There are some new and exciting technologies for printers that we will all be enjoying in
very near future. Actually technology is available right now but many people do not understand it or know how to use it.The technology that I will focus on here is IrDA and Bluetooth interfaces. Gone will be wires which extends a lot of possibilities for placing your printer in your home or office.
IrDA is an acronym for Infrared Data Association. IR devices work by using infrared technology, and hence don't require any cables to connect them to printer. Actually this is old technology revisited. It was used widely in TV remote controls. IrDA will be replaced by Bluetooth eventually because of it's restrictions.
Using such printers, one can print directly from a mobile device, such as a PDA, cell phone or even a video camera, which supports an IrDA interface without need of any cables or even a PC. The only shortcoming is line of sight restriction. As devices work using infrared rays, any obstacles between communicating devices will block signal.
Some HP printers with IrDA support are HP DeskJet 340, HP LaserJet 5MP, HP LaserJet 6MP, HP 2100M and HP4050N.
Bluetooth is another addition to new interfaces available for printers. Bluetooth is a low-cost, low-power, wireless radio frequency technology that allows various devices to communicate with each other.
These devices operate in 2.4 GHz ISM (industrial, scientific, medical) band. An advantage of Bluetooth over IrDA is that close proximity between communicating devices is not required and distances of up to 40 feet are allowed. Also, Bluetooth does not suffer from any line of sight restrictions.
