Samsung Puts Focus on Security with New Cloud Print Service, Mobile Apps

Samsung plans to launch a new cloud-printing service and associated apps for Android and iOS in the coming months, and the apps will have new security-focused features, according to a report on Engadget.com.

The Korean company reportedly made the announcements this week in Hanover, Germany, at the CeBIT business IT conference.

I can’t find any sort of official press release from Samsung about the upcoming Samsung Cloud Print service, but the Android app is expected in June, and the iOS version should be available sometime in the second half of 2014, Engadget says. A Windows Phone app is also expected at some point, according to AndroidHeadlines.com.

From Engadget:

“Users will have their data encrypted between their device and their inkjet, and those who also use Samsung’s freshly updated Knox service are promised ‘enhanced security’ through a level integration between Knox and Cloud Print. Finally, the Android app will also support NFC pairing, allowing a compatible mobile device to be connected to ‘as many as 20 printers with just a few simple taps’ — although that currently only applies to Samsung’s small range of NFC-enabled Xpress-branded printers.”

The new apps will reportedly have a new feature called “Call-to-Print,” which will let you complete the entire printing process on your mobile device, so you don’t ever need to use a PC, TechRadar.com says.

Samsung already offers a mobile-printing app with cloud support for Android and iOS, called Samsung Mobile Print, and the software works with Google’s Cloud Print service. Google also offers a Cloud Print app for Android devices, though no iOS version is currently available.

Samsung’s Cloud Print (the company could have at least come up with a more creative name, right?) will seemingly be a direct competitor to Google’s cloud service.

The Android app will also apparently support NFC for quick and easy printer pairing — Apple devices don’t have NFC at this point. The current Samsung Mobile Print app for Android already has NFC support, but it’s largely a gimmick. You also need an NFC-enabled Samsung printer to use the feature; it doesn’t work with all NFC printers. (Read my review of one of Samsung’s latest NFC-enabled printers for more details.)

The new apps will also very likely only work with printers that support the Samsung Cloud Print service, so users could be restricted to new Samsung printers, at least at first.

AS