Printing on a Bluetooth printer

Question

I need to print on a Bluetooth printer. I already have a program for the Windows mobile platform, that sends commands and data via Bluetooth to a Zebra RW 420 printer, using the Zebra Printer Protocol. It's just a stream sent on Bluetooth.

Now, we'd like to do this on Android. I would like to know some basic information:

1. Is this type of printing possible/doable (we've seen very little information regarding printing on Android), or is Bluetooth limited to audio and file transfer?
2. How to connect a Bluetooth printer to the Android device.

Answer 1

Your best bet will be to use the ZebraLink SDK for Android devices. You can download it from Zebra here. The SDK comes with a load of sample code and documentation which covers how to use it, so you should be able to jump right in!

Answer 2

You can use a datecs printer too: http://www.datecs.bg/en (look for SDK). There are many printers, card readers, etc.

Answer 3

Printing via Bluetooth on Android is not possible as of now (as per my knowledge), as Android does not support Bluetooth 'Profiles', such as BPP (Basic Printing Profile), HCRP (Hardcopy Replacement Profile), BIP (Basic Imaging Profile) etc. which are the common profiles used with Bluetooth Printing. Ref. this to know about Printing BT profiles.

Currently, Android supports OPP (Object Push Profile) which is used to send files over Bluetooth and perhaps even A2DP.

To have Bluetooth profiles implemented within the Bluetooth Stack for Android, you can refer Sybase-iAnywhere-Blue-SDK-for-Android, which provides an SDK to add this functionality to the existing BT stack implementation on Android.