Xerox Corporation and Compaq Computer Corporation are taking the wraps off new technology that demonstrates how customers of the future can bypass network barriers and beam documents directly from their PC to a printer.
The joint technology demonstration of wireless printing at Comdex 2000, the computer industry`s premier showplace for high-tech wizardry, is a first for Xerox and Compaq.
The new technology shows how customers will be able to print without the use of traditional cables and without replacing existing computer and printing equipment. The demonstration links a Compaq Armada notebook computer with a Xerox DocuPrint P1210 personal laser printer, using a Bluetooth-enabled PC card that sends radio waves to an antenna used as a "dongle," attached in the printer`s parallel port. The "dongle" picks up radio signals and feeds them as print data into the printer. This allows the user to print up to 30 feet away without actually being connected by a cable. The Bluetooth standard, which Xerox and Compaq are testing in this demonstration, is a rapidly emerging protocol for wireless devices using radio signals.
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