion pages will shift from the old offset world to the new digital world.”

“When you look at our portfolio, this is a shift to where HP has got a clear advantage,” he said in a meeting with journalists.

"The question often is, though, will people print in this mobile world? Will there be a demand for it?”

According to an independent research, HP said, that 85 per cent of smart phone users want to print; and the second-biggest dissatisfaction with Apple's i-Pad was its lack of printing.

"So, yes, people want to print," he said.