Polaroid’s Mobile Digital Instant Printer

About the size of a deck of cards (and weighing only a few ounces), the Polaroid Digital Instant Mobile Photo Printer lets you share photos that have been trapped on cell phones and digital cameras on the go. The pocket sized digital instant printer is the first truly mobile digital printer.

The printer uses ZINK Zero Ink Printing Technology, a heat-activated printing process, to create full-color pictures. With ZINK Zero Ink -- like the name says -- there is no ink involved. Polaroid Digital Instant ZINK Photo Paper is a composite material that houses cyan, yellow and magenta dye crystals in a protective polymer overcoat. Before printing, the dye crystals are colorless, so the photo paper appears white.

Heat activation is what brings photos to life. Heat activates and colorizes the ZINK dye crystals, so digital photos can be shared instantly, developing in less time than a traditional Polaroid photo.

The printer produces borderless, full-color, 2-inch by 3-inch prints and connects to digital cameras through a PictBridge USB cable and to camera phones wirelessly through Bluetooth. The printer should be available in the 2nd quarter for around $150. www.polaroid.com