An interesting article recently assessed the potential of "The Cloud" in printing and publishing applications. The assessment was based upon introductions by both Google and HP to provide printing applications from The Cloud. As a reminder The Cloud is considered the computer platform for the future. This is where all applications and data are held remotely over the Internet rather than using large data centers or personal computers for handling applications and data storage. This is already being seen with applications such as Google Apps that provides facilities similar to Microsoft Office but where no applications are downloaded and where data is held remotely. It might be wrong to say that we are not using data centers for handling data. We are currently using huge data centers such as those operated by Google. The basic approach of working with The Cloud is that we can generate and access data from anywhere with any device, which could include a mobile phone, a tablet such as an Apple iPad, a laptop or a personal computer.

The latest move in this area of computing is the planned Google Cloud Print that will be part of its forthcoming Chrome operating system, and from HP with the announcement of Cloud Aware Printers that can print data from Google Apps without the need for a computer. Yesterday HP announced the range of printers and applications that will support Cloud based printing.

These announcements showed HP is making offerings to work in the home, the office and in the architectural design areas. The entry product at $99 is a full web based multi-function printer that allows web access via a WiFi network to do much more than just printing of photographs. It could even be used as a simple email and web browsing solution without the need for a PC. HP also announced a range of OfficeJet and LaserJet office products that supported Cloud based operations. In the design area it introduced a new DesignJet T2000 eMFP printer plus a Print and Share Cloud application for the architectural industry.