Hewlett-Packard Co. has introduced the first Web-enabled printer to the world, creating a new category of consumer products that can access the Internet without first connecting to a PC. The printer got its start in Vancouver where it was conceived and designed by a Hewlett-Packard engineering and marketing team.
HP Engineer David Hall recalls brainstorming the new printer in the same cavernous building at the company’s campus on Southeast 34th Street that once held its printer manufacturing plant. Printers have evolved into fast, design-savvy devices since the company moved its assembly operations overseas in 1999, and the team struggled to brainstorm new features that would really motivate consumers, Hall said.
They came up with the $399 HP Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web printer, available to consumers this fall. From a touchscreen display that resembles an iPod, users can scroll through pre-loaded Web applications to print movie tickets, maps, coupons, recipes and more from popular sites such as USA Today, Google and Fandango. The device, which also functions as a fax, copier and scanner, connects to a users Snapfish.com account, to allow printing directly from a personal photo database.
The biggest challenge to the design concept wasn’t the engineering, but getting people to latch on to the concept and run with it, Hall said. Until now, no printer has had the capability to connect to the Internet on its own, without a desktop or laptop computer.
Joining a Wireless World
The printer signals HP’s entry into the growing market of Web-enabled devices such as mobile phones, many of which are already in the third generation of technology. Web-connected printers can now finally connect to a wireless home area network, for example, so that a user could sit on the sofa and send a signal from their cell phone to print a document in another room.
But the…