Mobile app prints snaps straight from phones

GoMobiPrint currently supports Symbian phones

A new application allows users to print pictures and other content from their phone directly to any wireless-enabled printer.

Launched at the Symbian Smartphone Show in London, GoMobiPrint from Software Imaging solves the problem of photos taken with a cameraphone that are " trapped" on the handset. Most users currently have to resort to downloading them to a PC for printing.

The application prints directly from a phone to any printer with a Bluetooth interface, according to the firm, and will be extended to printing via Wi-Fi in the future.

Mike Bowerman, director of mobile products at Software Imaging, said that GoMobiPrint can be used to print text messages, contacts and emails as well as photographs.

Some services send a receipt to customers via SMS as proof of purchase, and GoMobiPrint allows these to be printed for safe keeping, he explained.

Bowerman claimed that Software Imaging has a wealth of experience in printer driver development, and that the application will output to any wireless-enabled printer.

GoMobiPrint currently runs only on Symbian handsets with Nokia S60 software, but the company aims to support iPhone, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile by the end of the year, according to Bowerman.

The application costs £2.50 and can be purchased via the GoMobiPrint web site. Users select their phone model and enter their number to receive an SMS that downloads the application straight to their handset.

This price includes free upgrades for six months, according to Bowerman, so that when Wi-Fi capability is added users will get this for no extra cost.