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Mopria Alliance Expands Membership, Launches Certification Process and Reveals New Technology
[February 12, 2014]

Mopria Alliance Expands Membership, Launches Certification Process and Reveals New Technology


SAN RAMON, Calif. --(Business Wire)--

The Mopria Alliance, Inc., a global non-profit membership organization, is announcing today significant traction in its effort to promote and simplify mobile printing. Less than six months since its formation in September 2013, the Alliance has launched its product certification program, inducted 12 new member companies, and introduced new technical standards to meet the changing needs of the mobile printing market.

"The industry need for simple, standardized, brand-agnostic mobile printing from any device is clear, so we're proud of how quickly we've been able to make this a reality," said Sungho Choi, Chairman of the Mopria Alliance. "We're working with companies involved in all aspects of mobile printing - printer manufacturers, software developers, handset manufacturers, and beyond - to ensure the ease and proliferation of mobile printing."

New Members Expand the Ecosystem

When the Alliance launched in September 2013, its four founding members - Canon, Hewlett-Packard, Samsung (News - Alert) and Xerox - represented leaders in the printing market, as well as top names in the handset and software sectors. Today, with 12 new member companies, the Alliance includes more than 86% of the worldwide printer* business, as well as frontrunners from software companies, engineering and consulting firms, semiconductor companies and typeface designers.

New member companies include:

  • Adobe: Global leader in digital marketing and digital media solutions headquartered in San Jose, California, USA
  • Brother: Manufacturer of print and technology products for business, home appliances and industrial products, headquartered in Nagoya, Japan
  • CSR: Designer and developer of silicon and software for the consumer electronics market headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom
  • Conexant Systems: Producer of innovative silicon and software solutions for audio and imaging markets headquartered in Irvine, California, USA
  • Epson: Electronics company that is one of the world's largest manufacturers of computer printers and other information-related equipment, headquartered in Suwa, Nagano Prefecture, Japan
  • Konica Minolta: International leading company of imaging and IT with innovative technologies, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan
  • Lexmark: Global leader in unstructured printed and digital information solutions headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky, USA
  • Marvell: Global leader in providing a diverse portfolio of complete silicon solutions from mobile communications to storage, cloud infrastructure and digital entertainment
  • Monotype: Global provider of typefaces and related technologies and expertise for creative applications and consumer devices, based in Woburn, Massachusetts, USA
  • Pantum: Manufacturer of laser printers and consumables headquartered in Zhuhai, Guangdong, P.R. China
  • Ricoh: a global technology company specializing in office imaging equipment, production print solutions, document management systems and IT services headquartered in Ginza, Chuo, Tokyo, Japan



Rapid Deployment of Certification Processes

The Mopria Alliance formally launched its certification processes, demonstrating a rapid deployment of Mopria standards. Since its formation, the Alliance has developed technical prototypes, conducted product testing and has issued certifications to qualified products. The Alliance expects member companies will begin promoting their newly certified products within the coming months. The Alliance puts interoperability at the core of its certified printers, handsets, and applications to ensure functionality across all manufacturer devices.


Technological Advances Keep Pace with the Industry

Google's incorporation of print into the new Android (News - Alert)TM Operating System (OS) version 4.4 (KitKat) demonstrates the industry's continued interest in expanding the availability and use cases of mobile printing. The Mopria Alliance is well positioned to complement and innovate on top of this basic print framework, with the introduction of new technological components:

  • Mopria Plug-in for Google (News - Alert) KitKat (Android 4.4) -a print plug-in for handsets using the Android 4.4 OS, available March 2014. Includes:
    • NFC tap-to-print
    • PDF support
  • Certified Android 4.3 and 4.4 golden devices** available for testing

Mopria Alliance at Mobile World Congress (News - Alert)

The Mopria Alliance will be at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona February 24-27 to meet with prospective members and app developers to discuss membership and the state of mobile printing. For more information or to schedule an appointment, please send us an e-mail.

About the Mopria Alliance:

The Mopria Alliance is a non-profit membership organization of leading global technology companies with the shared goal of providing intuitively simple wireless printing from smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices. The Mopria Alliance's goal is to bring together the entire industry to drive selected standards adoption, support mobile software application providers to deploy print functionality in their applications, develop experience guidelines in the interaction of mobile and print devices, certify products which will carry the Mopria logo and educate consumers and business customers about the ability to easily print from mobile devices.

www.mopria.org

*Source: IDC's (News - Alert) WW HCP Tracker, 2013Q4 Release for Unit Shipments, February 2014.

Printer = single-function printers, multifunctional systems (MFPs), and single-function digital copiers (SF DC).

**A golden unit or golden device is an ideal example of a device (such as a unit of measure) against which all later devices are tested and judged.

Mopria is a trademark of Mopria Alliance, Inc. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.

The Mopria Alliance does not endorse or sponsor software or products from companies mentioned. The only warranties for products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty.

The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The Mopria Alliance shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.


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