Printing used to be a lot easier before the advent of mobile devices. Simply set a few options on the Print dialog and hit Ctrl+P and voila! However, with many of our documents now sitting in the cloud or on smartphones, tablets and phablets, printing has become a little more complicated, especially if its something you want to do it on the go.
Enter HP’s latest launch, the new Mopria certified multi-function printer, the HP Color LaserJet Pro M476 that hopes to make printing from your mobile device a lot easier. The Mopria Alliance is a non-profit membership organization of some of the top tech companies in the world such as Canon, Xerox, Samsung, HP and others who have come together with the common goal of providing intuitive wireless printing from mobile devices.
The HP Color LaserJet Pro M476
The HP LaserJet Pro 476 is obviously the first one to come off the alliance, and it is definitely set to make printing from a smartphone, tablet or mobile device easier. Android’s latest operating system, Kitkat is expected to include a print command functionality that will give users the print options that one usually finds in a PC.
You don’t need any more apps as the print options will be natively available on Android. Smartphones with NFC capabilities go one step better as a simple tap of the device to the printer will send the document to the printer. If you’re on the go though, you will have to make use of HP’s apps, ePrint or AirPrint as the case may be, to send the document.
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Integration with cloud services will also be available for printing from cloud repositories. If you wish to print documents directly from cloud services such as Box or Google Drive, all you need to do is log on to your cloud accounts directly from the printer’s control panel touch screen and print away.
This multi-function printer will include a display with options to copy scan and fax and options to print on both sides. The printer is expected to print 21 pages per minute and can hold up to 250 sheets at a time. It can also scan two sides simultaneously with the ability to load 50 sheets through the automatic feeder at once.
HP clearly intends to target small businesses and enterprise branches with this multi-function printer. The LaserJet Pro MFP M476 will become available worldwide starting April 1 and will be available from prices starting $529 all the way up to $679.
Here’s a little video that explains it all.
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