20
PRINT.IT
01732 759725
Mobile Print
Tap to release
Samsung is addressing the mobile printing needs of small and medium-sized
businesses with a cloud-based document printing and sharing app
Samsung has taken its
mobile printing portfolio to a
higher level with the launch
of Samsung Cloud Print.
Announced at CeBIT, the new
mobile printing and document
sharing app follows the
introduction of the Samsung
Mobile Print app in 2010 and
the first NFC-enabled colour
laser printer in 2013.
Developed to meet the
needs of small and medium-
sized businesses (SMBs),
Samsung Cloud Print combines
the convenience of NFC tap-
to-print technology and cloud
routing to provide an easier,
more secure way for computer,
tablet and smartphone users
to create, print and share
documents, photos and scans.
Samsung Cloud Print is
the first application to run
on the new Samsung Cloud
Platform, also announced at
CeBIT. Hosted by Amazon, this
platform has been developed as
a hub through which Samsung’s
SMB customers can access a
range of business services from
Samsung and third parties.
In time, these are expected
to include hosted IT services
(e.g. Exchange, Sharepoint,
telephony); cloud-based SaaS
services (e.g. Salesforce,
Box); hosted business apps
(e.g. CRM, accounting, ERP);
and outsourced services
(e.g. managed print services,
reporting and maintenance).
Samsung Cloud Print
Samsung Cloud Print is a
driverless printing app for
NFC-enabled mobile devices
and NFC-enabled Samsung
printers/MFPs. These include
the MultiXpress CLX-9301 and
SCX-8128NX series A3 MFPs
and the brand new Xpress
C1860 and M2885 series
printers.
The big difference with
Samsung’s existing NFC print
solution is that instead of
tap-to-print, Samsung Cloud
Print offers tap-to-release.
Prints/scans are sent from a
smartphone/tablet to the cloud
where they remain until the
user releases them by tapping
his/her NFC-enabled mobile
device on the selected printer.
Mark Ash, Samsung UK
& Ireland’s general manager
for print, likened the printing
process to well known secure
print solutions. “Effectively it’s
the same concept as Equitrac
or Safecom,” he said. “You
are not actually printing to a
printer. You are printing to the
cloud. Jobs are stored in the
cloud for, I believe, 24 hours.
You are using your phone as a
unique identifier. The NFC on
your phone effectively performs
a handshake and releases that
job.”
Users can store up to 20
printers in the app, enabling
you to print to local and remote
printers. New printers can
be added with a simple tap,
without the need to download a
printer driver.
The limitation of using NFC
for job release is that it restricts
full use of the system to people
with NFC-enabled phones. The
benefit is enhanced security, as
print jobs won’t be output until
the user is at the device to pick
it up. For added security, data
is encrypted and the system
is fully compatible with the
Samsung KNOX mobile security
platform for Galaxy devices.
Send to people and devices
Samsung Cloud Print is useful
for more than just printing.
It can also be used to share
documents, scans and photos
with colleagues and business
associates regardless of
whether they have NFC-enabled
smartphones or Samsung
printers.
If someone’s details are
already in your phone’s
contact list, you just click on
their phone number and the
material is emailed to them.
Alternatively, you could type
their email address on your
phone or the printer. Once they
receive the material, they can
choose what to do with it. They
can open it, read it and edit it
on-screen, or they can print it
off and, if necessary, edit the
hard copy.
Next year, Samsung is
adding a new feature, Display
Copy. Available on the Pro
version of Samsung Cloud
Print, this will let you send
material to any NFC-enabled
device, not just printers.
This means that you
could send a document or
presentation slide from your
phone to a local or remote
meeting room display for
sharing with others.
This feature is another
example of how NFC and
Samsung Cloud Print combine
to interconnect business users
through mobiles, displays and
printers. It also reduces the
need for printing. But Mark Ash
told
PrintIT
that this was of no
concern to Samsung.
“Our background and
heritage isn’t the document,”
he said. “We have the
technology that this content
is created on, so we have a
completely different take on
printing. Our reason for being
is not solely to print more
paper. If you look at traditional
competitors to Samsung
Print, their business is solely
predicated on and reliant on
print. As page volumes decline,
they need to look at different
areas. We already have the
devices that create the content
and provide the print.”
The Samsung Cloud Print
app will be available for free
download on the Android
operating system via ‘Google
Play’ and ‘Samsung Apps’ in
June 2014. The iOS-version of
the Samsung Cloud Print app
will be launched in the second
half of 2014.
smartprinting
Mark Ash, general manager for
print, Samsung UK & Ireland
