Google Cloud Print
Google has been working feverishly in terms of putting together their new service which offers remote cloud based printing capacities anywhere in the world.
Source: Google
“Does Google Cloud Print only work in Chrome and/or Chrome OS?”
Any app can use Google Cloud Print. When a web app uses Google Cloud Print, it should just work in any browser on any device. Browsers themselves can also use Google Cloud Print. For example, the version of Chrome in Chrome OS will use Google Cloud Print for printing web pages. A cloud print proxy will be included in Chrome to enable non–cloud-aware printers to connect to the service. Others can create their own cloud print proxy by either using the service interfaces and/or the open source code for the cloud print proxy. These third party proxies can be distributed separately, including in other browsers, or embedded in printer/router firmware.
“How do the printers communicate with Google Cloud Print?”
It depends on whether the printer is a cloud-aware printer or a legacy printer.
Cloud-aware Printer
The ideal experience is for your printer to have native support for connecting to cloud print services. Under this model, the printer has no need for a PC connection of any kind or for a print driver. The printer is simply registered with one or more cloud print services and awaits print jobs. Cloud-aware printers don’t exist yet, but one of our main goals in publishing this information at an early stage is to begin engaging industry leaders and the community in developing cloud-aware printers and the necessary open protocols for these printers to communicate with cloud print services. We believe cloud printing has tremendous benefits for end users and for the industry and is essential, given the rapid shift toward cloud-based applications and data storage.
We also believe that the only way that the benefits of cloud printing can be realized is if the protocols are open, freely implementable, and, when possible, based on existing industry standards. We expect there to be multiple cloud print services, and users should have a choice in which services they use and which printers they can connect to a service.
Stay tuned for more details as we are confident that cloud-aware printers will soon be a reality.
