HP launches first Mopria, mobile print friendly multi-function printer

Hewlett-Packard on Tuesday launched a new multifunction printer that's designed to make printing from mobile devices much easier.

The HP LaserJet Pro 476 is the first Mopria certified printer. Mopria is a non-profit group of leading printer manufacturers such as Canon, HP, Samsung and Xerox that have agreed to offer one mobile printer standard. With new members coming on board, Mopria will have 75 percent of the printer market covered. The latest Android---Kit Kat---will include a print command so printing from a tablet or smartphone replicates what happens on a PC.

According to HP's David Laing, director of innovation for LaserJet and enterprise solutions, hooking up a mobile device to a printer network was a major hurdle to printing on the go.

With Mopria, smartphone and tablet users should be able to print more easily from their devices. HP said its previous printer versions will also be compatible. In addition, HP is adding NFC and WiFi Direct to the 476 so mobile device users could print securely and easily.

The HP 476, which will start at $529, is targeted at small businesses and enterprise branch offices.

For its part, HP is targeting a market still prints on paper, but wants everything from cloud storage to paperless display on devices. The HP 476 will be integrated with tools like Box and Google Drive.

"Some day in the feature like when our kids retire the paperless office may materialize, but for now it's a hybrid world with some combination of paper and digital," said Laing.

Through integration, HP is hoping to create a seamless experience that will ultimately lead to more printing from mobile devices and the ink sales that would go with it.