Google Cloud Print – How Printers will be used on Google Chrome OS

Google [GOOG] have created an info-graphic that explains how Google Chrome OS will handle printing. The image above (and displayed larger below) shows the process of how Google are planning to work with printers.

The problem with printing on Chrome OS is that it’s cloud based and for that reason, the technology just doesn’t always communicate with traditional printers that require drivers to be installed to work.

While the emergence of cloud and mobile computing has provided users with access to information and personal documents from virtually any device, today’s printers still require installing drivers which makes printing impossible from most of these new devices. Developing and maintaining print subsystems for every combination of hardware and operating system– from desktops to netbooks to mobile devices — simply isn’t feasible.

The new service is to be called Google Cloud Print. All of Google Chrome OS applications are in the cloud so to speak, which means they are not native on the computer they run on. Google Cloud Print will allow any applications (web, desktop or mobile) to print to any printer. This service will not rely on printer drivers installed locally and instead will see Google managing print jobs as explained below…

Rather than rely on the local operating system (or drivers) to print, apps can use Google Cloud Print to submit and manage print jobs. Google Cloud Print will then be responsible for sending the print job to the appropriate printer with the particular options the user selected, and returning the job status to the app.

It’s certainly interesting handing everything you do over to Google, but at the same time this could be very handy for business where someone perhaps might need a report printing. The Google Cloud Print service would allow the user to print to any printer they are stood next to assuming access is granted.

More over at Chromium.

Comments

  1. Dreamwalk says

    That would be a great idea of google, smart phones are now looking forward to print documents anywhere they want and fast. This google cloud print will make smartphone users make their life easier including business who uses iPhones and iPads.

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