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HP/BlackBerry project paves way for Cloud print option

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5th May 2009
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IT services and computer/printer manufacturer HP has teamed up with Research in Motion (RIM) to create web service that will let BlackBerry users ouput documents to a local printer. John Stokdyk reports

Due for launch later this year, HP CloudPrint for BlackBerry will be a “printer-agnostic” system that lets you access documents and emails over the web to print on a nearby device.

To use CloudPrint, you submit a file to the central server, which converts it to a PDF and sends back an SMS code to your BlackBerry. You then log into a terminal connected to the web and a printer, and type in the document code to call it up ready for printing. You can also download a driver to your desktop machine that will let you save files to CloudPrint and generate the output codes before you leave the office. Pricing for the CloudPrint service has not been revealed.

HP CloudPrint is one of several initiatives that have emerged from HP’s strategic alliance with RIM. The other parts of the alliance include a single-console HP Operations Manager for BlackBerry Enterprise Server and a fully managed BlackBerry Services outsourcing option operated by HP subsidiary EDS.

The tie-up with HP was announced at the Wireless Enterprise Symposium in Florida just a day after market analyst NDP announced that the BlackBerry Curve had overtaken Apple's iPhone as the top selling smartphone in the first quarter of 2009.

In an interview with Internetnews.com, HP Canada chief technology officer Victor Garcia explained that HP's motivation for the tie-up with RIM was based on the BlackBerry's lead in putting an enterprise infrastructure around its smartphone models. "You need all those components to make it a true solution, that's what RIM and HP do," Garcia said. "Many companies try to just put a Web front end on things and make them mobile, but that's never successful because you need to be designed for the mobile environment from the ground up."

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