Zero ink pics

[Luz Ramirez Pascual]

Imagine a world where you don't have to deal with "toner low" messages from your printer or to buy pricey replacement cartridges. In this new world, you may not even need a printer - because there's one built into your cell phone or your digital camera. All you need is special paper on which your words or images appear like a Polaroid picture, but without the shaking or the waiting.

Welcome to the future as envisioned by Zink (which stands for "zero ink"). The Polaroid comparison is not entirely coincidental: Zink is a spinoff of Polaroid and still housed in the company's R&D facilities in Waltham, Mass. Its patented process uses special paper embedded with three layers of dye crystals - yellow, magenta and cyan - designed to melt at different temperatures. Without the bulky cartridges and printheads, Zink can make its printers small enough to fit in your pocket.

Zink's manufacturing partners will soon begin selling the mobile printers. (One will be embedded in a digital camera.) Eventually they could be built into cell phones, laptops, TVs or digital picture frames. Zink will sell the paper. Each 2-by 3-inch print will cost the consumer roughly 20 cents and come with a peel-off sticky back like a Post-It. No uploading is required. Isn't it revolucionary? Visit: http://www.zink.com/