Now that mobile technology is ubiquitous among organizations — with 90 percent of businesses expected to implement BYOD by 2014 — and consumers, it seems as though traditional office technologies have fallen by the wayside. After all, why send a fax when an e-mail will do?
However, a handful of companies in the office technology space — namely Hewlett-Packard, Canon (News - Alert), Samsung and Xerox — believe that mobile technology and traditional office technologies aren’t at odds; on the contrary, they’re downright complementary. In support of this belief, these companies have formed the Mopria Alliance with the goal of making printing from mobile devices easier than ever.
If this still seems contrary, consider the fact that many considered last year to be a breakout year for mobile printing, with over half of CIOs planning to roll out a mobile printing solution back in January 2012. This is because paper documents aren’t likely to go away completely, at least not any time soon, so most companies simply want desktop-like printing, scanning and faxing functionality from their tablets and smartphones. The Mopria Alliance aims to make this functionality more easily accessible.
One example of how this will be accomplished is with new printer interfaces that will not only make mobile operating systems more able to print seamlessly, but will also allow apps to build on the technology. Indeed, by taking full advantage of the wireless nature of mobile devices, printing and faxing will potentially be much more convenient.
"As manufacturers begin to implement a unified printing standard, customers will discover an entirely new way to print from their mobile devices — all without added set-up procedures or app downloads," said Emily Ketchen, vice president, Worldwide Integrated Marketing and Communications, Printing and Personal Systems, HP.
Sungho Choi, Vice President, Standards & Technology Enabling, Samsung (News - Alert) Electronics, added: "The lack of easy print solutions has limited the usage of features and applications in mobile devices. The Mopria Alliance will open up the opportunity for innovative and convenient mobile printing and as well as the use of mobile devices."
Edited by Rory J. Thompson