HP prints from mobile phones

Hewlett-Packard (HP) has released an application to let users to print content directly from their Nokia handsets.

The Phone2Print software currently works with only two Bluetooth-enabled devices from Nokia and HP - the Nokia 3650 handset and HP Deskjet 450 mobile printer.

However, HP said in a statement it plans to extend this capability to upcoming Nokia Series 60 phones such as the 6600. Series 60 is Nokia's implementation of the Symbian 7.0 handheld operating system and features common PDA-like functions on top of mobile telephony features.

The software is available as a free download on HP's website and can be transferred to the handset via Bluetooth or infrared connections.

This product is the result of a four-month partnership between Nokia and HP. Nokia is the third handset maker to sign on to HP's mobile printing effort launched in October last year . Both Research In Motion, which helped develop the printing feature with HP, and SonyEricsson plan to add the same feature to some of their own wireless devices, company representatives said.

Helped by the surge in camera-equipped handsets, HP believes modern wireless devices have grown sophisticated enough to receive and store information that someone would want to print. According to market research firm IDC, 315 million camera phones will be in use worldwide by 2007.