Mopria Mobile-Printing Alliance Says Mopria-Certified Printers on the Way; Adds Many New Members

Mopria allianceOn February 12th, the Mopria Alliance announced that it had formally launched its certification processes. Since its formation in September 2013, the non-profit organization, which was developed to create industry standards for mobile printing, has developed technical prototypes, conducted product testing, and has issued certifications to qualified products. It expects member companies to now begin to promoting their newly certified products, which will include Mopria-certified printers, handsets, and applications.

Mopria was launched by Canon, Hewlett-Packard, Samsung, and Xerox. Since then, several new members have joined: Epson, Adobe, Brother International, CSR (a U.K. designer and developer of silicon and software for the consumer electronics market), Conexant Systems (a U.S. producer of silicon and software solutions for audio and imaging markets), Konica Minolta, Lexmark International, Marvell (a provider of silicon solutions for mobile communications to storage, cloud infrastructure, and digital entertainment), Monotype (a U.S. provider of typefaces and related technologies), Pantum (a Chinese manufacturer of laser printers), and Ricoh.

Mopria-certified devices will display the Mopria logo shown above.

With an estimated 50 billion connected devices by 2020 according to market research, the Mopria Alliance is focused on making wireless printing from smartphones, tablets, and other devices simple and standardized. Primary focus areas for the alliance include:

  • Breaking down barriers between brands by eliminating the need for users to download multiple print solutions (print drivers).
  • Creating a better, easier, and more accessible user experience for mobile printing
  • Using Mopria as a way to educate consumers and businesses about easy mobile printing
  • Influencing the development and adoption of standards for mobile printing.
  • Providing an open environment and tools for application developers to incorporate print into mobile applications.

Mopria also announced the Mopria Plug-in for KitKat that complements the core print feature in Android OS 4.4, enabling printing from Android-based mobile devices to many brands of printers.

Both Epson and Ricoh also commented on their recent joining of the Mopria Alliance. Ricoh stated that “Today is yet another milestone for Ricoh.  The company has joined the Mopria Alliance, a global non-profit member association focused on delivering innovation in mobile print. In its press release, Ricoh’s role within the alliance is to support building future industry standards for mobility services technology – an ideal position to hold as the company continues to expand its roster of hardware, software and services aimed to help global customers adjust to and flourish in today’s new world of work.”

Ian Cameron, who is responsible for global communications for Epson commented, “Epson is committed to making printing as easy as possible for its customers, and is honored to collaborate with like-minded organizations to improve how we meet and anticipate customer needs in today’s increasing mobile culture.”

For more information about the Mopria Alliance visit www.mopria.org.