ITEX/On Demand, Washington DC - A major advance in mobile printing is being shown today by Intel and Global Graphics Software at ITEX in the MWA Intelligence/Intel booth #201. The solution provides peer-to-peer, driverless mobile printing using the Intel Atom processor and Global Graphics printing software to print Office documents, images and PDF without the need to install printer drivers or be connected to the Internet. The proof of concept is being shown in live demonstrations to ITEX visitors and will feature in the Innovation Technology Forum to registered ITEX conference delegates.

The solution uses standard Bluetooth or WiFi to send the file to the printer. Intel/Global Graphics technology is embedded in the printer for the optimum combination of quality and performance. The solution can not only native print formats (ie. JPEG, PDF, XPS) but also Office documents. It can be installed in any printer, and, printers that are already in the field can be enabled via an external box that processes files for delivery to that printer.

"Most of the mobile print solutions that are available or shipping today do have some advantages but also some challenges", says Brendan Peters, print imaging segment manager, Intel Corporation. "They are either complicated for the user, need an Internet connection, consume too much battery on the mobile device, or are too slow. With our solution there are no such issues: users simply pair their mobile device to a local printer. They can forget about the security concerns (perceived or real) that exist with sending documents into the Cloud, and can print their PowerPoint presentations, reports and spreadsheets directly. The printing process is as easy as printing a jpeg photo from a smartphone wirelessly today."

"Results from our internal labs using various test files show that printing performance and print quality are looking very good, even at proof of concept stage," says Martin Bailey, chief technology officer, Global Graphics. "By moving the processing of office files from the mobile device onto the printer layout quality and fidelity is significantly improved in comparison with Apple's AirPrint. Also, our performance is significantly higher than that achieved by HP's ePrint."

The Intel/Global Graphics solution runs on any relevant OS and also offers support for Cloud and USB connection. Both companies view the technology advance as complementary to existing mobile printing products. Intel has been a supplier of Hardware chips in the Enterprise and Production space for many years, and now with the emergence of their new, low power, low cost Atom family of chips, is entering the workgroup and below segments.

Global Graphics' Harlequin RIP utilizes the multi-threaded capabilities of the Atom to efficiently interpret the page description and create the required data to drive the printing engine using parallel processing. Native interpretation of PDF, XPS, PostScript, PCL and image formats such as TIFF and JPEG are all part of the rich feature set of the software, as well as interpretation of Office documents. Intel Atom processors are high-performance, low-cost, multi-threaded devices that are suited to the demanding tasks of an embedded print environment.