UPnP(TM) Implementers Corporation Certifies First Products in the New Printer Device Category; Company Certifies HP Photosmart 2570, 3200, and 3300 Series All-In-One Printers, Offering Plug-N-Play Photo Printing From the Entertainment Center.

SAN RAMON, Calif. -- The UPnP(TM) Implementers Corporation (UIC) today announced that the organization has certified the first products -- three HP Photosmart all-in-one printers expected to be available this fall -- in its Printer device standard. The Printer device standard, UPnP PrintEnhanced:1, allows consumers to print digital images from UPnP-compatible TVs, set-top boxes, digital video recorders (DVR), digital cameras, camera phones, personal digital assistants (PDA), or other photo-enabled devices to their home-networked printers using standard Ethernet or Wi-Fi technology.

"Since printers are now ubiquitous in the home, we believe that the certification of networked printers is a key milestone in the adoption of UPnP technology as a leading standard for connectivity in the digital home," said Karen Stash, president, UIC. "The members of the UPnP Forum are enabling simple and robust connectivity between standalone products, including PCs, PC peripherals and other consumer electronics devices, from many different vendors today, and will continue to develop standards to help make sure that home and business networks just work."

"Today's announcement demonstrates HP's commitment to delivering rich and rewarding digital photography and entertainment experiences to consumers," said Gregg Patterson, vice president, Consumer Imaging and Printing, HP. "By including UPnP technology in our printing devices, we're making it easy for consumers to print images directly from the family entertainment center."

Consumer electronics companies that participate in the UPnP Community are encouraged to extend these benefits to consumers by adding support for UPnP Print Enhanced:1 to their photo-capable networked consumer electronic devices. UPnP device standards, service descriptions and supporting documents are available on the UPnP Forum web site (http://www.upnp.org/standardizeddcps/printenhanced.asp).

To date, UPnP technology has shipped with millions of broadband Internet routers. Additionally, beginning last year, UPnP products such as digital media adapters, media renderers and media servers have started shipping in volume. Now, with the certification of the HP Photosmart 2570, 3200, and 3300 series all-in-one printers, UPnP technology will begin shipping in consumer printers starting in September.

Manufacturers and OEMs can leverage the UPnP certification under their own brand in multiple market segments. The UIC expects these HP printers to be the first of many consumer/home networked-printer products that feature UPnP technology.

There are now more than 200 UPnP(TM) certified products and 65 UIC member companies. Products authorized to display the UPnP certification mark provide an easy way for consumers to recognize those items that have been developed with a simple method for connecting to home and corporate networks. All certified products implement the UPnP device standards as defined for specific product categories developed and published by the UPnP Forum, an industry association of over 750 companies.

About UPnP Technology

UPnP(TM) technology makes home networking simple and affordable so the connected home experience becomes a mainstream experience for users and a great opportunity for the industry. Published in 2000, version 1.0 of the UPnP architecture offers pervasive network connectivity between PCs of all form factors, intelligent appliances, and wireless devices. UPnP architecture leverages TCP/IP and the Web technologies to enable seamless proximity networking in addition to control and data transfer among networked devices in the home, office, and everywhere in between. UPnP technology can be supported on essentially any operating system and works with essentially any type of physical networking media -- wired or wireless -- providing maximum user and developer choice and great economics.

About the UPnP Implementers Corporation

The UPnP Implementers Corporation (UIC) is the non-profit corporation that promotes the adoption of UPnP technology by manufacturers of hardware and software products. The UIC administers the UPnP device certification process and the UPnP mark licensing. UIC members certify their devices that implement standards that are written and approved by the UPnP Forum.

UIC currently certifies devices in these categories: internet gateway devices, media servers and media renderers, printer device and print basic service, and HVAC.

For more information about certifying your product with the UIC, visit: http://www.upnp-ic.org.

About the UPnP Forum

The UPnP Forum is a group of companies and individuals across multiple industries that play a leading role in the authoring of specifications for UPnP devices and services. Formed in June 1999, the Forum is a non-profit association of over 600 consumer electronics, computing, home automation, home security, appliances, printing, photography, computer networking, mobile products and other leading companies working together to design schema and protocol standards for the UPnP initiative.

For more information about the UPnP Forum, visit: http://www.upnp.org.

The UPnP(TM) word mark and the UPnP logo are certification marks owned and managed by the UPnP Implementers Corp. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.