HP printer seeks a new niche

HP engineer David Hall helped design the company's new Web-connected printer. (The Columbian/Libby Tucker)

Hewlett-Packard engineer David Hall helped design the company’s new Web-connected printer. (LIBBY TUCKER/The Columbian)

Hewlett-Packard Co. has introduced the first Web-enabled printer to the world, creating a new category of consumer products that can access the Internet without first connecting to a PC. The printer got its start in Vancouver where it was conceived and designed by a Hewlett-Packard engineering and marketing team.

HP Engineer David Hall recalls brainstorming the new printer in the same cavernous building at the company's campus on Southeast 34th Street that once held its printer manufacturing plant. Printers have evolved into fast, design-savvy devices since the company moved its assembly operations overseas in 1999, and the team struggled to brainstorm new features that would really motivate consumers, Hall said.

They came up with the $399 HP Photosmart Premium with Touchsmart Web printer, available to consumers this fall. From a touchscreen display that resembles an iPod, users can scroll through pre-loaded Web applications to print movie tickets, maps, coupons, recipes and more from popular sites such as USA Today, Google and Fandango. The device, which also functions as a fax, copier and scanner, connects to a user's Snapfish.com account, to allow printing directly from a personal photo database.

The biggest challenge to the design concept wasn't the engineering, but "getting people to latch on to the concept and run with it," Hall said. Until now, no printer has had the capability to connect to the Internet on its own, without a desktop or laptop computer.

The printer signals HP's entry into the growing market of Web-enabled devices such as mobile phones, many of which are already in the third generation of technology. Web-connected printers can now finally connect to a wireless home area network, for example, so that a user could sit on the sofa and send a signal from their cell phone to print a document in another room.

But the innovative features may not be enough to motivate buyers, given tough economic conditions. The initial price is "really high" for consumers, said Sahaja Sarathy, a senior research analyst for IDC in Framingham, Mass., and an expert in wireless technology markets.

A home printer now available for under $100, paired with a $300 netbook, would "probably get more bang for the buck," she said.

Such a setup gives users unlimited access to their favorite sites while the new HP printer doesn't have its own Web browser. Instead, it has access to only a handful of sites.

HP does not foresee incorporating this capability in the near future.

"'This means that the user is confined to accessing Web content only with HP's partner Web sites," said Sarathy. "With this limitation, users still need to go back to a PC to print out Web content from nonpartner sites, including a sizable chunk of content from e-mails. It is explicable that HP has chosen to do this, given its own Netbooks business gaining traction among a similar target customer base."

HP's custom applications are formatted specifically to be printed, however, a valuable feature that's not necessarily true of Web sites in general, Sarathy added. Even "printer-friendly" pages can include advertisements or other extra content that uses more pages than necessary.

A custom format uses less ink and cuts down on paper waste, which reduces the overall cost of the printer over time.

Hall recognizes the printer's limitations and says that the design was intentional. Consumers don't want to browse the Internet on their printer, he said; they want fast, easy access to the applications they use most.

HP plans to release newer versions of the Web printer for business applications, as well as a less-expensive line of Web-connected home printers that will eventually reach the $99 range, he said.

Libby Tucker: 360-735-4553 or libby.tucker@columbian.com.