Method and apparatus for remotely rendering a file in a format appropriate for printing

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a peripheral device from a host device, a file for printing, wherein the host device is unable to render the file in a format that can be printed by the peripheral device;

receiving, by the peripheral device, a print setting associated with printing the file;

transmitting, by the peripheral device to a server, (i) the file in order to enable the server to render the file in the format that can be printed by the peripheral device and (ii) the print setting associated with printing the file in order to enable the server to render the file based on the print setting associated with printing the file;

based on transmitting the file to the server, receiving, by the peripheral device from the server, (i) the file rendered in the format that can be printed by the peripheral device, and (ii) an advertisement;

printing, by the peripheral device, the file rendered in the format that can be printed by the peripheral device; and

displaying the contents of the advertisement on a display of the peripheral device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the file for printing comprises:

receiving the file for printing from a storage device inserted in the peripheral device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting, by the peripheral device to the server, the file further comprises:

transmitting, by the peripheral device to the server, the file over a network.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the network is the Internet.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

transmitting, by the peripheral device to the server, a configuration parameter associated with the peripheral device, in order to enable the server to render the file based on the configuration parameter associated with the peripheral device.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the host device is located remotely from the peripheral device, and wherein printing the file rendered in the format that can be printed by the peripheral device further comprises:

subsequent to receiving the file rendered in the format that can be printed by the peripheral device, receiving, by the peripheral device, from one of (i) the host device, (i) a user of the host device, or (iii) a representative of the user of the host device, a confirmation command to print the file; and

based on receiving the confirmation command, printing, by the peripheral device, the file rendered in the format that can be printed by the peripheral device.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting, by the peripheral device to the server, the file further comprises:

determining that the peripheral device cannot render the file in the format that can be printed by the peripheral device; and

in response to determining that the peripheral device cannot render the file in the format that can be printed by the peripheral device, transmitting, by the peripheral device to the server, the file.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the peripheral device is a printer.

9. A peripheral device comprising:

a communication interface configured to (i) receive, from a host device, a file for printing and (ii) receive a print setting associated with printing the file, wherein the host device is unable to render the file in a format that can be printed by the peripheral device;

a transmission module configured to transmit, to a server, (i) the file in order to enable the server to render the file in the format that can be printed by the peripheral device and (ii) the print setting associated with printing the file in order to enable the server to render the file based on the print setting associated with printing the file;

a reception module configured to receive, from the server, the file rendered in the format that can be printed by the peripheral device; and

a printing module configured to print the file rendered in the format that can be printed by the peripheral device.

10. The peripheral device of claim 9 , wherein the communication interface is configured to receive the file for printing from a storage device inserted in the peripheral device.

11. The peripheral device of claim 9 , wherein the transmission module is configured to transmit, to the server, the file over a network.

12. The peripheral device of claim 11 , wherein the network is the Internet.

13. The peripheral device of claim 9 , wherein the transmission module is further configured to:

transmit, to the server, a configuration parameter associated with the peripheral device in order to enable the server to render the file based on the configuration parameter associated with the peripheral device.

14. The peripheral device of claim 9 , wherein:

the reception module is further configured to, based on the file being transmitted to the server, receive, from the server, an advertisement; and

the peripheral device is configured to perform one or both of (i) printing the contents of the advertisement, and (ii) displaying the contents of the advertisement on a display of the peripheral device.

15. The peripheral device of claim 9 , further comprising:

a rendering module configured to determine that the peripheral device cannot render the file, as received by the communication interface, in the format that can be printed by the peripheral device,

wherein in response to the determination that the peripheral device cannot render the file in the format that can be printed by the peripheral device, the transmission module is configured to transmit, to the server, the file.

16. The peripheral device of claim 9 , wherein the peripheral device is a printer.