Earlier this week, Samsung updated the Samsung Print Service to provide support for the Mopria wireless printing platform. The service will ultimately mean that many Samsung Galaxy smartphone customers will be able to wirelessly print to over 88 million printers. The Mopria technology is independent of the particular brand of printer. Most Samsung Galaxy tablets and smartphones from 2013’s Samsung Galaxy S4 and later already have the Samsung Print Service incorporated into their operating system. These devices will receive the updated application via the Google Play Store. For other Samsung devices, providing they are running Android 4.4 KitKat or later, customers can download the Samsung Print Service application free of charge from the Google Play Store.
It is perhaps no surprise that relatively few people print from their smartphones, but there are a number of uses for the technology, such as printing boarding cards, tickets, maps and even coupons or vouchers from websites where the target business does not recognize viewing the coupon on the smartphone screen! Google have included wireless printing support in Android for a number of years now and many printers incorporate wireless technology, either via WiFi or Bluetooth, which theoretically simplifies printing from a mobile device. However, connecting to a wireless printer can sometimes be challenging: printers need to be set up and connected to the device, and not all applications seamlessly support printing. The Samsung Print Service – and the Mopria platform – aim to simplify the process. The upgrade to the Samsung Print Service removes the need for customers to search for and download manufacturer (and sometimes model) specific applications and drivers for each printer they wanted to use. The software includes the ability to change the paper size, orientation, colour mode and single or duplex settings, plus the number of copies wanted.
The Mopria platform is organised by the Mopria Alliance, which is a global non-profit membership organisation established to create and maintain industry-wide printing standards. This platform has grown considerably in the last year as it has gained support within the industry. The Mopria Alliance Chairman, Greg Kuziej, explained that: “In less than a year, our active installations have grown from 50,000 devices to hundreds of millions as a result of the Mopria integration in the Samsung Print Service and pre-installs with other leading mobile device manufacturers.” The Mopria Alliance was established in 2013 by Canon, HP, Samsung and Xerox but since then another 18 businesses have joined, representing more than 98% of the worldwide printer market. The alliance has announced plans to expand into cloud printing, scanning and mobile device management.