Printers

Despite the current onslaught of "smart" devices, the humble handwritten sticky-note reminder is still hanging in there. That said, Amazon is planning on giving it a high-tech makeover of its own, with the Smart Sticky Note Printer.

Holograms are one of those sci-fi promises that always seem to remain just out of reach. Now a former MIT Media Lab researcher is crowdfunding a desktop 3D hologram printer that can create images that pop out in 3D, and even appear to move.

Polaroid has today launched the Hi-Print, a pocket-friendly photo printer that can turn smartphone snaps into 2.3 x 3.4-inch prints in less than a minute, which can then be stuck on lockers, laptop lids, backpacks, or scrapbooks.

In a perfect world, the only objects that anyone would ever wish to print on would be sheets of paper. Given that this isn't a perfect world, though, The God Things has created what it claims is the smallest-ever mobile color printer – the PrinCube.

Polaroid has announced an official version of the Impossible Instant Lab from 2012, which turns smartphone images into physical prints.

​It's all very well and good, printing color graphics onto sheets of paper. However, what happens if you want to print them onto a wall, a piece of wood, an item of clothing, or anything else that can't be fed through a desktop printer? Well, that's where the PrintBrush XDR comes in.

​A couple of years ago, we heard about a device known as the Ripple Maker (now called Coffee Ripples), a machine that reproduces photos, text or other graphics on coffee foam. Well, beer-drinkers may be glad to know that its makers are back, with Beer Ripples.

Discarded printer cardtridges can still contain up to 8 percent residual toner by weight. Not only is this wasteful, but the toner can also leach into landfill soil. Now, however, scientists have devised a method of recycling it into iron.

Old-school printing specialist Xerox has come up with the new-school idea to give inkjet technology an edge, unveiling a so-called Direct to Object Inkjet Printer that does exactly what its name suggests. ​

​In no small part, crowdfunding has changed the way products make it to market. Some of the most innovative ideas of recent years owe their success to platforms like Kickstarter, so to highlight those success stories, we’ve picked out the cream of the crowdfunded crop, which you can buy right now.

​It's nice when baristas draw little things like hearts in the foam on your coffee. There's a chance, however, that those designs may be going the way of cave paintings. That's because Steam CC recently introduced its Ripple Maker, a machine that reproduces photos or other graphics on coffee foam.

Epson has a new line of printers designed to tackle one of the most irritating aspects of printing – the need to change ink cartridges. The company has unveiled a line of "supertank" color printers with large ink reservoirs that can go up to two years without needing replacement.