Endless innovation of Samsung mobile printing

SEOUL, KOREA: When Samsung Electronics first began developing mobile printing solutions in 2009, it aimed to make printing simpler and more convenient from mobile devices.

The concept was that people who use smartphones and tablet PCs should be able to easily print a variety of content-whether email, screen shots or photos-directly from their mobile devices without complex setup process.

Stage 1: Printing from native print button on GALAXY series

The first stage in achieving this vision began with the Samsung GALAXY series. The Printing Solutions team equipped ‘print' buttons on the GALAXY Tab (2010 model), GALAXY SII, SIII, S4, Note and NoteII which, when pressed, automatically searched for any neighboring Samsung printers.

Users had control over a variety of options such as the desired number of copies, the paper and image size. Anything from a compatible device could be effortlessly printed: photos, emails, screen shots from the web or Samsung applications such as S-memo and S-note.

Samsung had delivered on their vision for mobile printing, but there was still more to do. Although complicated steps such as installing Samsung-exclusive drivers or applications had been eliminated, users still had to manually search for the printer's address.

Stage 2: Expanded printing capabilities through Samsung Mobile Print App

The Printing Solutions team wanted to provide broader functions to the audience. The solution was the creation of the Samsung Mobile Print App, available on both the Google Play Store and the iOS App Store, bringing the promise of ubiquitous mobile printing closer to reality.

With the app, people could also print more easily from their mobile device than before including various contents from MS Office and PDF files to social networks including Facebook and Twitter, and Google Drive documents. Besides, Mobile Print App provides multiple printing options, as provided on PC, including Image size, Paper size, Paper type, Copies, Collate, Double-sided printing and other advanced options.

Samsung Mobile Print App's innovativeness was recognized by Buyers Laboratory LLC (BLI), and won BLI's 2012 "Pick" awards. BLI's associate editor Dan DiGiacomo commented, "As mobile employees transition to spending more time using smart phones than workstation PCs, apps like Samsung Mobile Print become more important than ever as a necessary workflow tool," adding, "Samsung Mobile Print distinguishes itself from the competition by offering an excellent set of features that are simple to navigate and operate."

"Consumer surveys conducted by Samsung in 2012 showed our printers had the highest convenience scores in mobile printing compared to our competitors, suggesting our focus on this area was resonating well with our customers." (director Chiwan Bae, Printing Solutions Business Sales & Marketing Team, Samsung Electronics)

When first launched, the Samsung Mobile Print App gained much popularity for handiness and 1,600,000 users downloaded the app so far.

"IT environments are something that we are obviously familiar with, but we recognize this isn't always the case for general users. Making printing easy without any problem, under any circumstance - that was what Samsung's mobile printing had to aspire to, and something we knew we could achieve." (director Chiwan Bae, Printing Solutions Business Sales & Marketing Team, Samsung Electronics)

Stage 3: Printing made easy, ‘Tap & Print'.

To truly deliver the concept of intuitive printing, the Printing Solutions team continued to seek new avenues to improve the printing experience. Using a combination of Near Field Communication (NFC) and Wi-Fi Direct Technology, the team envisaged a new type of solution that would benefit their customers.

These two types of technology offer different things. NFC technology allows any device within a 4cm radius to be connected to another device simply by tapping them together. Wi-Fi Direct Technology enables the quick exchange of data between connected devices. These technologies had already been implemented in the GALAXY S series, but now they were to be combined for use between printers and smartphones.

The idea was that users could tap their mobile devices to the printer to print their content with no specific wireless set-up. And for those without the Mobile Print App, they would be prompted to download the app from either the Google Play Store or App Store if they tried to print via NFC. This thinking formed the basis for the world's first NFC-supported color laser printers and multifunction printers, the Samsung Xpress C410W Series.

Xpress C410W series, the industry's first NFC-enabled color laser printers and multi-function printers, consists of C410W color laser printer and C460W color laser MFP, and C460FW color laser MFP. The series was designed specifically for home users and small office and home offices (SOHO).

With simple installation, C410W series connects wirelessly with mobile devices for fast, convenient, and secure printing of various documents, web contents, and emails.

In 2014, a new line-up of NFC-enabled printers, the color laser printer Xpress C1860 series and the mono-laser printer Xpress M2885 series, were launched. These printers also target SMB customers with needs for high volume printing and increased compatibility with a broad range of IT devices.

"We are proud to have built on our 2013 NFC-enabled printers with these faster and more advanced models designed specifically for SMB customers. As mobile becomes more central to the everyday working environment these NFC-enabled printers let SMBs conduct their business seamlessly as well as catering for the growing Bring Your Own Device trend. German and British consumer trade and IT magazines have selected our NFC-enabled printer as the Best Product and more than 10,000 NFC-enabled printers are sold monthly, which reflect its high popularity." (senior VP, David SW Song, Printing Solutions Strategy Marketing and Sales Team, Samsung Electronics)

NFC enabled printers have received attention from a number of sectors, including enterprise, due to their added security benefits and pull printing solutions. For companies that need to print various types of content securely, these printers are able to verify users by a simple tap and ensure that authorized personnel are printing.

Stage 4: Advanced mobile printing solutions design for the future.

Following the successful development of NFC friendly apps and NFC-enabled printers, Samsung introduced new concept cloud print, "Samsung Cloud Print". The new solution consists of the Samsung Cloud Print app and a range of NFC-enabled printers that are not just easier to use, but also feature enhanced security.

Samsung Cloud Print is compatible with Samsung's KNOX platform, the mobile security system developed by Samsung, to offer advanced security. For mobile users who do not have KNOX devices, their contents will be secured through data encryption as well. Users can use and share the cloud print through contacts saved on their mobile devices and can also connect up to 20 printers.

"With a full hardware offering and refined product quality, we've been performing well in the business-to-business sector In 2014, we will strengthen our value proposition to our business customers by focusing on solutions that help small and medium-sized businesses. As part of this strategy, we will launch the new Samsung Cloud Print that underlines our competitiveness in mobile printing." (senior VP, David SW Song, Printing Solutions Strategy Marketing and Sales Team, Samsung Electronics)

With the increasingly integral role smart devices play in our lives, there is a clear need for solutions that save time and improve the user experience. Efforts such as the Samsung Mobile Print App and NFC printing are examples that prove how innovative technology solutions can make our lives easier.

Samsung Printing Solutions will continue to pioneer the mobile printing solutions market by demonstrating our commitment to R&D and consumer experience and serve the growing needs for business and mobile users, in particularly in SMB customers.