Polaroid Snap lets you print instant photos without the ink

Snap is a remake of Polaroid’s classic instant camera, which lets users print real color pictures without ink. This $99 camera creates instant 2x3 photos through its built-in, almost magical printer.

C&A Marketing, Polaroid’s official licensee and distributor, is set to revitalize the financially defunct Polaroid brand and release new products resonating with its nostalgic classic fame. The trick of this camera is in its Zero Ink printing technology, which is an invention of the ZINK company. Instead of using ink, a special printing paper which contains cyan, yellow and magenta dye crystals is used under a protective polymer coating. When triggered, the built-in printer inside activates the crystals to create full-color wallet-sized photos.

However, the gadget is not enabled for instant social media sharing of photos. But it has a microSD slot for up to 32 GB storage space. Users can later upload the images to a computer, cloud service or social media platform of choice.

“Sharing, instant photography, and the idea of one snap, one print, are concepts that Polaroid developed over 75 years ago and that have long been engrained in the brand’s identity. The Polaroid Snap puts a modern twist on classic Polaroid instant cameras by combining digital camera technology with a contemporary, minimalistic design at a price point consumers would expect to pay for an analog instant camera,” commented Scott W. Hardy, President and CEO of Polaroid in a press release.

The overall look of the Polaroid Snap is due to design firm Ammunition, a studio that has had a long partnership with Polaroid in creating devices for the brand. From the older, more classic Polaroid cameras to the newer models, including the Polaroid Zip and Polaroid Cube, Ammunition has used its technology and design to bring the Polaroid brand to the new Polaroid Snap.

The Polaroid Snap’s additional features include several simple presets — color, black and white and vintage — a selfie timer, and a photo booth mode, which takes six photos in 10 seconds. Another notable thing about Snap is as much as it fits into a pocket, it also does with a small budget. The camera will be available for $99 in the fourth quarter of 2015. It will come in black, white, red and blue colours.