The popularity of smartphones and handheld devices – whether you’re talking about Blackberry®, iPhone® or even iPad® – has highlighted the growing problem of being able to print from these devices.

Ricoh believe they already have the problem solved through their cloud printing solution, known as Ricoh HotSpot printing.

“It is still a challenge for business traveler’s to print while on the road: whether they need to print a boarding pass from the web before heading to the airport, or an email attachment while at a satellite office,” said Kathy Wilson, General Manager, Business Solutions and Production, for Ricoh Australia.

“Business people can now easily receive information via email or online, but it’s previously been difficult to print it. With Ricoh HotSpot Printing, you don’t need a driver, user license or even Bluetooth – only access to a Ricoh HotSpot enabled printer.”

Ricoh’s HotSpot laser printers – the Aficio SP4210N and Aficio SPC430DN – utilize cloud printing to enable easy and secure mobile printing from any wireless device.

Because it uses cloud computing, it’s driverless, therefore no software downloads or ‘apps’ are needed on the smartphone/device, or even laptop, in order to print.

HotSpot printing technology allows users to transmit documents via email or URL directly to a HotSpot Printer from any web-enabled device.

Documents sent to print retain confidentiality as jobs can only be printed once a unique pin has been entered into the printer, which is emailed to the user when the job is sent to print.

By installing a HotSpot Printer on their premises, businesses make it possible for their mobile workforce or customers to easily send emails and documents securely via their mobile devices to a HotSpot Printer and retrieve their documents by simply keying in a password that has been emailed back to their mobile device.

Ricoh HotSpot Printers are easy for businesses to set up and can also be used as standard network printers.

The cloud printing solution has already been utilized by a number of hotels as a simple, secure printing service to their guests.