Hands-On with the HP Photosmart TouchSmart Web Printer [Video] 71
So, HP wants to put webOS on a printer. We know, right? Thing is, HP actually started down this road a year ago with the release of the HP Photosmart Premium TouchSmart Web All-in-One Printer. The printer sports a capacitive touchscreen and apps that let you print stuff - like a custom-formatted version of USA Today or little robots to populate your office. HP actually has a full app store for the all-in-one printer and even an SDK.
It's all a lot of effort for a printer and looking at the ecosystem here, you can see how an elegant OS like, well, webOS could really add to the equation here. Our pal Phil Nickinson of Android Central is out at Google IO (check out the roundup of Android news here) and he moseyed on over to HP's booth in the Developer Sandbox to take a look at the device.
Video is after the break and then let us know: does the idea of a printer like this running webOS do anything for you?
71 Comments
Printers, huh? Somewhere in outer space the Creepy Palm Girl's eyes are turning red.
This kind of jokes you try to drop everywhere is related to the fact that you dont want printers with webOS I assume.
Printing your own custom copy of USA Today? I'm supposed to believe that customers demanded that? Give me a break.
Maybe we should move this discussion to a new "webOS printers" forum. I'm sure there will be all sorts of lively discussions there about this sexy new technology. I can't wait to see what hacks are written for it.
No. Does it makes any sense at all to print the whole internet?. Of course not.
The point is: if you cant see how with webOS (or an apple like interface, or an interface made by someone with a little bit of taste and common sense) a printer or any other appliance will finally stop being a nightmare to use, and you and your grandma will finally be able to do what they actually bought the printer for and then some more, you still deserve to keep being a little bitter for a longer time.
Oops, wrong post.
And I thought that consumer printers were all just becoming commodity devices. Just tell me when I should camp out in front of Office Depot to get my hands on one of these.
And feature phones were just globaly suffered, bought by millions, and generally accepted untill some people decided their user interfaces were rubbish and they could do better. I dont know what a lot of us, you included, would do in here if this wouldnt have happened.
You're taking the article far too literally, and it shows.
You think the printer is limited to just a custom copy of USA Today?
Give me a break.
The versatility of such a printer (being able to look up a web page or printing material on the printer itself, without the computer as a middleman) is a fantastic idea, and one that will make life much easier for students such as myself.
Instead of asking, "Why is this useful?"
Ask, "What can we use this with?"
after seeing the video I can see WebOS on a printer now. I thought it was silly to 'downgrade' the platform to a printer application. Then my daughter said (college bond) can you imagine a college with WebOS printers and students with WebOS phones/slates and going to the print room and BAM!!!!
Absolutely, that'd be great. Provide a way to Bluetooth sync your Palm Profile from your WebOS Device (Phone, Tablet, etc) so that you don't have to re-authenticate Email, Facebook, etc passwords and print.
Or even better develop an open bluetooth printing protocol, send a PDF file over bluetooth to a printer and it handles the rest.
after seeing the video I can see WebOS on a printer now. I thought it was silly to 'downgrade' the platform to a printer application. Then my daughter said (college bond) can you imagine a college with WebOS printers and students with WebOS phones/slates and going to the print room and BAM!!!!
after seeing the video I can see WebOS on a printer now. I thought it was silly to 'downgrade' the platform to a printer application. Then my daughter said (college bond) can you imagine a college with WebOS printers and students with WebOS phones/slates and going to the print room and BAM!!!!
wow. Somebody hasn't figured out how to post a comment with their Pre yet. Lol. Nice triple post. ;-)
I'm still not sold on the idea of apps on a printer. Perhaps webOS will make the idea more palatable. In the video, the apps seem really slow.
Wayne liked the idea so much...he typed it thrice!
I'd like them to just focus on getting the slate out and pushing forward on more development for current and future phone devices.
No.
I don't print things.
If I do *have* to print something command+p works fine.
It all seems like a gimmick to get you to buy another printer, print a lot of crap, and buy lots of ink.
"I don't print things."
and?
I dont tend to make photos so "PLEASE PALM DO NOT PUT A BETTER CAMERA IN YOUR NEXT PHONE!!!"
hahaha exactly what i was thinking
Just because you don't print things doesn't mean the rest of us don't.
You must not travel for work much.
Imagine a week or two long trip. And being able to go to the courtesy area of the hotel and just print your plane boarding pass, a map of the area, restaurants, etc.
yeah, you can look that stuff up on your phone, and in some cases even do the boarding pass barcode too. But mapwise, the pre isn't optimal, and if you have no data, you're screwed. And I find paper more optimal than fumbling with my phone for my itineraries.
I would LOVE to have webos connected printers wherever I travel. That would be really sweet.
it all depends on the price of the device when it comes out. if it'll be around the same price as any other printer, and just as good, and i need a printer, why wouldn't i go with a webos printer? i would. especially if by that time webos will be updated to let you print straight from the phone. go to a site, print, boom. open an email, open the attached word or pdf, print, boom. the idea sounds pretty awesome actually.
or if it's webos, i wouldn't even have to print from my phone, i'd just open my email straight on the printer, open the attachment, print, boom.
how u like my booms?
I got excited.
Might be cool as a novelty but not something to bank a merger/ buyout on. Hope HP has plans for additional mobile devices as that is much more lucrative (IMO).
This is very similar to what I proposed on a couple of posts. I can definitely see this happening.
Also, with an HP all-in-one printer containing fax/copier/scanner/card reader combined with WebOS you could let people share content that has been entered into this printer onto FaceBook or via email, directly from the printer.
Saves a step of having to send the scanned image/document over to your phone first.
Think of the possibilities: scan your butt on the photocopier and post it directly to Facebook. :-)
Lol, I totally foresee people doing something like that. Facebook will suddenly become overwhelmed with photos scanned from weird objects never inteded for a scanner.
SIGN ME UP
lol
I think it's a good idea. Imean, so you're out with friends or that special someone, you snap a nice pic on your phone or perhaps a WebOS camera and then you don't even have to go through the process of transferring data from one device to another. Just find the pic and print! Same would be cool for carrying around a copy of your resume or portfolio or important docs on your phone. Everything's email and web-ready instantly, from phone, printer, camera, you name it! I'm excited just thinking about it. =)
Can you imagine picasa syncing to webOS devices? If so then webOS printers are a good thing for you.. The possibility is endless... Say you're out of town and want to share a hard copy of the pictures you got from your mobile phone, assuming palm will release a device with an 8MP camera, and with the use of "Picasa Sync" you will be able to sync your pictures directly to your Picasa account and print it directly to ur printer.. that would be nice ;)...
who gives a dam about a webos printer! we need new friggin phones first!
Posts like these where people scream and shout "screw the printer and HP just give me another cell phone" are completely pointless.
I would think that the largest technology manufacturer in the world can invent printers, phones, tablets, computers, TVs, toasters or whatever the heck else they want at the same time. I don't think they are so strapped for money or resources to put off making a phone for a printer (both of which we all know are in the works simultaneously).
WebOS is a scalable operating system and was intended from the beginning to power things beyond just cell phones. Palm was thinking outside the box when they created it and we should be excited about what's just around the corner, not stuck on our want for the latest and greatest phone that comes out. I am more than certain that there will be a new phone soon regardless of whatever else they put webOS on. It's the anticipation of "what will they think of next" that makes me enjoy owning a webOS device even more.
i don't think it's pointless to talk about new phones! i love my sprint palm pre and it is one of the best phones i have owned! what i dislike is that you need a patch for this and for that and the os has some flaws in it! like battery life, oreo effect, and usb's cracks. also, the constant need to restart the dam phone for the wifi to work right and the be able to load apps properly. i am excited by the potential of webos but at the same time don't put the horse before the cart! please fix those problems first with new hardware and updates and then broaden the horizons to other hardware! what people right now want is new smartphone hardware and i don't think they give a crap about webos on refrigerators and toasters just give us something that is applicable and can stand everyday wear n tear and most webos users will be happy.
oops i meant "cart before the horse"! lol
I still want some kind of new hardware for the phone!
http://bit.ly/dAGaAA
looks like they need to make a webOS app for direct printing from phone. They have iphone, win mo and nokia
I just threw up a little in my mouth :s
printers? I know news is dry but is it this dry? Preprinters.net :P
I have a Lexmark that can print images from my iPod Touch, but the images have to be from my photo library, and can only print them out at 72dpi -- but the photo size itself is like 5 inches across so the image comes out really pixelated.
Look, I don't care about apps on my printer, I'm not going to be hanging out next to my printer for any conceivable amount of time, pressing buttons. I just want the darn thing to print when and what I tell it to. If I never have to look at the printer itself, fine.
If they can make this printer compatible with the phone, so that I can print out web pages at 8.5x11 with no loss in quality, resize images before I print them, and simply give me the ability to print like I would from a PC (on my Palm Pre), I'll never go back to a "dumb" printer ever again. :)
+1 Jahooba!
I'm with you. I have an HP Smart Touch printer and it's great for what it does - I have it networked and available to all of the computers in my house.
In many ways the Pre Plus on my hip is better than the laptop on the side table - it does as much or more, it is faster to access the web, and it is a heck of a lot more mobile.
A printer with a WebOS backbone would be nice. Being able to print via WiFi, Bluetooth, or USB connection would be great and doing it with a finger-friendly, intuitive interface would be icing on the cake.
I'd buy one.
/john
Folks, I think you're missing the point. It's not simply about printing static stuff like USA Today. While having webOS on one of these printers allows HP to extend their relationship with the webOS developer community to add remote print capabilities there's something that you're all missing and that's synergy. Having your data synced with the printer allows you to print your calendar, contacts or other more personal documents that you would come across during the course of the day. You can do this from the road and pick up the document at the office or at home the next time you're there. Any updates will be pushed to the printer so the next time you print something you can print without syncing. IMHO, this is more about your data and synergy than it is about other people's content that you print.
Did I miss something? I saw no mention of "Synergy".
no, considering the printer shown in the article isn't webOS.
For those of you that don't think this is an excellent idea, you haven't put too much thought into it.
Us tech savvy smarphone users need to remember that not everyone uses a smartphone. My wife for example doesn't have a smartphone so everytime she needs directions to go somewhere she has to boot up the computer get directions from google maps and print a map before leaving home. Remove the PC from the equation and realize how much time is saved.
I own 2 desktops three laptops and still spend more time on my Pre, now if I want to print a pic or an email or any doc from my Pre, I now have to go through my PC. If an HP printer could access my profile, I could do all I need directly from the printer.
This would also mean a lot of exposure for Web Os. Non-Smartphone or other smartphone users with these printers would see how truly awesome Web Os is. Then the apps would come rolling in.
I absolutely agree. People can't see the forest for the trees with webOS.
I just want to be able to print from my Pre.
Google Maps, ticket-ordering apps and recipes on a printer? There's a market for that.
If you look at the apps they have it makes a little more sense. Being able to print photos, tickets, docs directly from the web would be pretty cool. Not earth shattering, since there's usually a computer in close proximity to a printer ... but printers are definitely becoming more stand-alone so this makes sense for HP to use as a printer OS.
A printer doesn't need webos. It's like webos on a microwave. The only think i care about when buying a printer, which is almost never, is the cost of black ink.
I fail to see how hp developing a printer with webos would hinder your ability to continue buying basic printers. Just because you don't find the potential interesting doesn't mean others won't.
I may be gatting a little ahead of the game, but can you imagine a webOS tablet that also prints? A super compact printer/extra thick ipad for printing signed contracts and receipts would have tremendous business applications.
You do realize you said ipad, right? Has it already reached the brand-to-word conversion of kleenex, ketchup, scotch tape, xerox and fedex?
Enterprise printer management. Big honking printer/scanner/copiers with craptacular interfaces. WebOS can solve a lot of this.
Many/most people on precentral tend to think in terms of consumer stuff, and also tend to be VERY US-centric. I understand that people tend to go with what they know, but I tend to slide towards the corp/enterprise side since that's my background.
Some quick notes:
66% of HP's revenue comes from outside the US, so they, as a company, tend to internationalize everything.
30% of HP's revenue (the bulk) is from the PSG group, which Palm will be part of, so there is ample room for resources and success.
everyone is so stuck on the printing feature of the friggin thing.
how about scanning a doc as a pdf straight to ur phone? woot.
or pictures?
how about faxing stuff directly from the phone?
u can hook up the printer to the phone via bluetooth and print, scan, fax, trx stuff between the phone and thumbdrives, media cards, etc.
awesomeness.
boom
I'm all for it. WebOS everywhere! Good luck HP.
Of course we've got detractors here -- this forum is for people who are ahead of the technology curve. But I can totally see this in a few markets.
My (elderly) parents aren't quite tech savvy enough to navigate the gmail, open and download photos, save them, and get them to the printer without having to call me every time. But I think they could manage an app that lets them print pictures I email directly to the printer.
WebOS is intuitive enough that I bet there is a market for this operating system on computers in public places -- with special content built in or limitations on the browser, travelers can download maps and information about nearby services and attractions from one of these at the subway or airport terminal. Print your own custom program at the ball park. WebOs as an OS for ATMS.
OK. So I can sit or stand in front of my printer & navigate a tiny touch screen to print limited stuff from apps or USAtoday!
& you know where most printers are? Pretty darn close to a full on computer with a big ole screen.
I'd much rather be hunched over my printer than sitting comfortably back in my chair.
Now if this printer did all of the synergy links with the phone that others have suggested, then it might be interesting. However, I'm afraid for it to be a hit it would have to create synergy with the iphone. Meh.
Don't get me wrong, I love webOS. This printer might be for some... I just don't see it for the masses, or me.
Don't get me wrong,
OK. So I can sit or stand in front of my printer & navigate a tiny touch screen to print limited stuff from apps or USAtoday!
& you know where most printers are? Pretty darn close to a full on computer with a big ole screen.
I'd much rather be hunched over my printer than sitting comfortably back in my chair.
Now if this printer did all of the synergy links with the phone that others have suggested, then it might be interesting. However, to really be a hit, I'm afraid for it to be a hit it would have to create synergy with the iphone. Meh.
Don't get me wrong, I love webOS. This printer might be for some... I just don't see it for the masses, or me.
Don't get me wrong,
Works for me. I'd love to be able to swipe back and forth through a queue of documents sent to the printer and swipe off various pages I don't want to print, or zoom out to the multi-document level and swipe off documents in the queue that I don't like. It'd also be great for updating firmware on the printer, which is a pain with a lot of printers. It would be even better if I could push documents from my Pre/PC/smartphone up to my cloud account, set a print bit on them, and have my printer automatically queue them up for printing at home. If you could configure your webOS to be a standalone wireless print station that also would be nicer to deal with than most of the stuff that ships with printers these days.
Nifty. Didn't even think of it for job management. Not likely to happen though, because then you'd be using Luna as just a print spool controller, rather than an app manager. Not quite interchangeable, but a cool idea, nontheless.
Hmm,
How about a nice quiet afternoon web-surfing on my printer... NOT.
But I can see how WebOS could be used to do a better job picking pics to print off an SD card, etc. Current HP software for the Photosmart Fax Photo Allinone is horrible. WebOS on touchscreen could be a lot better, by being written for humans by humans...
(Does my frustration for our HP Photosmart Touchsmart something or another show here?)
This is so silly, and look how slow it is.. Browsing and apps on your printer with that tiny screen, WHY! Thats why you have that PC attached to the printer remember!
the screen on the printer is bigger than the one on your phone, but i never hear you asking for a phone the size of your laptop
of course not because I need to put the phone in my pocket!
I think the printer idea is okay printers, slates, phones, is agood start all they need is to buy something lik imusic or something and make it all hp palm friend and easy to sink and there you have it a palm hp eycosystem
Unfortunately while I think it's great to see HP loving webOS and seeing in it what we Pre/Pixi owners have known, now I'll end up with another printer that's unuseable 90% of it's life since the damn ink is always empty and my all consuming hatred of paying craploads of $ for ink keeps it empty. That being said . . I find that this concept is just the first baby step in what could be a huge success with connecting even unheard of aspects of one's day to day activities. Too bad it can't make beers appear in my fridge magically . . .yet!
I think what a lot of you need to remember is that most of us are not the target market for this sort of thing. If HP goes this route then it's really about Interface Evangelism. If WebOS becomes ubiquitous in printers and other household appliances, that familiarity is going to help sell phones. If mom sees an interface like WebOS on an everyday appliance like a printer or a washing machine, she's going to be more likely to seek out that familiaritywhen shopping for other things, like microwaves, TVs or...phones. The best thing HP/palm could do is not only get WebOS onto current HP offerings but also partner up with someone like LG and license the interface to them for their broad line of appliances.
I think what a lot of you need to remember is that most of us are not the target market for this sort of thing. If HP goes this route then it's really about Interface Evangelism. If WebOS becomes ubiquitous in printers and other household appliances, that familiarity is going to help sell phones. If mom sees an interface like WebOS on an everyday appliance like a printer or a washing machine, she's going to be more likely to seek out that familiaritywhen shopping for other things, like microwaves, TVs or...phones. The best thing HP/palm could do is not only get WebOS onto current HP offerings but also partner up with someone like LG and license the interface to them for their broad line of appliances.
i wanna play Need For Speed Undercover on that printer! imagine the drifting possibilities!
it's not worth the 400 dollar price tag or the 30 to 50 dollar apps in it's store that you get get for free on the net anyway for notthing
Reminds me a little of the Internet-connected Canon ImageRunners we have at work (though with a slicker UI). A downsized version for use in the home would probably have some utility. The biggest problem I foresee with it is that you have to go to the printer to tell it what you want it to print. I'd rather just pull something up on my laptop (or my Pre-- you listening, HP?) and send it to the printer. Then I can pick up the hard copy at my leisure.
As for the overall utility of a device like this, it may not seem obvious right now, but I'm reminded of the inventor of GPS, who claimed back in the 1960's that it would never be used by more than a few hundred very specialized users.
Just sayin'.
Emeril would love this printer: PDF from webOS phone to webOS printer = Bam Bam Bam!!!! Oh ya beb.
Imagining multiple appliances in the house, daisy-chained to the internet through wifi, I think it would be awesome!
Sure beats the 'print the thumbnails, fill the circles next to the ones you want, then scan that printout to get the pictures you want printed' method :-)