Apple iPhone 4S and its printer feature newbie questions...

Ant

unread,

Mar 19, 2012, 10:49:18 AM3/19/12

to

Hello.

On Apple iPhone 4S, there is a printer option. How does this work? Does
it use infrared/Bluetooth/wireless to print? I know with older Palm PDA
devices and notebooks/laptops with supported old printers, they can be
done with infrared. Is this the same way or a special setup needed?

Thank you in advance. :)
--
Quote of the Week: "When you have seen one ant, one bird, one tree, you
have not seen them all." --Edward O. Wilson, 1992
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://antfarm.home.dhs.org (Personal Web Site)
/ /\ /\ \ Ant's Quality Foraged Links: http://aqfl.net
| |o o| |
\ _ / Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail. If crediting,
( ) then please kindly use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link.

nospam

unread,

Mar 19, 2012, 11:34:49 AM3/19/12

to

In article <mtydnTGIrMrz2vrS...@earthlink.com>, Ant

<ANT...@zimage.com> wrote:

> On Apple iPhone 4S, there is a printer option. How does this work? Does
> it use infrared/Bluetooth/wireless to print? I know with older Palm PDA
> devices and notebooks/laptops with supported old printers, they can be
> done with infrared. Is this the same way or a special setup needed?

it's wifi and not all printers support the protocol to print directly.
there are apps you can run on your mac/pc to share your existing
printer, regardless of what it is.

Chris

unread,

Mar 19, 2012, 2:09:39 PM3/19/12

to

On 19/03/2012 14:49, Ant wrote:
> Hello.
>
> On Apple iPhone 4S, there is a printer option. How does this work? Does
> it use infrared/Bluetooth/wireless to print? I know with older Palm PDA
> devices and notebooks/laptops with supported old printers, they can be
> done with infrared. Is this the same way or a special setup needed?
>
> Thank you in advance. :)

If you have an airprint printer (only HP and Epson models available) or
computer with airprint server on your network then iPhone will see it
print to it direct.

--
Chris

Ant

unread,

Mar 19, 2012, 2:33:49 PM3/19/12

to

> > On Apple iPhone 4S, there is a printer option. How does this work? Does
> > it use infrared/Bluetooth/wireless to print? I know with older Palm PDA
> > devices and notebooks/laptops with supported old printers, they can be
> > done with infrared. Is this the same way or a special setup needed?

> it's wifi and not all printers support the protocol to print directly.
> there are apps you can run on your mac/pc to share your existing
> printer, regardless of what it is.

Well, without the computers and directly to the powered on printers.
What protocol is it for the old printers (HP LaserJet 6P, HP PhotoSmart
8450, etc.)?

nospam

unread,

Mar 19, 2012, 2:34:46 PM3/19/12

to

In article <Ttmdnf3ic6yQ4frS...@earthlink.com>, Ant

<ANT...@zimage.com> wrote:

> > > On Apple iPhone 4S, there is a printer option. How does this work? Does
> > > it use infrared/Bluetooth/wireless to print? I know with older Palm PDA
> > > devices and notebooks/laptops with supported old printers, they can be
> > > done with infrared. Is this the same way or a special setup needed?
>
> > it's wifi and not all printers support the protocol to print directly.
> > there are apps you can run on your mac/pc to share your existing
> > printer, regardless of what it is.
>
> Well, without the computers and directly to the powered on printers.
> What protocol is it for the old printers (HP LaserJet 6P, HP PhotoSmart
> 8450, etc.)?

if it's an old printer it won't have airprint so you will need a
computer to share it or a new printer.

Ant

unread,

Mar 19, 2012, 2:34:55 PM3/19/12

to

> > On Apple iPhone 4S, there is a printer option. How does this work? Does
> > it use infrared/Bluetooth/wireless to print? I know with older Palm PDA
> > devices and notebooks/laptops with supported old printers, they can be
> > done with infrared. Is this the same way or a special setup needed?

> If you have an airprint printer (only HP and Epson models available) or
> computer with airprint server on your network then iPhone will see it
> print to it direct.

Hmm, I don't think these old printers (HP PhotoSmart 8450, HP LaserJet
6P, etc.) have AirPrint. When did it come out? Also, this is assuming
without having a computer on.

Ant

unread,

Mar 19, 2012, 2:36:59 PM3/19/12

to

Ah OK. Then, a new printer will be needed. Don't want to have a computer
on just to do that. Maybe, I will get a portable printer to carry.

nospam

unread,

Mar 19, 2012, 2:47:13 PM3/19/12

to

In article <Ttmdnfzic6zS4frS...@earthlink.com>, Ant

<ANT...@zimage.com> wrote:

> Hmm, I don't think these old printers (HP PhotoSmart 8450, HP LaserJet
> 6P, etc.) have AirPrint. When did it come out? Also, this is assuming
> without having a computer on.

roughly a year or two ago.

Ant

unread,

Mar 19, 2012, 3:04:53 PM3/19/12

to

> > Hmm, I don't think these old printers (HP PhotoSmart 8450, HP LaserJet
> > 6P, etc.) have AirPrint. When did it come out? Also, this is assuming
> > without having a computer on.

> roughly a year or two ago.

Wow, that recent. Thanks. :)

David Empson

unread,

Mar 19, 2012, 7:41:51 PM3/19/12

to

Ant <ANT...@zimage.com> wrote:

> > > Hmm, I don't think these old printers (HP PhotoSmart 8450, HP LaserJet
> > > 6P, etc.) have AirPrint. When did it come out? Also, this is assuming
> > > without having a computer on.
>
> > roughly a year or two ago.
>
> Wow, that recent. Thanks. :)

Apple has a list of printers which support AirPrint:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4356

Most of the major brands now have some printers with AirPrint support
(Brother, Canon, Epson, HP, Lexmark), but it appears the newcomers are
only adding it for newly introduced models.

HP were the first to support AirPrint, initially on a select few models,
then they retrofitted it to a few more models via a firmware update. I'm
not aware of other manufacturers doing that, but I don't watch printer
models closely enough to be aware of when each one was available.

I doubt any manufacturer would add AirPrint to a model they no longer
sell.

--
David Empson
dem...@actrix.gen.nz

Ant

unread,

Mar 19, 2012, 7:56:41 PM3/19/12

to

Thanks. Yeah, none of the old printers are on this list so a new one is
needed without connecting to a computer. It looks like AirPrint is a
new thing from what I was told and read. :)

Helpful Harry

unread,

Mar 19, 2012, 8:25:48 PM3/19/12

to

In article <1kh95tq.xq85kke5n7vzN%dem...@actrix.gen.nz>,

Some HP printers have ePrint, which apparently allows you to print from
any device / app that can send an email. I vaguely recall another company
(Brother?) having a similar system. Some printer companies also have their
own iOS apps for printing as well.

Helpful Harry :o)

Message has been deleted