The Google Cloud printing function previously had no printers that directly supported it. Eprint fills that void but has its own problems.HP has announced that its ePrint printers will henceforth support the Google Cloud Print function, which connects Google Cloud apps to printers. Previously this was done through software on computer-connected printers, in the absence of cloud-aware printers.

However, HP ePrint machines can connect directly to the Internet and have their own e-mail addresses that let them accept print jobs from anywhere on the net (as long as the incoming files are in common formats.) With the new arrangement, users of Google Cloud apps can register their ePrint machines with the app and use it any place where they have cloud access, as explained here. Basically, ePrint machines effectively become cloud-aware.

One little detail makes it sound less interesting: as explained at length here, I can't get ePrint to work from my desk, and I am apparently not alone. Using separate incoming and outgoing mail servers defeats ePrint, for some reason. Diverting mail that way is apparently not uncommon among mobile workers, who are the very people ePrint is aimed at. There appears to be no mystery about the source of the problem. But it persists, and I could not get through again this morning.

But those whose ePrint devices do work can now get additional functionality from Google Cloud.