Google has provided an update on the Google Cloud Print service it announced back in April. Google Cloud Print was described as a service that would allow any desktop, web, or mobile app on any device to print to any printer that the user sets up.
Google now says development is progressing quickly, and they’re testing the service internally. Perhaps more interesting is the fact that Google hopes to launch the service in the coming months.
"Google Cloud Print will work with all printers, including those that are not themselves web-connected (we call these ‘legacy printers’)," says group product manager Mike Jazayeri. "However, as we said in the April announcement, the best experience will be with a new generation of web-connected printers that are natively cloud aware. We are working with a number of printer manufacturers to bring cloud print capabilities to their printers."
This week, HP announced a suite of cloud-aware printers and these will all work with Google Cloud Print from the start. Jazayeri and Google VP for Client Products Sundar Pichai joined HP for its announcement of its new printers, and demonstrated Google Cloud Print. Video can be found here.
In April, Google said that the service was in the very early stages of development, so it is somewhat surprising that it looks like it will be ready in the pretty near future. Google Chrome OS will be out later this year though, and they’ll probably want it ready for that.