Apple iPadThe short answer is not right away, but we are working on it. Apple recently announced AirPrint for iOS. The new printing capability will allow iPads, iPhones and the iPod Touch to print to some AirPrint capable printers. Some HP ePrint printers will support direct AirPrint printing. PrinterOn is partnered with HP to provide the public print network for the HP ePrint mobile printing app.

There are a couple things to keep in mind though. The printing that is being added to the iPad/iPhone is supposed to act like traditional desktop printing. This means that essentially you have to be “near” the printer or at least on the same network. PrinterOn supports printing in environments where the traditional printing model does not apply. This of course includes mobile printing. View a demo of how the PrinterOn PrintSpots service works.

For example, in a hotel setting, we know that there is often more than one network at a property. Guests are not necessarily on the same network as the printer and this is done intentionally by the properties. On top of that, the property may not even be responsible for the network the printer is on, such as the case in some business centers. What PrinterOn provides is a mechanism to bring guest print jobs from the guest on one network to a printer that may be on another network, even if it is on the other side of the country.

So in the real world today, guest printing isn’t that simple. Guests can’t just print using their laptops from their rooms to the printer in the business center. This will not change with the Apple iPad and the printing capabilities that Apple is bringing online. All of these public networks can’t be rebuilt so that printers can be accessed from any guest anywhere they are. This is where PrinterOn fits in and where we will continue to focus.

PrinterOn will extend and complement the printing capabilities being provided by Apple for iOS. PrinterOn plans on providing access to our public printing locations to iOS and other platforms as our goal is to make our global printing network available to everyone anywhere.