Google Cloud Print Makes Landfall In HP Printers

According to HP, Google Cloud Print users can print directly to any HP ePrint-enabled printer from any Google Cloud Print supported app on any computer or smartphone.

"Making it easy for our customers to print where and how they want is a top priority for HP," said Stephen Nigro, senior vice president, Imaging and Printing Group, HP, in a statement.

Google launched Google Cloud Print last year. The service lets users print from any device, operating system or browser to any printer without the need for drivers or a PC connection. Google Cloud Print was launched into beta earlier this year.

While Google Cloud Print can be used with any printer, Google Cloud Print Ready devices, Web-connected printers that do need to be attached to a computer, offer a more seamless experience, wrote Google software engineer Abhijit Kalamkar in a blog post highlighting HP's release of Google Cloud Print-enabled printers.

Google Cloud Print-enabled HP printers let users print from their smartphone or notebook wherever they are and retrieve the printed documents when they arrive at the office, at home or anywhere the printer is located.

"Today, HP has announced that all of its ePrint-enabled printers are Google Cloud Print Ready, in most cases right out of the box," Kalamkar wrote. "With a Google Cloud Print Ready printer, you can print e-mails, documents and Web pages from supported apps without having to hunt for drivers or printer cables."

According to HP, the HP ePrint line of Web-connected and cloud aware printers are the first to support Google Cloud Print out of the box and eliminate the need for a printer driver or PC connection to the printer. HP said apps supported by Google Cloud Print, like Gmail for Mobile, Google Docs for Mobile and Chrome OS are supported. Google said that more supported apps are on the way and there are also a third-party Android app, a Chrome extension and a Firefox add-on to use Google Cloud Print in more places.

HP said users add the unique e-mail address of their HP ePrint-enabled Photosmart, Officejet or LaserJet Pro printer to their Google account, which provides the ability to print from Google Apps to the selected HP printer.

Google's Kalamkar wrote that enhancements to Google Cloud Print are also on the horizon. Google has released a Mac version of its Google Cloud Print connector for non-cloud printers and over the next few days printer sharing for Google Cloud Print users will be added, so users' friends, family and colleagues can use the cloud printing service.