Polaroid digicam to feature integrated PoGo printer in 2009

We had this inkling that it was only a matter of time before a PoGo-infused camera came to market, and at long last, we finally know (well, sort of) how long we're talking. Sometime in 2009, the aforesaid company will be pushing out a digital camera that includes an on board printer based around the Zink technology. The device will be capable of ejecting 4- x 3-inch prints, and curiously enough, it sounds like you could actually have a say in what it looks like. No, seriously -- hit the read link and have a look.

[Via Wired]

[5thMeridian @ Aug 12th 2008 5:14PM]

Somebody missed the memo:

Print media is dying.

[Mycroft @ Aug 12th 2008 5:47PM]

I read that in the paper today.

[Information Central @ Aug 12th 2008 5:59PM]

"Print media is dying."

Right. That's why J. K. Rowling is a billionaire and now this vampire novel thing is sweeping the planet.

That's what I want to do when I want to give my girlfriend or parents a collection of pictures as a gift: hand them a DVD-ROM and tell them to go hunch over their keyboards while browsing them on their cheap-ass LCD panel, instead of flipping through a nicely bound album on the couch.

You know what else is dying? Taste. Judgment. Quality.

[Metkis @ Aug 12th 2008 10:15PM]

I bought a Playboy just yesterday!

[Xenoterranos @ Aug 12th 2008 5:25PM]

After they killed off the Polaroid, I wondered when someone was going to come out with a product that filled the "mugshot" niche.

[Anthony @ Aug 12th 2008 6:40PM]

"after they killed off Polaroid". Don't forget- this *is* Polaroid. Just not an instamatic.

I work for a company & two times a year we need to take hundreds of polaroids in a couple of days for a conference. We bought up a bunch to make it 2 or 3 years. Maybe we'll switch to this version. Too bad they're smaller & look like they cost more (a bad combo).

[sockatume @ Aug 12th 2008 7:04PM]

I don't think you'll want this one. The only Zink paper currently available is for business-card-sized stickers. Hopefully they'll move on to larger formats in the near future, but they're aiming stright for the novelty teenager gadget market right now.

[sockatume @ Aug 12th 2008 7:33PM]

Sorry, I am made of fail today. Actually, it looks like this will be the first Zink product to have a serious attractiveness to customers. A standalone printer in this size could be pretty impressive.

[EBone @ Aug 12th 2008 5:33PM]

Oh Polaroid, you just don't know when to give up and go away, do you?

[EBone @ Aug 12th 2008 5:34PM]

Douche

[5thMeridian @ Aug 12th 2008 5:36PM]

I wish I could reach through the internet and choke all you little shits to death.

But now all I've done is made you happy, because all you wanted was the attention in the first place. What, did mommy forget to tuck you in last night?

[kjb434 @ Aug 12th 2008 5:38PM]

So Polaroid is trying to make a comeback?

The only people i know that print pictures is my mom. And that because she wants to through an occasional one in a frame.

But it's a whole lot cheaper to upload your images and and chose the ones you want printed and pick them up or have them delivered.

[Information Central @ Aug 12th 2008 5:51PM]

Oh, that's brilliant. Why don't you just use film and take it to a one-hour photo place?

Look at your amazing workflow:

Take a compressed digital picture, then upload it somewhere for it to be downsized and RECOMPRESSED, and then pay for someone else to print it and ship it.

It's sad the film will die and then people will routinely squander the benefits of digital acquisition, as you apparently plan to.

[kjb434 @ Aug 12th 2008 5:58PM]

It's not me you idiot. I haven't printed a picture in over 10-years.

I was referring to my mom and most adults in their 50s and 60s who always knew of pictures in the paper form.

She just uploads them to the Walgreens website, picks the ones she wants, then when she goes pick up her medication or something at Walgreens she gets the pics she wanted.

It's very popular and most retail stores offer it now and it actually saves a lot of time.

[kjb434 @ Aug 12th 2008 5:39PM]

no, his uncle forgot to molest him. so now he's acting out....

[Wolfticket @ Aug 12th 2008 5:40PM]

I called this. I don't remember exactly when, but I definitely called it.

[Wolfticket @ Aug 12th 2008 5:59PM]

http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/08/polaroid-no-longer-does-polaroids/comments/10354259/
Just sayin', is all.

[Information Central @ Aug 12th 2008 5:51PM]

This "contest" is ridiculous. You rank five features in order of importance, and then cram an answer to a sixth question and then say why instant printing is important into 25 words or fewer.

There's no opportunity to make suggestions, as the host article claims. For example, no way to urge them to forget ridiculous pixel counts and go for low noise instead. No way to suggest that the camera also be able to function as a portable printer when hooked up to a computer. No way to emphasize the importance of wide angle and not zoom.

Why bother, Polaroid?

[sockatume @ Aug 12th 2008 7:36PM]

I just really want to know how I can answer "should the product look like a traditional Polaroid (comfortable and durable) or be as small as possible" on a scale of 1 to 5.

[Michael Scrip @ Aug 12th 2008 5:51PM]

So you take a picture of someone and hand it to them? Where do you keep it? I know Polaroids were the shit about 20 years ago... but that was before e-mail and Flickr.

I'd love a camera with built-in wireless, or a way to tag a photo in the camera, and it gets uploaded to a friend when you plug the camera in the computer. I always hear "e-mail me that photo" but I forget to send it.

[Godspeedgen2 @ Aug 12th 2008 7:08PM]

Heard of Eye-Fi?
look into it.

[Amerist @ Aug 12th 2008 6:46PM]

I saw this coming too.

It's kind of humorous if you think about it. Analog and expensive instant prints are leaving the scene and now we're going to have digital, smaller, still expensive prints with a sticky back on them. Woo Hoo!!!

Even though it has yet to be seen, I'll wager that Polaroid will not allow you to print to it's camera's integrated printer from another computer or camera.

Why doesn't Polaroid implicitly state whether you can print to a pogo printer with USB or if it has pictbridge support?

Right on their front page: "No computer connections needed. Print directly from your camera's cell phone or digital camera"

From my camera's cell phone? No. Invest in a new editor? Yes.

[Amerist @ Aug 12th 2008 6:56PM]

I saw this coming too.

It's kind of humorous if you think about it. Analog and expensive instant prints are leaving the scene and now we're going to have digital, smaller, still expensive prints with a sticky back on them. Woo Hoo!!!

Even though it has yet to be seen, I'll wager that Polaroid will not allow you to print to it's camera's integrated printer from another computer or camera.

Why doesn't Polaroid implicitly state whether you can print to a pogo printer with USB or if it has pictbridge support?

Right on their front page: "No computer connections needed. Print directly from your camera's cell phone or digital camera"

From my camera's cell phone? No. Invest in a new editor? Yes.

[Amerist @ Aug 12th 2008 6:58PM]

Sorry for the double post. If only I could delete my own posts...

[Godspeedgen2 @ Aug 12th 2008 7:00PM]

The Art world is still full of polaroid people and you would be amazed at how much Polaroid has changed our world. There is a huge market for instant print technology and ZINK is quite an opportunity in the photo world.

If none of you have ever played with a Polaroid at a party and seen how it changes peoples mood and such, you wouldnt know why Its such an amazing product. Instant Gratification is kind of a big deal here on Earth.

For all of you digital only people, cool do your thing, call me when your hard drive smokes and you lose everything.

For all of you enjoying film still, just do your thing. just dont be a snob.

Pros know Polaroid was huge until digital, and Artists still use it for everything from transfers to studio work. We need a new medium to fill that hole. this is it.

Give me an 8x12 Zink Printer at 600 dpi and Polaroid like color saturation and I bet we see a huge mainstream market materialize out of supposed thin air.

People are stupid, tech like this is perfect, its idiot proof.

[Amz @ Aug 13th 2008 2:42AM]

dammit, now I want one.

[burntpigeonproductions @ Aug 12th 2008 7:08PM]

Ya gotta shake it like a Poloriod pictcha..sh sh shake it....heyyyy yahhh hey yah.

/Hey. Nah.

[oracle @ Aug 12th 2008 8:25PM]

Just bought my Polaroid Spectra AF a few weeks ago... Physical media rules, you nubs!

Yeah, I kid. So, it costs me about $2.50 a shot, but they have an awesome vintage look. The way they capture light is quite different from image sensor in a digicam.

I have my digital camera and love it for the everyday and the mundane, but when I wanna take a different kind of photo, I reach for the Spectra.

[Alareth @ Aug 12th 2008 9:43PM]

The Instamatic is dead. Long live the Instamatic.

[Nelly @ Aug 13th 2008 11:45AM]

if only this would fit in my Polaroid SX-70, I would so go for it!