Zink presenting at DEMO 2007

Zink, the Zero Ink printer company, is coming out of stealth mode and presenting at DEMO 2007 today. The Boston Globe , San Jose Merc, and Cnet have stories on Zink today. Zink is a spin-out from Polaroid's research labs, and is headed by Wendy Caswell, an old friend from our days together at Digital Equipment Corp. I got the inside scoop on Zink way back in 2005 and posted a detailed description in this blog post.

The Boston Globe reports "The first products in the pipeline include a stand-alone printer, about the size of an Apple iPod music player. The printer will contain Bluetooth wireless radio technology, as well as a port for a USB cable, and will be priced at around $100. Zink and its unnamed partners are also planning a $199 digital camera with a built-in printer, that would eject photographic prints in much the same way as an old-fashioned Polaroid camera.

Zink will continue research and development on the printer hardware and software. But the company's main source of revenue will be its unique paper. Zink will mass produce the paper at its Waltham facility, ensuring a constant stream of revenue ."

Here is how the Zink printer system works. Zink "zero ink" means that the printer doesn't have a an ink jet print head. Instead, colorless dye forming crystals are embedded in the photo paper itself. They are "developed" by passing the paper through a Zink printer, which is basically a stationary thermal transfer print head. The print head selectively heats each pixel at a different temperature to create different colors.  Each crystal color stays invisible until heated to an exact temperature. Think of Polaroid instant film technology applied to photo printing on paper.

Zink will revolutionize the photo printing business for quick, portable prints. Think about this. There are millions of cell phones with built in cameras. More than 80% of these photos never get printed or sent anywhere because users can't figure out how to do it. Zink has developed a one button printer that easily connects to your camera phone, fits in your shirt pocket, and costs less than $100. There are lots of other possible applications. My bet is this will be a big winner.

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Comments

[Guy Pelletier]

Do you know how long the picture will last? can it be copied?

Guy

[David]

What's the power source for the printer?

[DonDodge]

The picture should last as long as any photo process. This is not like the old Polaroids that would fade over time. The photos can be copied or scanned just like any other photo.

The portable printer is powered by a battery. The power requirements are very minor for the thermal print head which is stationary, and the wheels to move the paper through the printer. That is it.

[Patricia Lloyd]

Longevity for photos varies dramatically from dye sublimation prints that might only last 5 years to some of HP and Epson's better ink and paper combinations that should last over 100 years. Traditional silver halide prints have been tested at 40 to 60 years. Wilhelm Research is the gold standard for longevity testing in the imaging industry.

[lucio]

Do you have plans to distribute down to Australia?

[Jon]

I have a feeling this is going to go the way of the fabled lightscribe disc labeling technology. They are going to come out with a unique and good product, and promise reasonably priced consumables. Then some boneheaded VP is going to make them charge way too much for the consumables. Then the technology will never get any traction and fade away.

[Richard Wright]

Can you provide any details on the print technology in terms similar to other printers?
- Resolution?
- Possible number of colors or the Gamut?
- Are the color crystals a specific color, like inks? (cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black) OR Can the crystals display multiple colors depending on the heat applied?

Richard Wright

[John Wilson]

I understand that the Quality of the Zinc photos are much better than inkjet- near silver halide image quality. They are durable, and waterproof! They can literally be washed without damage. They print up to 10X faster than inkjet. Their website is now up, and has a video of the printer being demonstrated at DEMO2007
Check them out at www.zink.com

[Dan Ciruli]

I think this sounds very cool.

My question: how much is a sheet of (say, 4x6) ZinkPaper? Everyone knows HP doesn't make money from their cheap InkJets--they make money from their ink.

[Herman Vaszlovszky]

Is there a storage capacity in this printer. The pictures taken on the memorycard should never be saved on a PC harddisk. Already taken pictures should always be "available" for printing in a printer product and not on a harddisk from a PC. When you immediately need space on your memory card do you want to start up your PC and then after 15 minutes or so take your first picture?. Or if you're on the road?

Does this printer also have a 16-9 output for TV.

Best Regards.
Herman

[DonDodge]

The Zink paper cost will be about US$.20 per print. Prices will probably come down with volume but that is already very competitive with other photo printing costs.

Zink prints a 4X6 in less than 30 seconds. The print will last for 15 plus years according to the Wilhelm test.

Zink prints in a continuous tone process at 300 dpi which translates to more than 3000 dpi in terms of inkjet halftone process.

Zink can reproduce millions of colors. There are 3 colors crystals in the system cyan, magenta, and yellow that are turned on by different amounts of time and temperature.

The printer will not have memory in the first product – your pictures will be stored either in your Cameraphone or digital camera memory.

The aspect ratio is the same as a 4x6 for the mobile printer, so it is not 16X9. Maybe a future product.

NOTE: all of these responses were supplied to me by the company. I am not a printer expert, although I did work in the printer business back in the 80's. Much has changed since then.

[phule]

What about ambient temperature? If I took this portable device out and about with me (replacing my soon-to-be-retired Holgaroid) and the temps were in the upper teens and low 20's (F) like it is now, what would happen to the prints? Would I be looking at color shifting because the heat element is reduced?

[Curt Sampson]

Fujifilm has had a small, portable photo printer called the "Pivi" available for a year or two now. It costs about 10,000 yen (US$85), exposes Polaroid film, and is quite fun to play with. Typically you send the pictures via the infrared interface available on most phones in Japan. There's more information in English at http://www.fujifilm.com/products/mobile_printer/index.html .

Oddly enough, it seems to be available everywhere in the world but North America.

[phule]

Curt,

Portable printers using film are nothing new. Polaroid itself came out with a printer that uses 500-series film back in 2000 or 2001. I own one and, well it's...interesting. It is portable but the costs per print are high and the device (due to its age) has a real problem with image sizes larger than 4MP.

[Arkadyi Plotkin]

A new video sharing service that is technologically going even beyond YouTube was launched in Jan 2007. Its name is MYUBO. Apart from the Web, it can also be accessed from mobile phones (upload & watch) and works on all mobile data networks - including GPRS, EDGE, or CDMA and 3G/UMTS.

http://www.myubo.com
http://myubo.mobi

Even though MYUBO is still in beta phase it has already captured the attention of Internet and mobile phone users.

[anand]

I am very much inspierd by the subject. i would like to take it as my next technical paper at collage. so please send in more information

[Jim]

So if I wanted to invest in Zink-- do I just buy Polaroid stock or do they have their own symbol?

[DonDodge]

Zink is still privately held, and not a subsidiary of Polaroid. There is no way to invest in Zink at this point. Zink could go public with an IPO in a few years if everything goes as planned...but it rarely does in business.

[john]

I'm curious -- is there room for multiple sheets in the printer, or do you have to carry them separately? Seems like that could be a hassle, though I'm sure they've already considered that.

[Don Dodge]

John, the portable Zink printer comes with 10 sheets of "paper" in a pack which fits neatly inside the printer.

Of course it could be designed to be a little thicker and carry more sheets of paper. Each printer manufacturer will decide on its own design.

Zink will license the printing technology to manufacturers, but will produce and sell the paper themselves.

[Shahar]

I understand that you have cyan, magenta and yellow to create the colors. But do they not need black?
I live in a hot country, will the photopaper be sensitive to heat? if I leave it in my car for example?

This does not sound as a cheap paper.

[jason]

Two years since this post, whatever happened to Zink? They can't hardly be found on the market, shows how hard it is to break through the ice.

In the end, it's so much more than technology that needs to be in place in order to succeed.

[DonDodge]

Jason, you are right, it takes more than just great technology. Zink is licensing its technology to manufacturers of printers, PCs, cameras, and digital picture frames.

Only the Polaroid printer is on the market at this point. The camera and picture frame are coming soon.

[Ink Catridge]

I think it's the world's smallest printer ? That's good news for cellphone users who now have printer to print.