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Mobile Printing
Daryl Miller, VP of engineering
at Lantronix, explains how
consumerisation and BYOD are
changing the world of printing.
iOS devices such as
the iPad are becoming
increasingly prevalent in
work environments largely
due to their ease of use and
flexibility. However, aside
from the security issues that
BYOD poses, businesses need
to address the practicalities
of these devices in the
workplace: for example, if
staff are given the freedom to
work where they want, they
should be able to print where
they want too.
Printing outside your own
network was a problem even
before smartphones and tablets
became everyday professional
tools. Often, laptop users were
only able to get around the
problem by storing a file on a
USB flash drive and giving it to
someone who had access to a
printer e.g. the front desk at a
hotel. With the consumerisation
of IT and Bring Your Own
Device (BYOD), the challenge
of mobile printing has reached
new heights, largely because
smartphones and tablets were
not originally set up to meet the
demands of printing on the go.
On top of the usual
difficulties associated with
mobile printing, such as how a
device connects to a printer and
how it transmits data, there are
new questions:
n
How is the print job rendered
(on a device, by a cloud
service or by a print server)?
n
How does the device
recognise and communicate
with the printer (special
printer drivers, universal print
drivers, protocol)?
n
How is the print command
given to the printer (Wi-Fi,
email, Bluetooth)?
n
How is the user interface set
up in such a way that it is
consistent with the habits of
smartphone and tablet users
(text entry, printing apps,
integration into the operating
system)?
Since the iPad gained
recognition as a productivity
tool, the demand for mobile
printing has rarely been
questioned, and the inability
of mobile devices to print
is becoming a problem that
begs for a solution. Nearly all
Fortune 500 companies have
implemented iPads. In the U.S.,
it is now common practice to
do coursework on an iPad, and
students need to be able to
print out their work. Lawyers,
real estate brokers and sales
people frequently attend
appointments or go on business
trips with just an iPad, yet they
may still want to print things.
FedEx and AT&T are leading
a trend in the U.S. by offering
Mobile printing on
your terms
printing services in their offices.
Even leading hotel chains want
to provide their guests with easy
access to a printer in the lobby.
Typical applications for mobile
printing
Analyst house IDC lists
the following typical usage
scenarios for mobile business
printing (
The Mobile Business
Printing Landscape: Assessing
the Opportunity, IDC, May
2011
):
n
Printing a boarding pass at a
hotel;
n
Printing a contract for
signature while visiting a
customer;
n
Receiving an email at home
and printing it without using
a PC;
n
Printing at any company
branch without the need for
IT support;
n
Making a last minute
change before an important
presentation and printing the
final version directly from your
mobile phone; and
n
Printing documents in the
office even when you’re out,
so they are ready when you
return
The technical challenge of
mobile printing is comparatively
small if a user always wants
access to the same printer, e.g.
a printer on a network where the
user has corresponding rights,
such as in the office where they
work or in their home. Problems
arise when mobile workers
are out and about and want
to print a document from their
smartphone or tablet. Under
these circumstances, they must
work with a variety of networks,
connections and printer types.
The user of a mobile device
will usually have to overcome
several hurdles along the
path to attaining the printed
document. These may include:
installing the printer driver;
uploading the file to the cloud;
authenticating or registering
oneself; securing access to a
Wi-Fi network; locating a printer
via Wi-Fi or via an email address
or other identifying feature; and
installing an application. There
is no perfect standard by which
all these hurdles can be easily
overcome. Rather, there are
different approaches to solving
the problem for different user
groups.
Strategies: Printer
Manufacturers
Nowadays, nearly all printer
manufacturers offer an email-
based printing service. The first
and most advanced service in
use today is ePrint from HP:
other examples include Email
Print from Epson or Mobile Print
from Xerox.
To use these services,
network printers receive a
specific email address through
registration. Thereafter, when a
file is emailed to this address,
it will first be rendered in the
cloud, then the print file will
be sent to and output on the
printer.
Among other factors, cloud
printing has the advantages
that printer drivers are stored
centrally; the burden of
rendering is relieved from the
Daryl Miller, VP of engineering
at Lantronix
The Lantronix xPrintServer
Airprint-enables existing
network and
USB printers
