Last Wednesday, Google (News - Alert) released a stand-alone Android application called Cloud Print, a cloud printing service. It is now readily available as a free download on Google Play, as announced by the Android (News - Alert) community on Droid-Life.

Google Cloud Print enables users to print from anywhere at any time. The app can print anything from any Android device as long as there is a cloud-connected printer. It is easy to add a printer to be able to send material over the Web.

To add a printer, users will need Google Chrome installed on their devices. In addition, they will need to associate it with their Google Account and then connect to Google Cloud Print.

To do that is simple: After opening a Chrome browsing page and logging in, users can go to settings and then click the “show advanced settings” link. After scrolling down to the “Google Cloud Print” section, they can click “sign in to Google Cloud Print.” This will give the option to select the printer(s) one wishes to connect or enable the Google Cloud Print connector to add one or more.

The app makes it possible to also send and share with others (as long as they also have Google Accounts) material that goes to a selected home, work or third-party printer; it is all possible with a single click directly from one’s Google account.

Once the app is installed, in fact, users can run the Google Cloud Print app to print something out for themselves simply by touching the Google Cloud Print icon and then clicking “print,” or they can  choose to upload a document or an image to be sent to someone else. If that is the case, the end user just needs to click on either the "Share" or "Send" button. This will allow the recipient to retrieve the material at their own printer location.

To simplify the task, users can consider using a Cloud Ready printer, as it does not require a PC to setup. Once ready to be Web-connected, it can start to print within seconds, after the user logs in to his/her Google Cloud Print account.

Even though Cloud Print works with standalone PCs and Chromebook cloud-based laptops, this is an app that would be most practical for Web-connected Android and iOS mobile devices (phones or tablets) for printing away from the office or home.

Right from one’s mobile device, Cloud Print makes it possible to control printer options and track the status of all print jobs. For all print jobs, the end-user will receive a form of notification: This enables one to view, control and manage every printed item. Users will also be pleased to know that all submitted and retrieved printing material is communicated over a secure connection (https).

For more information about Cloud Print, how to get started or try it out, if not perhaps know what Google apps will work with it, consumers can visit the Google Cloud Print “support” page.

To stay tuned to other similar applications, be sure to follow TMC’s (News - Alert) Google Apps News.