HP has unveiled four new models which may well hold the key for the future of printing.

Called the Photosmart, the Photosmart Plus, the Photosmart Premium, and the $299 Photosmart Premium with Fax, the printers all have an in-built feature called ePrint, which allows the printing of documents without the need to install drivers.

In a 'why has nobody thought of this before' moment, HP has made its printers web-friendly giving them networking capabilities and their very own email address.

It is to this email address you can send docs to print, regardless of the device you are using.

Yes, this even includes the iPad.

To be fair, the HP ePrint idea has been around for a while in app form. BlackBerry users have been privvy to it since April.

But now the tech is entering its consumer printer range it is more likely people will start paying attention to it.

Email accounts

Announced in New York today, the printers are given unique (and randomly generated) email addresses that are said to be spam free.

If you want to protect the addresses further, you can whitelist which email accounts can access the printer's system.

Once you have mailed the document to the printer, it begins printing.

Prices for the printers start at $99 and go all the way up to $199.

The idea of web-based printing is definitely an intriguing one. There was even talk that newspaper companies could use the system to make sure you have a printed newspaper delivered straight to your printer tray every morning.

Which is one of the oldest new school ideas we have heard in a while.