Google (GOOG) is looking to leverage its infrastructure to move printing to the cloud. Development is underway for a new feature in Chromium where Google will communicate directly with printers to generate the output. The Google Cloud Print project is a service that enables any application (web, desktop, or mobile) on any device to print to any printer.
Google says that it will work with direct (USB or parallel) and network-attached printers using a Google ‘print proxy’. The app would send the document and details of the printer into the Google Cloud Print (or another cloud) service which will then send back a correctly formatted print request to the printer using the PC operating system’s native print stack and sends job status back to the printer.
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As with most things Google, there is good and bad. The good is that printer management can now be off-loaded. The proposal can decrease the headache of print drivers for grand parents and network admins. Now even hand-held devices can print (think Android, Chrome, tablet, Chrome on a tablet) a document without having to worry about printer drivers or third-party applications.
A couple of issues should be considered with Google Cloud Print.
- It will add more data to the Google stores. There are no assurances that Google Cloud Print will not stored or mine the data it processes.
- It is also possible that the documents generated will have Ad-Sense advertisements included on the print-outs.
- Cloud printing could also lead to print-spam a form of telemarketing where unsolicited advertisements are sent via cloud attached printers.
