HP Enables Print By E-MailHP Enables Print By E-Mail

HP e-All-in-One Printer

Hewlett-Packard announced Monday its ePrint platform and a line of printers that will print documents or files directly from the cloud.

Users simply send a Web page or a document to an e-mail address associated with the printer and the receiving printer or all-in-one device then prints out the material. Documents or files can be stored in the cloud and printed when needed.

"We know that our customers want an easy way to print their content, anywhere, anytime," said Vyomesh Joshi, executive VP of HP's imaging and printing group, in a statement. "We're making that a reality today by giving people the power to print from any Web-connected device -- smartphones, iPads, netbooks, and more -- to any printer in our portfolio above $99."

The printers range from the $99 HP Photosmart e-All-in-One that is slated to be available in North America this month. The device has a 2.4-inch HP TouchSmart screen and, like all the printers in the new family, it has its own unique e-mail address. There are three additional e-All-in-One printers, topped off by the HP Photosmart Premium Fax e-All-in-One machine, which enables users to fax, scan, and copy materials using a touchscreen interface. The $299 device is planned for worldwide availability in September.

The new family builds on last year's HP Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web, which featured software for navigating to popular sites including Google, Fandango, and Coupons.com. That all-in-one device carried a price of $399.

The new family draws heavily on the printers' ability to "talk" to the Google Cloud without going through a local proxy PC or other Web appliance.

HP is also touting its e-printing publishing platform, which can be utilized to schedule delivery of news and other content, or to coordinate group activities. The company also said it is working with a group of developers to broaden the hundreds of print apps it expects to be available from independent software developers by the end of the year.