The division has added AirPrint, Google Cloud Print, Android Printing Framework and Mopria Print Service features to its devices to meet the demands of the mobile workforce.
Research from Quocirca found that half of its respondents said that printing is critical or of high importance to their business activities, while the number of organisations that use mobile printing has increased from five percent to 14 percent from 2012, IT Web reported.
Greg Griffith, Product Manager of Business Solutions at Konica Minolta South Africa, said that more interesting for his company was that 35 percent said that they would implement mobile printing within the next 12 months, and 73 percent “showed an interest” in mobile printing.
Another report by TechSci Research anticipated the mobile/portable printer market would surpass $13 billion (€11 billion) by 2020, as a result of cloud printing, mobile workforces and field sales, with the retail industry being the largest end-user.
The OEM’s bizhub devices are AirPrint certified, avoiding the need to install separate drivers, while the Konica Minolta Print Service is a plug-in that does not appear as an app on the device. For environments without wireless networks, one of the OEM’s MFPs can act as an Access Point Mode, creating a network separate from the company network.
WiFi Direct on the printing system can also be activated for instantaneous pairing with the mobile terminal, while near-field communication (NFC) connects the output device and mobile terminal for direct printing, avoiding printer registration or network set up.
Griffith said: “It’s clear that most employees no longer need to be office-bound every day, but can frequently work from a location of their choice. To meet the demands of the increasing mobile workforce, professional cloud and mobile printing applications should provide reliable secure printing, flexible job submission and support a choice of mobile devices.”