This September marks an exciting 10 years since the Mopria Alliance was formed. Our mission was, and remains, simple: to promote, simplify, and increase the accessibility of wireless printing from smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices.
Decades before the Mopria Alliance was created, printers were packaged with floppy disks or CDs containing Printer Drivers. More recently, but prior to the release of Android 8.0 Oreo’s Default Print Service powered by Mopria technology, printing documents on Android required third-party solutions and vendor-specific plugins and drivers. The user experience was lengthy at best and roadblocked at worst. This remained the case until 2013 when our founding members Canon, HP, Samsung, and Xerox collaborated to align to standards that make printing universally compatible from any mobile device to any printer anywhere.
Since then, the alliance has grown to include 18 additional members representing the leading companies in the worldwide printer and scanner business. We launched a universal standard for mobile printing in 2014. Samsung integrated our technology into their own print app. We have facilitated multiple studies examining printing as it relates to workflow and productivity and the overall value of paper. We celebrated a milestone achievement of 3 billion installations of Mopria technology worldwide. Windows added support for Mopria certified printers beginning with the Windows 10 update. We saw our technology integrated as a standard component of the Android operating system, and installed on select Amazon Fire, Huawei, and ZTE devices.
As proud as we are of our own milestones, we’re even more excited about the wider developments we’ve seen in the last decade that have reshaped the way we print.
We’ve tapped Mopria Alliance members at Canon and Kyocera for their insights on what they consider to be the most interesting ways printers have changed in the last 10 years, revolutionizing the way we print and interact with paper documents.
“The role that the Mopria Alliance, the one and only non-profit organization that brings together companies from around the world involved in printing, has played in the printing industry to date is far greater than can be imagined.
Starting with the development and distribution of mobile apps that enable printing from mobile devices, it has been an esteemed achievement for Mopria to become the de facto standard, adopted as a key print component of Windows and Android operating systems.
This activity has expanded to scan and cloud printing and we are confident that its activities will continue to evolve in conjunction with the advancement of IT devices and operating systems.”
Hideki Honda, Alliance Project, Senior Architect at Canon Inc.
“As we reflect on the remarkable journey of the past 10 years, I am immensely proud of the Mopria Alliance’s transformative impact on the printing landscape. Our collaborative efforts have not only simplified and revolutionized mobile printing, but also laid the very foundation for the future of this industry. With unwavering commitment, we have forged universal standards, eliminated barriers, and ushered in an era of seamless printing experiences.
The strides we’ve taken over the last decade are not just milestones; they are the cornerstones upon which the next generation of printing innovation will be built.”
Dilinur Wushour, President at Kyocera Document Solutions Development America, Inc.
The last ten years have been transformative for the printing industry, with remarkable advancements that have reshaped how we interact with printers. From wireless connectivity and cloud integration to the rise of smarter functionality, printers have become indispensable tools for both personal and professional use. As technology continues to evolve, it’s exciting to imagine what the future holds for these devices that have come so far in such a short span of time, and we’re thrilled to play a role in that.
To learn more about the Mopria Alliance, visit www.mopria.org.
