【英语科技】移动设备打印之妙招推荐

I haven't used a printer in my home for the past decade, thanks mostly to my reliance on digital smartphone and tablet screens, along with limited living space. Though paper printouts are far less valuable than they once were, there are still moments when I like to have something printed, like a backup copy of an airline reservation or a map with directions.

Most people assume they can't print from a tablet or smartphone because their printers are older and/or aren't equipped with Wi-Fi capability. This week, I took a closer look at two of the many free consumer-oriented solutions seeking to put that myth to rest: Presto (formerly FingerPrint) by Collobos Software and ThinPrint Cloud Printer by Cortado.They make printing from mobile devices as simple as hitting print on a computer.

Both can print documents from various mobile devices, though Presto is currently limited to working with printers connected to Windows PCs. ThinPrint printers can be connected to Windows PCs or Macs. A Mac version of Presto is expected in August. (Each comes in an enterprise version that costs money and is geared toward office environments.)

These solutions use a sneaky workaround: They work as if they're simply sending a print job to a computer—and the computer can then print the job because it's already set up to work with a printer. For example, I press Print on my iPad to get a paper copy of a document, and the document prints out seconds later because the computer I've set to work with Presto or ThinPrint is associated with that printer.

If this concept sounds familiar, that's because there are existing options from big-name companies that work with and without PCs acting as go-betweens for mobile devices and printers. But these options have their own caveats.

H-P's ePrint solution enables wireless printing from devices, but only to H-P printers. Apple's AirPrint solution works with more than 700 printer models from more than a dozen manufacturers, but is limited to Apple's iOS devices like the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. Google's Cloud Print is confined to items sent from the Google Chrome Web browser, Chrome OS or Google mobile apps like Gmail and Google Docs.

I found Presto worked more consistently and in more scenarios where people might want to print something. Examples included photos of my newborn nephew, important emails and Web pages from home-decorating websites that I wanted to save. It has built-in support for Google's Cloud Print, which is handy when printing documents from Google apps (like Gmail or the Chrome mobile browser), Android or the Chrome operating system. This was easy to enable by entering my Cloud Print account credentials in the 'Namespaces' tab during setup.

The catch with Presto Home, which is the name of the free version, is that mobile devices can successfully print only to PCs that are running on the same network. For example, my iPad had to be running on the same Wi-Fi network as my Windows 8 PC to print everything out. The Enterprise version of Presto, which costs $30 a month, offers a workaround for this. Another roadblock: If your PC is turned off, like a closed laptop, Presto can't run.

I downloaded Presto from store.collobos.com to my Windows 8 PC and walked through a few quick steps to get it started. Once this was installed, my devices automatically found the printer (previously set up to work with the PC)as a destination option when printing materials. Presto is compatible with iOS, Android and Google's Chrome OS.

Meanwhile, ThinPrint is focused more on being a solution for people who use a smartphone or tablet for work-related tasks. It won't print emails or Web pages, nor does it integrate with Google Cloud Print. But it does print photos quite easily via an app that opens your device's photos on iOS or Android.

This free app is available in the Apple App Store or Google Play store and must be installed on your mobile device. It offers instructions on downloading a program for a Windows PC or Mac from cloudcentral.cortado.com. Presto avoids needing an app because of its integration with AirPrint and Google Cloud Print.

Unlike the free version of Presto, the free version of ThinPrint lets people print from their iOS or Android devices from wherever they are, so they don't have to be using the same network as the associated computer. This means if you're wandering around town and receive an important email or snap a print-worthy photo, you can send it to your printer (through the cloud) using ThinPrint. When you get home, the memorable printouts will be there waiting. If your computer is turned off, the job is held in the cloud and printed the next time that machine is turned on.

Printing isn't as necessary in our everyday lives as it once was, thanks to mobile devices. It's often hard to even find the command that sends a document to the printer. But for those rare, vital moments when you just need something on paper, Presto and ThinPrint offer smart solutions.

在过去的10年里，我从没在家里用过打印机，这主要是因为我对智能手机和平板电脑的依赖以及家里有限的空间。虽然纸质打印资料的价值相较之前已经远远下降，但是仍然有些时候，我非常想把一些资料打印出来，比如备份的航班预定信息或者带有路线指南的地图。

大多数人都误以为他们不能通过平板电脑或智能手机打印资料，原因是他们的打印机型号老旧，或是他们的打印机并不具有Wi-Fi功能。本周，我仔细研究了众多面向个人用户的免费打印方案之中的两款，这些方案都有助于化解个人用户的上述疑虑。这两个解决方案分别是：由Collobos软件公司开发的Presto（之前曾命名为Fingerprint）和Cortado公司开发的ThinPrint云打印机软件。它们都能使移动设备打印变得像用电脑打印那样简单。

这两款程序均支持多种移动设备打印，不过Presto目前仅适用于与Windows电脑相连的打印机。ThinPrint打印机软件既适用于搭载了Windows操作系统的电脑，也适用于苹果公司(Apple)的Mac电脑。预计Presto的Mac版本将在8月面世。（这两款程序都有需要付费的企业版本，都能满足办公环境的需求。）

这两个打印方案运用的工作方式颇为巧妙：就好像是简单地给电脑发送了一项打印任务一样──鉴于电脑已经连接了一台打印机，因此这项打印任务随后就能完成了。比如，当我在我的iPad上点击“打印”以获取一份文档的纸质版本后，这份文档几秒钟之内就能打印出来了，因为我设置的接收Presto或ThinPrint所发送任务的电脑已经和这台打印机互联了。

Robert Neubecker如果这个概念听起来似曾相识的话，那是因为在此之前就有知名企业提供了一些可以连接移动设备和打印机的打印方案，这些方案有的需要电脑，有的不需要电脑。但是，这些方案普遍存在自身的局限性。

惠普(HP)的ePrint打印方案支持电子设备的无线打印，但是只局限于在惠普打印机上使用。苹果公司的AirPrint打印方案能够支持十几家打印机厂商出品的七百多款打印机，但是该打印方案只局限于使用iOS系统的苹果设备，如iPad、iPhone和iPod Touch。谷歌(Google)的云打印(Cloud Print)只限于完成从谷歌Chrome网页浏览器、Chrome OS系统或谷歌移动应用程序（如Gmail和Google Docs等）发送出来的打印任务。

我发现，Presto的表现更为稳定，并且更能满足人们在不同情境下的打印需求。我用Presto打印过我刚出生的侄子的照片、重要的电子邮件以及我想要保存的家居网站的网页。Presto内置有对谷歌云打印的支持，这使得从谷歌应用程序（比如Gmail或Chrome移动浏览器）、安卓(Android)和Chrome操作系统打印文件变得易如反掌。云打印启动起来很简单，你只需要在设置时在“命名空间”(Namespaces)栏中输入云打印账号即可。

Presto的免费版本名为Presto Home，该免费版本的局限性在于，移动设备只能通过链接至共享同一网络的电脑才能成功打印。例如，只有当我的iPad和我的Windows 8电脑连接到同一个Wi-Fi网络上的时候，我的iPad才能执行打印任务。Presto的企业版本每月收费30美元，企业版能够解决上述问题。另一个注意事项是：如果你的电脑关机了，或者笔记本电脑合上了，那么Presto就不能运行了。

我从store.collobos.com上把Presto下载到了我的Windows 8电脑中，在几个简单的步骤后，这个程序就可以启动了。Presto安装完毕后，在打印文件时，我的电子设备就可以自动找到作为打印终端的打印机（之前已经添加到了电脑上）了。Presto与iOS、安卓和谷歌的Chrome OS系统都能兼容。

与此同时，ThinPrint更侧重于成为智能手机或平板电脑使用者的打印解决方案。ThinPrint不能打印电子邮件或网页，也不能与谷歌的云打印结合。但是，ThinPrint可以通过一款应用程序非常便捷地打印照片，这款应用程序能够打开搭载于iOS或安卓系统的电子设备上的照片。

你可以从苹果应用商店或谷歌Play商店下载这款免费的ThinPrint应用程序，这款程序必须安装在你的移动设备上后才能使用。然后你可以按照应用程序所提供的指引，从cloudcentral.cortado.com网站上下载安装到Windows电脑或Mac电脑的程序。Presto则不需要在移动设备上安装应用程序，因为它已经和AirPrint及谷歌云打印结合到了一起。

不同于Presto的免费版本，ThinPrint的免费版本允许用户随时随地地通过iOS或安卓设备打印，而不必受到与相连的电脑使用同一网络的限制。这意味着，如果你身在市中心时收到了一封重要的电子邮件或拍下了一幅值得打印的照片，你都可以使用ThinPrint将其发送至你的打印机（通过云服务来实现）。当你到家的时候，你就可以拿到之前打印出来的文件了。如果你的电脑关机了，打印任务就会存贮在云服务中，并将在下次开机时打印出来。

在我们的日常生活中，打印已经不像以前那么重要了，这主要是由于移动设备的缘故。现在，我们经常发现连找到打印指令都很困难。不过，对于那些为数不多的恰好需要打印文件的重要时刻，Presto和ThinPrint能给你提供便捷的解决方案。