HP marketing manager Annamaria Pardini demonstrates connecting to a LaserJet using Wireless Direct.

Hewlett Packard is showing off a range of new printers at Macworld|iWorld 2012, largely aimed at the home office and small-to-medium business segments. However, a new feature of its latest printer models is what really caught our eye on the show floor. HP's Wireless Direct makes it possible to print documents and images from an iOS device via AirPrint without even knowing the name or password of the local wireless network.

All of HP's printers now include the company's ePrint feature, which enables options like wireless printing, sending documents to print via e-mail from anywhere in the world, and directly accessing documents in the cloud. These ePrint capabilities also enable support for Apple's AirPrint standard, according to Marketing Manager Annamaria Pardini, which lets iPhones and iPads to print to a networked printer without any setup, configuration, or driver installation.

If AirPrint weren't simple enough, Wireless Direct can make the process even easier. AirPrint requires that a compatible printer be accessible on the same wireless network as an iOS device, so you need to know the local network's name and (usually) a password. If you're visiting a friend or acquaintance, or stopping by a local business, you might not have those details. (Or if your WiFi was set up by an engineer from the University of Illinois, like mine was, you may just have a complicated WPA2 shared key.)

Wireless Direct-enabled printers broadcast their own SSID, allowing iOS devices (or any WiFi-enabled computer) to connect directly without knowing any details of the local network. Users can choose "HP-Print-4f-LaserJet" as their network, for instance, and as far as your iPhone is concerned, it is connected to a WiFi network with an AirPrint-compatible printer.

The number of times you might have to explain how to input an ampersand as part of a password might be small, so beyond the cool factor, it may not have a lot of practical applications in the home. We think Wireless Direct would be most beneficial to small businesses that wouldn't normally share network passwords. In addition to iPhones and iPads, Wireless Direct also works with computers running Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux, assuming a suitable driver is available.

Photograph by Chris Foresman