Tomy Xiao TIP-521 Brings Back The Polariod, Digital-Style
By Evan Ackerman
It doesn’t quite have that magical exciting warm and fuzzy spur of the moment cheap plastic instant gratification feeling that traditional polaroids do, but the Tomy Xiao TIP-521 digital camera does provide the same basic functionality: immediate physical access to pictures. It does this with a tiny built-in Zink printer, which uses special pieces of composite paper embedded with heat activated yellow, magenta and cyan dye crystals to make 2″ x 3″ borderless prints with sticky backs. There are no ink cartridges to replace, you just add more paper, at about $1 a sheet.
With a printer packed inside the camera, there isn’t much room left over for optics (the case is pretty bulky looking as it is) so I wouldn’t expect wonders from the 39mm equivalent fixed focal length lens and 5mp image sensor. For that matter, I wouldn’t expect wonders from the printer, either. But I would expect the camera to print out something a mere 60 seconds after you snap the picture, which is no small feat in of itself.
The Tomy Xiao TIP-521 will be available in Japan on November 28 for about $350.
[ Tomy Xiao ] VIA [ Fareastgizmos ]
Related Tags: Digital Cameras, Printers
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