printer

Like any other Target fanatic, I try to stay on top of the sales and deals year-round, but they get especially juicy around back-to-school time. Not only can you find a great deal on something you've had on your wish list all year (a Flip camcorder!), but you can stock up on all of the essentials. You know, ink, netbooks, flash drives, ereaders, that sort of thing. This weekend's circular is stuffed with all kinds of bargains and extras (items could be different in your area, so be sure to check your local ads before you head out) — take a look at a few of my faves below!

HP has announced a line of Internet-connected printers designed to easily work with a smartphone or other Internet-connected device. The printers come equipped with both an email address and cloud access to accept print jobs. Since they're wired directly to the Internet, they eliminate the need for a print server or PC; just email or upload your file from any device for easy printing. The printers also feature touch-screen navigation and the ability to schedule printing on a regular daily or weekly basis.

HP has suggested that the printers also be set up for public use in hotels, airports, or other public places, which would be convenient if you're having trouble reading a file on your phone if you're away from your home or office printer. They cost from $99 to $299; the least expensive wireless version is $199. They'll be available for consumers later this month, and to businesses starting in the Fall.

Nevermind that the iPad doesn't have Flash support or a camera, one of the other (and, admittedly, more minute) drawbacks is lack of printing capabilities. Say you buy a book through the iBookstore and want a hard copy of your receipt (for expense purposes perhaps), you aren't able to since the iPad is driver-free. Using one of Google's soon-to-be-released Cloud Printing apps — for the iPad, mobile devices, Gmail, and Chrome — you can send your print job through the app, and Cloud Printing takes over from there.

Just set up your printing parameters through Cloud Printing, and the app will send your print job to your home printer or any printer worldwide you specify. This makes business printing easy, or even printing documents that you received on your mobile so you don't have to fire up your home computer.

• Nokia's upcoming Booklet will offer 12 hours of battery life and have WiFi and a SIM card slot for 3G access — Engadget
• Lexmark has just unveiled three web-connected touchscreen printers — CNET
• California may start banning environmentally unfriendly televisions by 2011 — Unplggd
• With the new Zune HD coming out on Sept. 15, Microsoft has decided to discontinue all other Zunes — Wired
• A recent survey showed that more people watch Hulu than Time Warner Cable — Switched
• Here are 8 great game documentaries, which will teach you more about the history of gaming — Green Pixels

This morning here in San Francisco, HP announced their first web-enabled printer called the TouchSmart. With a touchscreen control panel that has the look and feel of an iPhone, the TouchSmart will offer apps that make it easy for one-touch printing. HP has already teamed up with companies like Fandango (movie-ticket printing), Google (maps, calendar printing, etc.), USA Today (news article printing), and Nickelodeon (kids activities) to offer useful applications. The printer's API is completely open, so you can expect hundreds of more free apps — like RSS reader apps and airline apps — to become available by its Fall launch date.

To see what else I thought about the printer and to find out how much it will cost, read more