Canon Pixma MG7120 and MG5520 printer previews: All-in-one printers reach for the cloud
posted Thursday, August 22, 2013 at 12:00 AM EDT
Canon today announced two new all-in-one wireless inkjet printers, the Pixma MG7120 and Pixma MG5520. Alongside these printers, Canon has introduced a new cloud-based printing platform called Pixma Printing Solutions (PPS). Combined with a free companion app for iOS and Android smart devices, users are able to browse and print photos and documents from many popular social networking and cloud storage services such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Dropbox, Picasa, Evernote and more.
The Canon PPS app connects to these social network and cloud storage accounts so you can print your photos -- as well as your friends' photos -- from practically anywhere where you have an Internet connection. Users register their printer with their app via Pixma Cloud Link, and can then browse the cloud for photos and documents stored online. You can even determine paper type and size, as well as other print settings, all from your smartphone. You can also access hardware information from the cloud via the app, including the ink model number, online manuals and ink levels.
In addition to wirelessly and remotely printing from the app to your personal printer, you can send and share photos and documents to other PPS-compatible printers. For example, you could set up one of Canon's new printers for your parents or grandparents, and then from miles away, send a Facebook photo using your smartphone to their printer. Another example could be business travelers who are now able to quickly browse and print documents to their home or office printer while sitting on the airport tarmac.
The new Pixma MG7120 and Pixma MG5520 printers feature a 3.5-inch touch LCD screen and 2.5-inch non-touch LCD screen, respectively, and can access the PPS platform to print cloud-based photos and documents right from the printer.
Technically speaking, the Canon Pixma MG7120 boasts a dual front tray, one for photo paper and another for regular document paper. It also features direct disc printing as well as HD Movie Print, which lets you print still images from HD videos shot on Canon cameras. The printer uses a hybrid ink system with six individual ink cartridges, including a gray ink tank, and prints up to a maximum color resolution of 9600 x 2400 dpi.
In contrast, the Canon Pixma MG5520 uses a simpler five-color hybrid ink system, and prints up to 4800 dpi. The MG5520 can scan up to 1200 x 2400 dpi, while the higher-end model goes up to 2400 x 4800 dpi.
The MG7120 and MG5520 printers are both compatible with Apple's AirPlay wireless printing protocol for easy printing from iOS devices on the same Wi-Fi network. The printers also work with Google Cloud Print, which allows users of Gmail, Google Docs and other Google services to wirelessly print from compatible mobile devices, the Google Chrome browser and Chromebook laptop computers. There is also ad-hoc wireless printing called Access Print Mode to directly connect to the printer from a wireless device without using or setting up a wireless router or network.
The Canon Pixma MG7120 and MG5520 have an estimated retail price of US$200 and US$150, respectively. Both printers come in black or white, but the MG7120 also comes in red or brown as a Canon online store exclusive. No release date is available yet.