RIM, HP Plan Mobile Printing

The technology, developed by RIM and HP Labs, will allow mobile workers to easily identify printers on a network and then send e-mail or attachments to be printed, said Mark Guibert, RIM's vice president of brand management.

"We want to make it easier for corporate customers to manage e-mail, and part of that is printing documents," he said. "Users [will be able to select a printer and then hit 'print' much the same way you would on a PC."

HP executives declined to comment on the initiative.

The new printing capabilities reflect RIM's strategy to extend BlackBerry's capabilities to back-end data access. Retrieval Dynamics, Sarasota, Fla., for one, plans to use the printing APIs to enable network printing from within its Java-based RIM application, said David Rippetoe, director of business development at the mobile solution provider.

RIM devices lack RF or other wireless capabilities that enable document printing. In the past, Retrieval has relied on a third-party application that sends e-mails and attachments to fax machines, Rippetoe said.

With more wireless handhelds entering the market, RIM is struggling to push its technology beyond its corporate e-mail mainstay, solution providers say.

Earlier this month, the Waterloo-based vendor reported a loss of $14.3 million for its fiscal second quarter, its fifth consecutive loss.

Industry observers say RIM is pinning hopes of increased sales on new devices slated to ship this fall that operate on next-generation wireless networks. At CTIA, RIM said it plans to demonstrate devices that work over the 1xRTT and GRPS 2.5G wireless networks, as well as the recently released version 3.5 of its enterprise server.