Up until now, the words "Zink" and "Polaroid" were all but married together, but a breakup fit for The Hills is about to go down courtesy of the all-too-promiscuous Dell. Over in the deep waters of the FCC, we're seeing a new Dell printer that utilizes the ink-free Zink technology. The PZ310 WASABI is yet another handheld printer that comes bundled with a single stack of printing paper, Bluetooth technology for printing from your mobile / BT-enabled PC, a USB port for traditionalists and a Reprint button for obvious reasons. As with everything in the FCC, the agency is never kind enough to hand over any preliminary pricing / release information, but it ought not be long now before Dell starts shipping these things without even telling anyone.

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]

Hold up! Polaroid may not be dead just yet! A trusty reader was nice enough to give us some hands-on time with his new Polaroid Pogo Zink-based printer. The diminutive device is clearly meant to give us that old-school insta-print social feeling with its 2 x 3-inch photos, but results were less than a barrel o' monkeys. Engadget reader David says that while the unit is "cute," there's nothing very instant about it as prints take at least 60 seconds -- not including connection in or Bluetooth pairing time. On the plus side, prints are sturdy and don't tear easily, but David couldn't resist burning one of them just to see how the thermal paper reacted. In the end, he says this is a decent gadget for those in the know, but you're not going to put this at the center of a party like you would an old-school Instamatic. Peep the gallery for David's hands-on goodness.

[Thanks, David]

It's gone by a couple names since we first heard about it two CESs ago (Zink, Digital Instant Mobile Photo Printer, etc.) but the first Zink-based product is finally on its way to buyers as the Polaroid PoGo Instant Mobile Printer. It'll run you $150 for the unit (and $10 per pack of 30 sheets), and can print up to fifteen 2 x 3-inch photos on its rechargeable battery from any PictBridge capable camera or over Bluetooth. PC Magazine took a peek and found each print took between a minute and a half to two minutes (the latter over Bluetooth), and felt the quality was adequate at best, albeit sufficient for such small prints. Still, it's no secret that your options are extremely limited when it comes to pocketable printers, even of the dye-sub variety (which Zink-based devices like the PoGo hope to put out to pasture).

Well doesn't OutKast look silly now. The brand synonymous with instant film is killing off the Polaroid film format and attempting to reinvent the brand so it "lives on for the next 30 to 40 years." In the short term that means closing factories in Massachusetts, Mexico and the Netherlands, cutting 450 jobs, and breaking the hearts of hipster-photographers the world over. Obviously the concept of Polaroids was never going to be much more than a niche in the age of digital photos, and the Polaroid / Zink Digital Instant Mobile Photo Printer is filling the instant development void left behind, but it's still sad to see a format with so much history and fond memories die, especially since Polaroid spends the majority of its time these days slapping its de-valued logo onto rubbish commodity electronics.

Seeing Polaroid / Zink's Digital Instant Mobile Photo Printer at CES didn't come as a surprise or anything, but seeing it in action was indeed a treat. If you've been understandably skeptical about how well this thing would actually work, click on through and see for yourself.

We'd heard through the grapevine that the Zink portable printer camera would be getting boxed up and sent out to eager customers late this year, but now it seems as though Polaroid has jumped in for a bit of the action. Realistically, you shouldn't be too surprised that the former king of instant photography is syncing up with Zink, and we must say, this whole partnership conjures up some pretty fond memories of shakin' snapshots in tense anticipation as we waited for the scene to develop. Nostalgia aside, the firm's Digital Instant Mobile Photo Printer does indeed sport the Zink logo, and sure enough, it produces borderless 2- x 3-inch color prints instantly when fed images from a digicam or cellphone. We don't have a firmed up release date in front of us or anything, but all signs are pointing to soon -- very soon.

We're still not entirely convinced how effective Zink's portable digital camera / printer combo will be, but at least now we have an expected ship date. Zink has updated their site to say that their "digital polaroid" will be shipping in late 2007, which will hopefully mean a fall release date. Zink has also released some of the Integrated Digital Camera and Printer's specifications, which aren't altogether that interesting -- it has a 7 Megapixel CCD, 2-inch display, and SD memory card slot, just so ya know. All we care about is how good the printer is on this chunky combo unit.

[Thanks, Piper]

It's about time we got back in the groove of things post CES, and not a moment too soon. Vista's finally officially landed (we never thought we'd see the day!), Verizon dropped the bomb that they passed on the iPhone (and had another, smaller, Rev. A-launch related bomb), Palm killed the LifeDrive, and our own Ben Heckendorn built us a Wii laptop! All this and more in our last Engadget Podcast before our centennial celebration, enjoy!

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Hosts: Peter Rojas and Ryan Block

Producer: Trent Wolbe

Music: Solvent - Instructograph (Ghostly International)

Program:
01:05 - Clean install workaround for Vista upgrade discovered
10:47 - Verizon passed up Apple iPhone deal
14:13 - Verizon launches EV-DO Rev A network
17:08 - Meizu's M8? Apple lawyers, start your engines
20:45 - Dell working on a gaming handheld?
24:39 - Palm's LifeDrive getting the axe, marked "end of life"
31:21 - ZINK bringing printers to your handheld gadgetry
35:23 - The Wii Laptop!
36:59 - Engadget photo contest gallery!

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Contact the podcast: 1-888-ENGADGET, Engadget (Gizmo Project) or podcast at engadget dawt com

Although you probably haven't shaken a Polaroid picture in quite some time, a bit of that allure is reportedly headed to your handhelds, as Massachusetts-based ZINK looks to deliver a pocket-sized printer that can be "embedded in any device" and shoot out photos sans ink. The sensational sounding product will initially be used to print 2- x 3-inch color photographs, and interestingly enough, won't require a single drop of liquid to form the images. In ZINK's system (another pic after the break), "images are created when a heated printer head comes into contact with a sheet of specialized paper," which is actually a polymer containing three crystalline layers. Varying temperatures and pressure points create the pixels of color, and just in case you figure out your latest printout doesn't showcase your eye color as well as you'd hoped, it's recyclable. The company's first offerings will likely be offered in a $99 standalone format or as a $199 camera / printer hybrid, while the snazzy paper will run you $19.95 for a pack of one hundred, but we're definitely holding off on this here invention until we see just how impressive (or not) the printed results actually are. [Warning: PDF read link]

[Via CNET]