Editor’s Note: The following article is reprinted from Macworld UK. Visit Macworld UK’s blog page for the latest Mac news from across the Atlantic.
Epson has announced global support for its open-source development kit, the ESC/P-R library, which assists product designers wishing to develop printing applications for electronic devices. With the kit, developers are able to support most Epson inkjet printers worldwide with just one driver insists the company.ESC/P-R is a common language for selected Epson inkjet printers that supports every media type, paper size and associated printing mode available on those products. ESC/P-R allows many kinds of devices to connect and communicate with Epson printers, especially suited for consumer electronics devices and embedded equipment.
The ESC/P-R development kit has already been utilised to develop printing applications for the iPhone, iPod touch, and for phones using the Android operating system, Epson notes.
ePrint by Microtech and Epson’s own Epson iPrint are available from the Apple iTunes App Store, while CyCom Technology CyPria application is available for download from the Android Market.
All of Epson’s Wi-fi capable all-in-one printers launched this year will support these applications.
According to Epson, ESC/P-R language is designed to be easy to develop and maintain, as it removes the necessity to create and update separate drivers for each printer. It enables speedy printing of high quality images even from devices with a slow CPU, and does not require dedicated image processing memory.
Information on Epson’s universal printing and supported printers can be found here. Details about the ESC/P-R library can be found here.