Print From an iPhone at Home or Away
I personally don’t have a burning need to print from a handset. Not yet, anyway. That could change as we continue to see the lines blur between smartphones and full-featured computers. Earlier today, James pointed out a print solution for BlackBerry so I thought a little research was in order for my current handset.
The Print & Share application for iPhone appeared on my radar for $6.99. I didn’t plunk down the seven bucks to vouch for it, but it appears to be a solid solution. Output comes from a printer on your home network, but your iPhone isn’t limited to printing while on the same WiFi network. You can print at home while out and about on 3G if you’ve set up the appropriate port mapping on your home network in advance.
The iPhone application requires a supporting print server application called “WePrint” on your home computer. Don’t want to print on a home printer when you’re on the road? No prob. Just install and carry WePrint on a USB key: Run it on any computer and you can print from your iPhone to a local or network printer connected to that computer. The app can print e-mails, attachments, text docs, photos and more. You can check out the full feature set in the iTunes App Store.
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Now that’s a hacked solution if ever I saw one.
The easiest way now is just to open the file on a PC and print it; assuming the storage can be accessed as a mass storage device. Or if it’s an e-mail or web site, access it via PC.
I don’t know what it would take to get network printer drivers onto a smartphone. Is it possible to have a basic driver that can communicate with any printer without advanced functionality? That would be a start.
Or, ulock iphone, stick bluetooth print drivers in file structure :p.