Research in Motion (RIM) and Hewlett-Packard (HP) have confirmed rumours by formally announcing a partnership between the two firms to provide various business applications for BlackBerry devices.
The new platforms will be useable on BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0, also officially unveiled at RIM’s Wireless Enterprise Symposium (WES) 2009 event in Orlando, Florida.
One of the new applications is HP CloudPrint for BlackBerry smartphones, which enables people to print emails, documents, photos and web pages from a BlackBerry to the nearest printer via an Internet connection.
The service should not be limited to HP printers, as the companies claim HP CloudPrint is printer-agnostic and driverless.
The two companies will also be taking on the management side of things with HP Operations Manager for BlackBerry Enterprise Server. This is said to enable companies to monitor and manage their BlackBerry handsets.
“RIM and HP are working together to deliver solutions to customers that weave mobility into their daily operations – from innovative new services in the cloud to managed mobile services for the enterprise. Through our collaboration with HP, businesses will have access to an expanded set of applications and services for their BlackBerry smartphone deployments,” said RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie in a statement.
“As businesses look for new ways to increase service levels, reduce operational costs and improve productivity, they can meet these challenges by transforming how they manage the infrastructure that powers their mobile workforces,” said Ann Livermore, executive vice president, Technology Solutions Group, HP. “Emerging models of communications and collaboration have created an opportunity for RIM and HP to provide service-based mobile solutions that deliver value to customers.”
