Zink Imaging,which is located in Boston, has now developed a new way to print yourphotos directly from your mobile phone or other devices. In fact, theywent one step further with the mobility of it and are completelyreplacing the ink cartridges we're so used to using.
Wireless camera phones would be fitted with these or you could havethis as a separate accessory, but the idea is incredible. How did theycut out the use of an ink cartridge? Let me tell you...
This company, has utilized the same technology that Polariod uses intheir instant photos. Using chemically treated paper instead of thetraditional ink-on-paper printing eliminates the need for those nastycartridges and makes this a more streamlined way to print photos. Ihope they don't make the paper impossible to afford like they have someprinter cartridges though.
So, instead of wasting time with bulky cartridges and large printerslike those from Hewlett-Packard, Lexmark, and others, you would be ableto utilize the process Zink has come up with and embed the ink into thespecialized chemically treated paper. The mobile printer connectseither wirelessly or with a USB cable directly to any camera phone ordigital camera and prints full-color 2" x 3" digital photos (size of abusiness card).
Using heat in the process, different layers of ink can be activatedduring printing and appear on the special paper, giving you quickphotos in a compact format. This will allow the makers to work for asmall form so that you can carry this around and it's far more mobilethan what is offered on the market today.
As I understand it, the printing process is set up by controlling howthe heat is applied to the paper by using thousands of tiny heatedprint heads. This allows the manufacturer to produce small andeasy-to-use printers that could be designed with very few buttons and asmall format.
View a video on the Zink printer and visit the site to find out where you can purchase yours, here. They also have an integrated digital camera and printer available soon.
