Photo: Apple

Printing important documents has always been a stressful thing, for many reasons, and it seems that everyone who has dealt with a computer and a printer together has experienced some sort of aggravation. Software needs to be installed, the right sort of paper needs to be properly in line, the correct plugs need to be plugged into the correct port… it never ends.

Wireless printing seems like an unobtainable fantasy, but this is the year 2011 and if those guys in white lab coats can dream it up, you can be sure that sooner or later we will see in the shops. Perhaps the guys at Apple also had a problem printing their documents, as we are now able to see the introduction of wireless printing coming to the iPad and iPhone.

Simple set-up

HP’s ePrint printers have been the first to make use of Apple’s AirPrint software, made available in the latest iOS release, and allowing the user to print wirelessly and directly from their iGadget.

Setting up the HP Envy 100 e-All-in-One could not be easier. Users unwrap the printer, insert two ink cartridges, power it up and follow the simple instructions on the screen. The printer itself has a great design, with a black top and mirrored finish, with the paper tray neatly hidden underneath and a USB port available on the right.

AirPrint makes it possible

The AirPrint is where the magic really happens. The printer connects to a wi-fi network in the same way your iGadget does and, once it is connected, the Envy 100 is selected in the Print option and is ready to print.

On the downside, this iPad accessory doesn’t support all wi-fi networks, and it certainly does not come cheap at £255. But for a printer that connects wirelessly without hassle, and does a good job at printing text, pictures and even photographic material (with the right paper), the price tag may be a lot of money, but it is surely good value.

Photo: Stock.Xchng

As wireless Internet and hotspots become further entrenched in developed nations, gather momentum in developing ones, and the number of Internet connected devices grows at a rapid rate, the demand for wi-fi hardware has exploded.

Major growth for 802.11n

PC World reports wi-fI integrated circuit components shipments are expected to exceed 770 million units this year, nearly a third more than shipped in 2009. A significant portion of this 33 per cent increase comes as a result of 802.11n ICs overtaking 802.11g ICs, potentially accounting for a full 60 per cent of total wi-fi-integrated circuit component shipments in 2010, reports ABI Research.

Wide-range of Internet connectable products

While laptops were the earliest consumer devices to take advantage of wi-fi connectivity, mobile phones, video game consoles, handheld consoles and other consumer electronic devices began picking up some slack, too.

The burgeoning smartphone market is expected to have the highest total wi-fi connectable device shipment in the world over the next half decade, with an expected year-on-year growth rate of 25 per cent in the period from 2009 to 2015. Portable computers – which accounts for laptops, netbooks, smartbooks and tablet computers – are expected to see steady growth as well and, if recent PC market performance is any indication, the segment is not slowing down.

Electronic devices

Photo: Netgear

Outside of smartphones and netbooks, sale of wi-fi-enabled consumer electronic devices are forecast to be greater than 530 million units come 2015, with a 1,000 per cent growth seen across televisions, DVD players and digital cameras, between then and 2009.

Who wins?

The biggest benefactors of the growth in the wi-fi industry, from a hardware perspective, are the wi-fi-integrated circuit components makers as well as networking companies, too. Organisations like Cisco, Netgear, and the like, who have been quick to ship 802.11n-compatible consumer products, as well as the necessary hardware for powering the burgeoning hotspot industry, have also benefitted from this industry-wide growth.

Photo: Stock.Xchng

It seems that Google was responsible for indirectly stealing people’s Internet search history over unprotected wireless networks. They have since apologised and also admitted that they have egg on their face and that they failed badly one of their blogs.

Blame StreetView

Google became an accidental spy through their StreetView vans which they use to update to their Google Maps and also find public wi-fi networks. All this was uncovered when a German company requested the search engine giant to check whether they weren’t invading people’s privacy through the wi-fi data which the StreetView vans were collecting. And the findings were astounding and embarrassing for Google to say the least.

An apology

Alan Eustace, senior VP of engineering and research at Google, wrote a heartfelt regretful letter accepting that they had in fact indirectly, while unknowingly, saved payload data from unprotected wi-fi networks. Eustace also added that only small unusable bits of data or ‘fragments’ were found and they never used the data in any harmful manner or in any of the Internet giant’s innovative products.

Photo: Google

It seems that during Google’s three-year ‘theft spree’ from 2007 they collected all types of data from unprotected wi-fi networks like emails, search histories, online video histories and the like. The StreetView vans were however unable to collect encrypted information like personal files or financial data.

Google under the privacy spotlight

This latest discovery has put Google’s wi-fi data collection under even more scrutiny. The search giant has been under fire from numerous groups claiming that their wi-fi data collection practices invade peoples’ privacy. However, Google has been quick to defend themselves, arguing the data which the vans collect is used to improve to ‘location-based service’.

This latest revelation is no cause for great concern, but it’s good to see someone is keeping an eye out and challenging the potential ‘ruler’ of the Internet.