Tag Archives: portable printer

Brother PocketJet 7 Is a Truly Portable Printer

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Brother PocketJet 7 Portable Printer

Brother’s line of portable printers is getting refreshed, and the new member, named simply PocketJet 7, lets you print full pages anywhere, anytime.

Nowadays, the goal of most hardware manufacturers and peripherals makers is to get rid of wires and cables in departments where only the idea of wireless devices would’ve sounded crazy not long ago. Thus, we’re getting wireless charging for smartphones and tablets, routers that function without being plugged into power outlets, and even portable scanners. However, until recently, the fact that a printer was wireless only meant that it can communicate via Wi-Fi to computers and mobile devices. With its PocketJet line, Brother redefines the entire concept, and enables users to carry a fully-fledged printer in their backpacks.

Brother lists the following features as PocketJet 7’s strong points:

  • 8.5″ wide print head
  • Up to 8ppm print speeds
  • Replaceable rechargeable Li-ion battery available
  • Thermal printing technology – no ribbons, inks or toners required
  • Only one consumable – direct thermal media on cut sheets, continuous roll or perforated roll
  • Simplified, space-saving in-vehicle mounting options
  • Compatible with traditional PC and Mac® drivers
  • USB interface standard; models available with Apple AirPrint™,
  • Wi-Fi® or MFi Bluetooth® technology

The printer manufacturer developed PocketJet 7 around a concept named Freedom Architecture. With so many connectivity options, users can print full pages using documents from their smartphones, tablets, or notebooks, regardless of the operating system that’s on these devices. On top of that, Brother’s latest mobile thermal printer can be connected to AirPrint, and it is also Google Cloud Print Ready. In other words, you can even leave it at home, and assuming that it’s powered on and connected to your local wireless network, it can print whatever you want. All you need to do is select it as the current printer on your mobile device.

PocketJet 7 wasn’t created only for active businessmen. As a matter of fact, it could prove useful for delivery services, health care providers, insurance companies, law enforcement, and basically anyone who still deals on a daily basis with paperwork that needs printed right away. Think of the mobile apps for forms that could be created for such tasks, only!

The fact that it’s compatible with Windows, MacOS, Android, and iOS is a major strong point, but if you consider that it doesn’t require any drivers for any of these operating systems, you’ll realize that Brother has done away with most of our past headaches.

Brother’s PocketJet 7 portable printer will be available in several versions differentiated by connectivity. According to the manufacturer, there will be Workforce, Vehicle, Developer and Basic Kits, depending on the environment this mobile printer will be used in. While the price has yet to be disclosed by the manufacturer, the previous generation was priced between $380 and $550, so we can expect this one to be within that range, too.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the mini mobile robotic printer that glides across pages to print, or the Kickstarter campaign for the minimalistic Tiko 3D printer.

Via: SlashGear

Mini Mobile Robotic Printer Glides Across Sheets to Print

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Mini Mobile Robotic Printer

If this Kickstarter project wants to teach us one thing, it’s that printers don’t have to take up a room in order to make high-quality prints. In fact, a pocket-sized works equally fine!

Remember iRobot’s Roomba vacuum cleaning robot, which worked its way on the entire surface of a room without any help? Israeli startup ZUtA Labs must have thought that it can use the same working principle for a pocket printer that once placed on a sheet of paper starts printing whatever data it received wirelessly via Bluetooth from smartphones, tablets and PCs. There are many benefits to such a printer, but the most important of them all must be the ability to print on paper of all sizes.

At first, people used USB cables to connect printers to their computers, and in the majority of the cases, these cables weren’t even shipped with the printer. In the early days of the multifunctionals, the only wireless connection that could have been established was via IrDA (Infrared Data Association). The fact that now printers are equipped with WiFi and Bluetooth sensors is really life-altering for anyone hating cables. The next step in the evolution of printers would be to make them extremely portable, and this Mini Mobile Robotic Printer seems to be just that and more.

The Mini Mobile Robotic Printer is by no means perfect. The manufacturers claim that the first version will only print in grayscale, future versions probably being capable of printing in color. Moreover, the printer’s battery (as it doesn’t use solar power, you know…) lasts for about an hour, which is certainly not enough to print 1,000 pages. According to ZUta Labs, that’s how much it takes to finish the ink contained by the printer. There has been no word on how much the cartridges will cost, and personally I’m afraid to ask, since most companies sell their consumables for more money than the main product.

As mentioned earlier, the developers of this pocket printer have launched a campaign on Kickstarter, where they hope to reach $400K in order to manufacture the product. People have backed the project with less than 10% of that till now, but considering that there are 29 more days to go, it would be wrong to jump to conclusions. For early birds, the Mars Black version costs $180 while, for some odd reason, the Titanium White one is $20 more. After those spots will all be taken, the rest of the people can secure a Mini Mobile Robotic Printer for themselves for $200 and $220, respectively.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the Cloth Printer and Berg’s smiling Little Printer that publishes RSS feeds.