So you've seen how Apple intends to
handle printing on its web-centric mobile device, now how about Google? The Mountain View crew has decided to solve one of
Chrome OS' significant shortcomings -- namely the lack of a printer stack or drivers -- by interposing itself between apps and the printing hardware. Essentially, when you want to print you'll be sending your request over to a Googlestation up in the clouds, which in turn will translate those instructions and forward them along to the nearest paper tarnisher. We say nearest, presuming that's what you'd want, but the big deal here is that you'll be able to use
any device to print on
any printer anywhere in the (internet-connected) world. It's quite the brute force approach, but at least it assures you that whether you're using a mobile, desktop or web app, you'll be able to print without fear of compatibility issues. This project is still at a very early stage, but code and dev documentation are available now. Hit the source link to learn more.
posted April 16th 2010 7:54AM
Googles becoming the new MS....
Ideas upon ideas....but half em end up in vaporware.
do we get print ads now?
Because bluetooth printers are just so 2009!
I think we've come full circle. I remember in the early 90's, someone in the office was trying to print a report from the billing system on green bar. It wasn't working, everything looked right, but it turned out to be a problem with the mainframe in Omaha, NE. I was working in Pennsylvania at the time.
"Essentially, when you want to print you'll be sending your request over to a Googlestation up in the clouds.."
Will I receive some Ads in return??
So will everything printed come out with an AdMob banner on it?
I'm already sick of the term "Cloud" - it's a server for crying out loud.
@Don Corleone
Think of it as the nomenclature for groups
Geese - Flock
Fish - School
Crows - Murder
Servers - Cloud
:P
Google, you are too good to us.
@steel
I know... letting us print!
Thank you Google... I will make sure to make an offering to the gods on your behalf.
I never thought File -> Print was so hard!
@kapryt It is on the iPad and smartphones.
@TheGM
Any other use for this? Besides phones (????) and a device that's been on the market for like 2 days?
@kapryt
If you don't think this is awesome, you have never installed an HP printer driver.
I have this (http://www.activeprinttraveler.com) on my iphone and I think they are already doing something similar to cloud printing by google's description of there service.
the cloud structure is a great idea because ultimately thats what the future will be. We all have smartphones, laptops, desktops, tv's, and now tablets and we want our content like pictures, videos and documents, to be available on all our devices simultaneously. What we really need is a central pc with a cloud architecture that lets us access that information from all our devices
@dswatson83
That's going to be a big problem when the Cylons get here.
I like this "Cloud Printing" idea, really !
But knowing that it comes from Google I can't help but thinking : "how long will it take for them insert a (contextually targeted) add in the middle of my print job ?"
@thewild See gmail Paper
Is it free?
Yes. The cost of postage is offset with the help of relevant, targeted, unobtrusive advertisements, which will appear on the back of your prints in red, bold, 36 pt Helvetica. No pop-ups, no flashy animations—these are physically impossible in the paper medium.
http://mail.google.com/mail/help/paper/more.html
@thewild
Hey look, if you wanna make a little cash on the side, Google will gladly paste an ad in the footer of that English paper you worked on for 2 nights straight.
@cherryboom
Get a job loser.
Didn't HP do this first? As in it's already up and running?
This has existed for ages. Tons of companies offer it.
@tomer
Exactly. FedEx has a service where you can upload a document and send it to any location for printing. I think others have services where they mail it to you. I don't know how this is different or better. Maybe it's free?
I love how this hasn't even come out yet but every printer in existence is now a "legacy printer."
Google can get a grab of everything you are printing through the cloud then...
I dont trust them as far as I can throw them, I stick to my VPN and VNC thanks
So, you could use this service, "print" a file, then send it to some cloud and wait until they arrive with the print. Time estimated :1d - 1week.
Or
You could save the document then attach it and send it via email with a note that say "hey Bill, can you print it?". Time estimated :10 minutes - 1 hour (a hour is Bill is in their break).
@magallanes Or you send it to Ben's Google account and it get's printed on Ben's printer and you can go and collect it. time < 1min.
Great idea. I often want to print documents to my home printer when I'm on the road.
I wonder if this is what Jobs and Schmidt were discussing over coffee...
@grandmainger
Of course it was... because printing is huge news...
Jobs "Alright, so you handle the printing and we'll do everything else, including the hardware and software delivery mechanism... sounds like a Win win.."
Schmidt "Mmmmmmmmmole"
Clouds are more of a security issue. It's a little scary.
im wit it
Looks interesting. Sadly, I have a feeling Apple will probably try to interfere with it. Guess we'll have to see.
"Time will tell. It always does." -- The Doctor, Survival
I really hope it's based on CUPS and that it's open-source...
google, if i was a poet, i'd write a sonnet about u...An ode to Google...
just get rid of install drivers & distribute assignments to certain printers, it doesn't make any difference to me. Problem is I still have to fetch back the papers from the specific nearby printer.
may be a extra secretary can substantive solve this.
I thought google was already doing it with Gmail Paper
http://mail.google.com/mail/help/paper/more.html
I'm actually quite sick of google, already.
@Failbait
Google, Apple, you name it.
I never thought I'd see the day where M$ was one of the few companies not taking five steps backwards... scratch that... see also the Kin One.
CTRL + P
Ever heard of it?
Seriously though... I saw this article and I was like... reminds me of a dumbware argument I had once. The more mainstream products get, the sexier they get, the less useful they get!
I have a Tablet PC... I can't do anything on it but watch YouTube, but its damn sexy isn't it?
Quite brute-force and quite dont-print-anything-thats-private, too.
Oh I see how things work on here now.. I put up a comment that goes against the masses and people don't want to hear it and down rank it.. You know, cause its not like I'm allowed to have my own opinion just like the rest of you.. No wonder engadget has had so many problems and had to shut down comments for a while.
Isn’t the point of these tablets obviate the need for printed documents on paper? I thought these devices _were_ the readers. Sure, printing is nice, but if I had a dime for every time I printed something from my printing-capable Mac in the last year… I’d have about four dimes.
There are scary implications here. I've already made the mistake of hitting "print" on a sensitive document, not seeing it come out of my printer at home, and then realizing, "Sh!t, it's printing out at work, on the printer in the main hallway!". I had to drive 45 minutes to work at midnight to retrieve it before anyone else saw it. I just hope Google has a nag screen that says, "Do you REALLY want to print this on the printer located at ____ location?"
PC LOAD LETTER