SAN RAMON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Canon, HP, Samsung Electronics and Xerox today launched the Mopria^TM Alliance, a global non-profit membership organization formed to promote, simplify and increase accessibility of wireless printing from smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices.

“We believe that providing a consistent and intuitive experience across all devices will open new doors for mobile printing. The Mopria Alliance print standard was developed to overcome today's limitations to printing from mobile devices.”

The Mopria Alliance aims to bring together the mobile, software and print industries with the goal of aligning to standards that make printing universally compatible from any mobile device to any printer anywhere. The Mopria Alliance will focus on:

• Breaking down barriers between brands by eliminating the need for users to download multiple print drivers
• Creating a better – easier and more accessible – user experience for mobile printing
• Introducing the Mopria brand and using the brand as a vehicle to educate consumers and businesses on the ease-of-use of mobile printing
• Influencing the development and adoption of standards for mobile printing
• Providing an open environment and tools for software developers to incorporate print into mobile applications

By standardizing mobile printing technologies, the Mopria Alliance will enable mobile app developers and other industry players to focus resources on innovation and new features beyond maintaining basic print functions.

Addressing an Industry Need

By the end of 2013, the number of mobile-connected devices will exceed the number of people on Earth¹, changing the way people do everything from capturing memories to managing work on the go. Currently, 40% of employees use their own smart phones in the workplace, and in the next three years, the number is expected to increase to 56%². While the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) trend has become second nature for many employees and businesses, printing from mobile devices has not.

Today more than 24% of smartphone and 32%of tablet users want to be able to print from their devices and by 2015, 50% of smart phone users and 58% of tablet users will want to print³ The Mopria Alliance will ensure this need is met with simple, ubiquitous wireless print capability across software, mobile and print devices.

Mopria Alliance Customer Benefit Goals

• Consumers: Will be able to print from their mobile device without having to manually connect to a printer or install software. They will rely on an intuitive and simple user experience that is consistent across devices and printers at work, at home and on-the-go.
• Mobile Device Manufacturers: Will no longer need to align with each individual printer manufacturer in order to deploy mobile print functionality.
• Printer Manufacturers: Will provide ongoing print function compatibility with mobile devices without continual re-engineering and development with different mobile device manufacturers or service providers.
• Application Designers and Developers: Will increase the value and productivity for their mobile applications by integrating mobile printing through standardized and simplified SDKs and APIs.
• Service Providers: Will be able to offer simple accessible mobile printing as a value-add for customers.

Initial Software Developers deploying the standard

A number of software developers plan to introduce applications equipped with Mopria Alliance standards so users can soon begin experiencing the benefits of mobile printing:

Supporting Quotes:

Canon

• "We believe that providing a consistent and intuitive experience across all devices will open new doors for mobile printing. The Mopria Alliance print standard was developed to overcome today's limitations to printing from mobile devices." – Masaki Nakaoka, Senior Managing Director, Office Imaging Products Operations, Canon Inc.

HP

• “As manufacturers begin to implement a unified printing standard, customers will discover an entirely new way to print from their mobile devices – all without added set up procedures or app downloads.” – Emily Ketchen, vice president, Worldwide Integrated Marketing and Communications, Printing and Personal Systems, HP

Samsung

• “The lack of easy print solutions has limited the usage of features and applications in mobile devices. The Mopria Alliance will open up the opportunity for innovative and convenient mobile printing and as well as the use of mobile devices.” – Sungho Choi, Vice President, Standards & Technology Enabling, Samsung Electronics

Xerox

• “The Mopria Alliance is all about simplicity. If a person is at home, in the office or traveling on the road, they want a simple, secure mobile printing experience. The Alliance embodies the freedom to print from anywhere from any device. It’s that simple.” – Karl Dueland, vice president , Solutions Delivery Unit, Xerox

Software Partners

• “As the inventor of cross-platform printing technology, Adobe is proud to be joining the Mopria Alliance. Creating an easy, high-quality printing experience for mobile users is core to Adobe's mission and we're pleased to work with the alliance to lend our expertise to this effort.” – Dennis Griffin, Director of Adobe Document Products.

Analyst quotes

• "IDC applauds this initiative by leading hardcopy equipment manufacturers to simplify and streamline user print experience from mobile touch points such as smart phones and tablets. Mobile print users will benefit from common standards, certified products and interoperability across the print ecosystem. It is great to see the print industry take on the challenge head-on to align, drive common standards across mobile devices, printer devices and mobile OS systems to meet the rapidly growing market need for mobile printing." – Dinesh Srirangpatna, Research Manager, Hardcopy usage Research Practice, IDC

Joining the Alliance

There will be different membership levels designed to support the goals of the Mopria Alliance while ensuring successful ubiquitous deployment of the standards.

Software application developers are a key target of the Alliance, and will be able to join the Mopria Alliance for free. They will need to accept the alliance’s license agreement to use its SDK and download the APIs.

The Mopria standards will be available soon. Members of the Alliance will begin incorporating the standard in their products in the coming months.

For companies interested in joining the Mopria Alliance, please contact the alliance at: www.mopria.org/membership.

Supporting Resources

For more information on the Mopria Alliance and its supporting partners, visit www.mopria.org.

About the Mopria Alliance:

The Mopria Alliance is a non-profit membership organization of leading global technology companies with the shared goal of providing intuitively simple wireless printing from smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices. The Mopria Alliance’s goal is to bring together the entire industry to drive selected standards adoption, support mobile software application providers to deploy print functionality in their applications, develop experience guidelines in the interaction of mobile and print devices, certify products which will carry the Mopria logo and educate consumers and business customers about the ability to easily print from mobile devices.

All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

The Mopria Alliance does not endorse or sponsor software or products from companies mentioned. The only warranties for products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty.

The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The Mopria Alliance shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

¹ See http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/mobile-phone-world-population-2014/² InfoTrends. Is Printing from Mobile Devices Ready to Take Off? July 2012³ IDC: Mobile Device Users/Non-Users: Print, Scan, Document Management, March 2013