Is it possible to print to a Zebra belt printer from a web app?

Question

The app I am maintaining is, to put it mildly, long in the tooth and badly in need of a rewrite. It is a Compact Framework app that runs on a Windows CE device, using .NET 1.1 and Visual Studio 2003 (XP Mode to develop). IOW, it's a royal pain in the donkey to maintain. There is also a hue and cry from the users for something more modern.

In considering a replacement, I would like to go the web app route. But the big question/potential dealbreaker: Is it possible to print to Zebra belt printers from a web app on a smartphone?

The intent would be for the users to access the web app/site from a device such as a smartphone or "phablet" that would be connected to the belt printer. Is this feasible, or pie-in-the-sky?

Answer 1

The new mobile printers (QLn and iMZ) has the ability to communicate over web sockets. So if you can write your web app and incorporate web socket standards, the printer will connect to the printer over wifi to the server (even thru firewalls) bidirectionally. If you can't do this, Zebra also provides a Windows Mobile SDK and it's pretty easy to hook into a winMo app.