HP Teams With Nokia On Digital Forms InitiativeHP Teams With Nokia On Digital Forms Initiative

Hewlett-Packard and Nokia plan to deliver a jointly developed platform for processing forms using digital pens and mobile technology.

The Mobile Forms Initiative, announced at HP's Mobility Summit this week, can address the market of more than 150 million paper forms that are used globally by enterprises each year, says Eric Chaniot, VP and general manager of HP's Digital Pen & Paper Group.

Initially, products and services resulting from the development work may be of particular interest to companies' with outside sales staffs, and to the health industry, Chaniot says.

With the Mobile Forms Initiative, data is collected using specially printed forms and an electronic pen, which transmits the data to IT systems within a company where it can be saved, shared, and printed, he says. HP's digital layout design will transform a company's existing paper forms into "smart" forms ready for use with digital technology. HP's digital paper printer driver handles the printing of digitized forms on standard HP LaserJet printers. The Nokia digital pen is used with the "smart" paper forms, and communicates using Bluetooth wireless technology. The HP service controller connects with the digital pen using GPRS.

The platform will be offered through systems integrators in North America and Western Europe, and will be available as either a product or service.

Says Chaniot, "We're using our printing experience to make paper smart."