Google Cloud Print exploited

Developers have started exploiting Google Cloud Print support on the Android, unveiling a new Firefox Mobile extension that allows users to print from within the browser, according to IT ProPortal.

Developer Mark Finkle has dished out the Cloud Printer 1.0.1 extension for the Android version of the popular open source Web browser.

Users will be able to print Web pages from the browser to their printers that are compatible with Google's Cloud Print service, which one day hopes to let users to print wirelessly over the cloud. Currently only Hewlett-Packard's (HP) ePrint line of connected printers support Google's service.

Meanwhile, HP released wireless printing software for Android, enabling users to wirelessly print to corporate network printers, notes Android Community.

The concept, known as 'ePrint Services', is designed to make the Android platform more appealing to corporations who are looking to incorporate an employees personal smartphone into the IT structure.

Employees will be able to print e-mails, documents and even presentations to printers that employ HP's Internet printing service.

The new app competes directly with iOS AirPrint and Google's Cloud Print technologies, which HP says aren't secure enough for corporate IT networks.

“There's a huge amount of security that's required when you're dealing with sensitive documents and mobile printing,” says Mark Quiroz, who heads HP's marketing for corporate printing products.

HP's push highlights a growing trend in which the increasing popularity of consumer smartphones is forcing companies to come up with strategies to incorporate them into their technology infrastructure, says Total Telecom.