iPad, iPhone Wireless Printing in Beta
Apple is bringing wireless printing to the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. The company announced Wednesday the release of the AirPrint beta to its iOS development community.
The technology will allows developers to integrate wireless printing capabilities into their apps. AIrPrint is designed to find printers automatically over a wireless LAN and print "text, photos, and graphics" without the need for third-party software drivers. HP "ePrint-enabled" printers will be the first supported by the new technology.
On the user side, Apple said AirPrint will be included in a forthcoming update to iOS (the operating system powering iPads, iPhones, and iPod touch devices). The new release, iOS 4.2, is expected to be available in November.
Apple said AirPrint will "support a wide range of printers from entry level inkjet printers to office laser printers" and will also allow printing to devices shared through Mac OS X or Windows-based systems. Apple named several HP printers that will be supported out of the gate, including Photosmart, Officejet/Officejet Pro, and LaserJet Pro.
According to information released today by Apple, AirPrint will not run on the iPhone 3G or earlier. Supported devices include iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS, as well as iPad and second-generation iPod touch.