Apple releases beta of iOS 4.2 with support for AirPrint
Apple on Wednesday released the first beta version of iOS 4.2 with AirPrint, the name for its wireless printing standard for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, to members of its iOS development community.
The company also announced existing and upcoming ePrint enabled printers from HP will support direct printing from iOS devices. AirPrint will be integrated in iOS 4.2, set for release this November for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
"AirPrint is Apple?s powerful new printing architecture that matches the simplicity of iOS?no set up, no configuration, no printer drivers and no software to download," said Philip Schiller, Apple?s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "iPad, iPhone and iPod touch users can simply tap to print their documents or photos wirelessly to an HP ePrint printer or to a printer shared on a Mac or PC."
AirPrint will automatically find printers on local networks, and can allow users of iOS devices to print text, photos and graphics directly to them over Wi-Fi, without the need to install drivers or download software. Apple said it is designed to support a "wide range of printers from entry level inkjet printers to office laser printers."
In addition, devices running iOS 4.2 can send content to printers shared through a Mac or PC.
HP will have a number of compatible printers available this fall, including the HP Photosmart, Officejet, Officejet Pro and LaserJet Pro series of ePrint entabled printers. AirPrint will work on the iPad, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and iPod touch, second generation and later.
"We?re pleased to work with Apple to bring Apple?s AirPrint to our fall lineup of ePrint printers in time for the holiday shopping season," said Vyomesh Joshi, HP executive vice president, Imaging and Printing Group. "Making it easy for our customers to print anytime, anywhere, is a key priority for HP. iPad, iPhone and iPod touch customers are going to love how easy it is to print using our new range of ePrint printers, creating high-quality printed pages in an instant."
The company also announced existing and upcoming ePrint enabled printers from HP will support direct printing from iOS devices. AirPrint will be integrated in iOS 4.2, set for release this November for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
"AirPrint is Apple?s powerful new printing architecture that matches the simplicity of iOS?no set up, no configuration, no printer drivers and no software to download," said Philip Schiller, Apple?s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "iPad, iPhone and iPod touch users can simply tap to print their documents or photos wirelessly to an HP ePrint printer or to a printer shared on a Mac or PC."
AirPrint will automatically find printers on local networks, and can allow users of iOS devices to print text, photos and graphics directly to them over Wi-Fi, without the need to install drivers or download software. Apple said it is designed to support a "wide range of printers from entry level inkjet printers to office laser printers."
In addition, devices running iOS 4.2 can send content to printers shared through a Mac or PC.
HP will have a number of compatible printers available this fall, including the HP Photosmart, Officejet, Officejet Pro and LaserJet Pro series of ePrint entabled printers. AirPrint will work on the iPad, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and iPod touch, second generation and later.
"We?re pleased to work with Apple to bring Apple?s AirPrint to our fall lineup of ePrint printers in time for the holiday shopping season," said Vyomesh Joshi, HP executive vice president, Imaging and Printing Group. "Making it easy for our customers to print anytime, anywhere, is a key priority for HP. iPad, iPhone and iPod touch customers are going to love how easy it is to print using our new range of ePrint printers, creating high-quality printed pages in an instant."
Comments
Will I be able to print from my iPhone or iPad to any networked printer, or does it have to be a new printer (such as the HP models mentioned) that specifically support it?
I wonder if Airport connected devices will automatically work? Airport is basically acting as a network print server, so it should be feasible.
I would think not. Mac/PC shared printers have the drivers installed on the "server" (the Mac or PC), but for a network printer, you still need the drivers, unless it supports AirPrint.
So I'm confused.
Will I be able to print from my iPhone or iPad to any networked printer, or does it have to be a new printer (such as the HP models mentioned) that specifically support it?
That's my question too. I guess we'll have to wait and see. I also wonder how the heck they support a wide range of printers with no added drivers.
"iPad, iPhone and iPod touch users can simply tap to print their documents or photos wirelessly to an HP ePrint printer or to a printer shared on a Mac or PC."
That last part would also include a printer sitting an Airport Extreme too I hope
That last part would also include a printer sitting an Airport Extreme too I hope
I don't use the Airport base stations, but unless you actually install the printer drivers on them, I don't think so.
Will this require some sort of server program running on a computer? Or is it gonna be like AirPlay and need specific printers?
It sounds like it needs some sort of support on the desktop, thus the requirement for the latest SL beta.
How about printers with built-in WiFi like my Samsung 2525W?
Probably not.
Will this require some sort of server program running on a computer? Or is it gonna be like AirPlay and need specific printers?
Printers shared via a mac or pc should work.
I would think not. Mac/PC shared printers have the drivers installed on the "server" (the Mac or PC), but for a network printer, you still need the drivers, unless it supports AirPrint.
With an airport printer, the Mac/PC are not the server, they are the client and the Airport is the print server. Yes, the client workstations have client side drivers, but in a traditional print server environment, so does the server. From a Windows perspective, the printing app talks to the client-side driver, which talks to the local spooler. The local spooler talks to the remote spooler on the print server through RPC calls, which uses the server-side print driver to do the printing. This is something I am unsure of with an Airport setup. I expect the airport has to have some print driver, though it is unlikely to have device specific drivers. I expect it will be some generic print driver, like the HP universal for PCL. If this is the case, the I expect it would be feasible for AirPrint to work with almost any Airport connected printer. It is all done over Bonjour with Airport printers.
The HP models mentioned in the announcement as working with AirPrint are likely models that support direct printing from iDevices, with no print server intermediary. Throw in a print server, like Airport, that itself can already (obviously) print to the connect printer and I expect almost any Airport connected printer should work, with necessary support put in place in a Airport update. Some exceptions, like printers that use interactive drivers (damn you Kodak!) might not work without proprietary client side drivers, which will not fly with the proposed Airprint model.
Edit:
Sorry, I see now you were talking about the part about printing from an iOS device to a printer shared from a Mac/PC, while I was looking at the Mac/PCs as examples of print clients that print to an Airport print server. But, the premise still stands: those Macs and PCs can print to an Airport connected printer, through Bonjour, with the Airport acting as print server. This is the same as a Mac or PC printing to a printer shared out from another Mac or PC over Bonjour. The Airport basestation and the mac/PC that is physically connected to the printer are acting as print servers. If a Mac/PC can print using a generic print driver to a printer connected to an Airport or another Mac/PC, then iOS should be able to as well, with an update to the Airport software.
I don't use the Airport base stations
Heretic! What sort of fanatical Apple cultist are you?