Google Cloud Print review: First Look
Google attempts to revolutionise the world of printers with its cloud-based approach to printing, but how well does the new service actually work? Kat Orphanides fires up her web browser to find out.
You only get a few options - portrait or landscape mode, duplex (which won't do anything if your printer doesn't have an automatic duplexer), multiple copies and a choice between whatever colour, monochrome or greyscale modes your printer supports. We weren't able to choose between our printer's various paper sizes and different trays or print multiple pages to a sheet. Although it's basic, mobile Cloud Print is nonetheless incredibly useful and simple to use. However, we'd like to be able to print from a wider range of sources. This platform-independent web-based approach allows Google to reach as many users as possible with a single implementation of the feature, but we were still disappointed to find that the Gmail app on our Android phone doesn't let us Cloud Print yet. Paulo Fernandes' unofficial Cloud Print BETA app lets you Cloud Print from a wider range of apps. Unfortunately, it crashed when we tried to run it on an HTC Legend running Android 2.2.
