Mopria have released version 2.1 of the Mopria Print Service, which now fully supports the latest printing enhancements as included in the last two version of Android, 7.0 and 7.1 Nougat. These new features including the ability to interrogate a connected printer to provide the user with more information. Mopria have enhanced the printer information screen to now include the printer status, physical location and IP address. Other improvements to Mopria Print Service 2.1 are that the software includes N-up printing layouts, which is a software technique of compressing multiple document pages into the one physical printed sheet. The Chairman of the Mopria Alliance Board, Greg Kuziej, explained in a statement that the non-profit organization “listened to both users and developers” when improving the Android application and service. The updated application is available via the Google Play Service for devices running Android 4.4 KitKat and later.
The Mopria Print Service is available for Android smartphones and tablets running Android 4.4 KitKat and later. The service has four founding manufacturers of Canon, HP, Samsung and Xerox. However, over the years the Mopria Print Service has expanded and is now supported by another 17 printer manufacturers, covering over 98% of worldwide printer manufacturers such as Lexmark, Lyocera, Toshiba, Epson, plus several key technology providers including Adobe and Qualcomm. The technology relies on the Android device connecting to either a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth-enabled wireless printer and automatically sets up the printer driver and integrates into the device, allowing easy printing from the majority of applications and services. In November 2016, Samsung incorporated the Mopria Print Service into the Samsung Print Service, which is available for the majority of Samsung’s recent Galaxy-branded Android-powered smartphones and tablets.
The Mopria Alliance is not only working on improving the local, short range printing functionality as provided by the Mopria Print Service, but is also working towards producing a standard cloud printing technology. The alliance is also working towards building a standard scanning system, allowing smartphone and tablet users to scan documents direct to their device, together with interests in security and mobile device management software. Ultimately, Mopria wishes to make the scanning, security and mobile device management technologies as “accessible and intuitive” for all users as the Mopria Print Service is.