14 DAY TRIAL // Those of you who like to print stuff wirelessly from your iPhone or iPad will be glad to learn that Canon U.S.A. has added AirPrint support to its PIXMA MG8220, MG6220 and MG5320 Wireless Photo All-In-One inkjet photo printers.
AirPrint works with iPad, iPad 2, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPod touch (3rd generation and later) under iOS 4.2 or later. The standard does not require printer-specific drivers.
When AirPrint was announced in 2010 in iOS 4, only twelve printers were compatible with the standard. All of them were from the HP Photosmart Plus e-All-in-One series.
For other printers, a workaround was quickly found, though it was not officially supported by Apple.
Canon’s announcement this week shouldn’t come as a surprise, as Hewlett Packard has enjoyed a great deal of popularity being the single printer and scanner vendor to support AirPrint, Apple’s wireless printing standard.
As Canon itself acknowledges, “AirPrint allows users to wirelessly print photos, emails, web pages and other documents without the need to install device drivers, saving time and making for a seamless user experience.”
Apple has a slightly more playful description of the technology. The Cupertino company states on its iPhone marketing page:
“With just a few taps on your iPhone, you can go from viewing something onscreen to holding a printed copy. And because all the printing takes place in the background, there’s no waiting around. Instead, you can start printing and then go back to flicking through photos, surfing the web, or doing whatever you were doing before.”
Regardless of how you describe it, Canon couldn’t just let this opportunity slip.
The company also confirmed that AirPrint will be supported by most PIXMA inkjet printers launched from this point forward.