It’s never been easier to take photos. We take our smartphones with us everywhere and many of them now have competent cameras built in. But your photos are typically stuck on your phone and social networks.
That’s fine if you want to quickly share them with the world but there’s something different and even special about a printed image.
That’s where Prynt comes in. It’s a start-up that’s taken to Kickstarter to fund a clip-on photo printer, which you attach to your phone and can then use to print any of your smartphone snaps, much like a Polaroid.
The added bulk doesn’t make your phone any larger than a Polaroid camera and it means you can instantly print photos, you don’t even need Wi-Fi, just snap one or pick one from your gallery and it will print in 30 seconds.
It seems to be a well thought through device too. For example you don’t need to worry about ink cartridges, as the paper it uses has ink embedded inside and if or when you change your phone you won’t need a whole new Prynt, you can simply order a new dock adapter.
Prynt looks fairly stylish too, as it comes in a choice of white, pink or blue with an animal-friendly leather grip.
It works with iOS and Android and it’s got its own battery with a life of 20 prints and a charging time of just 90 minutes and it can hold ten photo paper sheets at once.
So far so Polaroid, but Prynt goes further, because with the accompanying app you can also shoot a short video alongside each image and when you hold the printed image up to your phone camera it will play the video on your screen. So each printed photo is more than just an image.
It also means that if you send a photo to a friend you can embed a hidden video in it, to surprise them when they view it through their phone camera.
The app also includes filters, frames and personalisation options as well as allowing you to order more photo paper.
Prynt is already proving popular because at time of writing the Kickstarter has been funded several times over with 34 days left. The company was only looking for $50,000 but has already raised $226,559 and if you want to get in on it you still can.
The early bird offers have all sold out, but for $99 (around £65) you can get the device plus ten photo sheets shipped anywhere in the world, with delivery estimated for October.
