Posted by
michael
on from the color-by-numbers dept.
mszeto writes "For all those gadget lovers out there, here is a neat one. It's the worlds smallest printer[ed. note: no it isn't], and is Bluetooth enabled. Rub it over the page to print! Here are some more articlesabout it:"
What's really be cool...
by
AtariDatacenter
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
Is if this was adapted into a tattoo gun. Just wave it over the skin, and have a permanent (or temporary might be more marketable) tattoo placed on the body. Anything you can dream up or download could be printed onto the skin.
This sounds really bad. In a good kinda way.
Re:What's really be cool...
by
Photar
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
Seems to me that you could do temporary tatoos just using special ink with this same device.
-- He who knows not and knows he knows not is a wise man. He who knows not and knows not he knows not is a fool.
Re:What's really be cool...
by
darkov
·
· Score: 5, Funny
Yeah, it would be cool until you discovered you had tattooed "Attempt to dereference a null pointer at 0x0F6F75E4" on yourself.
..When I used to work for the Chemistry Department here at the local U, I got to listen in on alot of the conversations the chem geeks had about emerging technologies. One of them was a new form of electron microscopy..err, well maybe not *electron* microscopy specifically, but, a device for visualizing atomic-scale structures, and "printing" them.
The "head" of this thing (a nanoprinter?) used the vibrations of nearby atoms to move...The vibrations were tracked by a controller of some sort, and if the head was bouncing around at just the right angle, they'd "print" an atom onto a surface. I was told this was how they made those famous pictures where individual atoms could be precisely lined up on a surface to show letters or numbers.. I remember IBM doing this sort of thing with Xenon atoms back in the late 80's or early 90's.
So, nyah. WOrld's smallest printer my ass!:) I've seen atomic printers, baby!
I've been using an item smaller than this printer to reproduce pictures on paper for years. I like to call it the Pen(TM).
I'm looking on getting a patent on the technology.
It can also use random movement technology to create the wonderful Squiggle(TM) effect.
Re:Michael, You Don't Know Shit...
by
whereiswaldo
·
· Score: 4, Funny
<a href="link to smallest printer goes here">no it isn't</a>
Wouldn't have been too hard.
If its not the smallest
by
Derg
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
then wheres the proof? That editors note is rather convenient, but it doesnt prove anything, which is easily done by providing a link or two to sources of smaller devices.
I looked at the links, and from my brief once over, it looks pretty cool, I just cant figure out how the device knows with respect to the media, where it is and accurately enough to print without mucho mucho problemo's
-- I'm a little tea pot.
I still have my doubts...
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 5, Funny
Is there a limitation on speed?
by
gotr00t
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
If the movement is so "random", then I just have one question after visiting the site and witnessing their really "non-technical" movie about how it "works". It looks like the animated dude's arm is moving in random directions, to be expected, but he just literally zips that thing right across the paper, and it didn't smear or cause streaks on the page.
Frankly, I find it hard to believe that on this system, you can move it THAT fast. There MUST be some limitations to how fast you can move it, as the print heads can't possibly respond soooo quickily.
Re:Is there a limitation on speed?
by
Greger47
·
· Score: 5, Informative
I've actually played with one of these printers at an exhibition in Sweden over a year and a half ago.
You could swipe it around in about the same speed as you would an ordinary mouse. To fast and the output got lighter bacause of increased distance between the dots (it was possible to go back and "fill in" color to get dark output again).
The quality of the output was somewhere bewteen a matrix printer and an inkjet.
It was also a tad large, maby 3 times the volume of a regular mouse.
Ofcourse I expect them to have improved it since then, and if thay arn't going to introduce it on the market untill 2005 I guess it comes with a built in coffe machine by then...
Killer app for bluetooth?
by
Tetravus
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
What do you guys think? This looks like the first killer app for bluetooth to me.
Imagine being able to print hardcopy contracts or directions on demand... though, the flexibility of the device to deal with different paper surfaces will be crucial to its widespread adoption.
~Tetravus
cool idea
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 5, Funny
Just take one of those mini RC cars, add an ink jet and a blue tooth interface and you could have a printer the size of matchbook.
It would be slow, but you could just set a piece of paper on a flat surface and have your laptop/pda "drive" the printer over the paper squirting out ink where needed.
Plus. if you needed a faster printer, imagine a beow... never mind
Next: the infinite distance printer!
by
fireboy1919
·
· Score: 4, Funny
The principle of generating small amounts of finite printing by simply hooking the logic circuits of a Bambleweeny 57 Sub-Meson Brain to an atomic vector plotter suspended in a strong Brownian Motion producer (say a nice hot cup of tea) is now well understood - and such generators are probably going to be used to break the ice at parties by printing embarassing messages on the hostess's dress, in accordance with the Theory of Indeterminacy. Many respectable physicists said that they aren't going to stand for this - partly because it is a debasement of science, but mostly because they don't get invited to those sort of parties. Another thing they won't stand is the perpetual failure they encountered in trying to construct a machine which could generate the infinite distance printer needed to print mind-paralysing distances between the furthest stars, and in the end they will probably announced that such a machine is virtually impossible.
-- Mod me down and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!
Well, why isn't it? is it a hoax, does it really print or is the Tomshardware review gonna tell us how much of a bitch it is to use but you're not mentioning it, Mr. "ed"?
Until then I'll just ignore ed's comment, and say, this will probably be the next thing after Palm Pilots that will be added to standard management's attire.. but how fucking annoying, now they'll put every little thing in print.. I can just imagine it.. PHB scribbles something with graffiti, taps the screen a few times to get Bluetooth working, oh wait, turn on the printer to get its Bluetooth in listening mode (hopefully it still has enough ink), alright, tap "Transfer Data", and then rubs the printer over a piece of paper to produce a note to remind you about the TPS reports, meanwhile the Post-It pad and pen gather dust in his drawers.
-- What time is it/will be over there? Check with my iPhone app!
Why let prior art stop you? Doesn't seem to bother any of the technology patent obstructionists, and your idea is much cooler than most of theirs.
: )
-- Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
We admit it is mostly vapor at the moment...
by
dbc
·
· Score: 4, Informative
Quoting company representative: "We are expecting the first RMPT based printer products to be launched on the market early 2005"
This is not real yet. These guys are still pulling back the foreskin of technology. Call me back when it is on the shelf at Fry's.
Re:We admit it is mostly vapor at the moment...
by
transient
·
· Score: 3, Funny
These guys are still pulling back the foreskin of technology.
Thanks for that, you fucking weirdo.
--
irb(main):001:0>
Re:How does it work?
by
pompousjerk
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
"I can't figure it out." "[Wave] something the size of a mouse and the print magically appears" "How in the world can it know where [to] print?" "I WANT ONE!...I think [this] company is going to make zillions."
Gentlemen, I believe that this post pretty much encapsulates all of consumerism in those phrases. No matter how much doubt there is, "OMG, that's so spiff!" often takes over.
Like those shitty products on infomercials that you know won't do anything worthwhile, but look damn spiffy up on the screen...
Impressive.
Re:It's a mouse that prints. Okay.
by
zanderredux
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
Guess it's another stupid IP-only company, just as Celera Genomics is.
They expect some other big manufacturer to take the challenge of making the technology viable for mass production while they sit and wait for the IP-rights cheques to arrive!
Whipped Cream and Other Delights.
by
teamhasnoi
·
· Score: 5, Funny
Combine this with a pda bacode scanner and you can print new barcodes at Walmart on the fly. Scan the crap model, put a blank label on the nice one,(still not illegal??) then print your new barcode. (ILLEGAL)
Good way to pick up chicks - wave your hand with the printer concealed in it over a bar napkin and hand her your magically appearing phone number and a dirty limerick (ok, no limerick)
Label everything you own - roomies will no longer be able to claim the beer/CD/toliet paper wasn't yours.
Print up fake parking tickets for random cars.
This would rock for labeling CDRs - I might actually do it with this thing.
Add mystery "ingredients" to grocery store items. "What the hell is lead sucrose doing in these hot dogs?"
Graffiti made easy! Free Mumia, Impeach Bush, Repeal the 1st Amendment - easy as a wave of your hand! No incriminating paint can or marker!
Print barcodes on unsuspecting foreheads - "Hold on, I think there's a bee in your hair..." - Just for fun. For now......
Add inappropriate menu items at your favorite resturant. "Baby Seal and Carrots?!! WAITER!!!"
Fake classifieds - "Dude, what's this about you selling the state's largest used children's undies collection? Your name, phone number and everything!!"
Hide small notes on the bathroom walls in strategic places - "If you can read this, you're poopin'"
Quick name tags for people - don't worry, it'll wash off!
Frankly, this thing is cool and sounds like fun - it may even be useful for labeling things, or handing out info. Of course, it will probably be priced too high for
most people who would actually use it. It will probably be good for manufacturing, labeling parts and other irregular things.
who read RMPT as RTFM at first glance? Only I guess with this, PTFM might fit better.
-- Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
Have One
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 3, Funny
I already have a Small Random Thingummybob Printer.
I move it over a paper & letters appear on the paper.
It's called a PEN
Re:How it knows where the printhead is...
by
Pig+Hogger
·
· Score: 4, Funny
Well, mine does a pretty good job of tracking velocity and position changes as long as it's touching my mouse pad.
What the fuck kind of mouse doesn't do that?
A broken mouse?
Re:How does it work?
by
hbackert
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
How in the world can it know where the print?.... Unless maybe you are supposed to start in the direct center of where the image is supposed to be and then it tracks from there I guess?
Good point. Can be solved however by making the device aware of the paper. Thus you'd move to the corners of the paper (even a while paper on a white surface should be ok, as there is a contrast difference visible) and as long as you don't lift the printer thing up, the printer is able to find out your relative position on the sheet.
This will not work on very large surfaces. Or spheres. My guess is, you push a button where it's supposed to start printing. And you click again to make sure the printer knows where "right" is. Or "down" or "left" in other languages.
What interrests me most is how you can swipe over a freshly printed surface without making a mess, unless they limit surface-ink combinations. Only if the printer thingy touches the surface on the lower, yet unprinted part of the paper, then it would not smear as it does not touch the upper part. The "random movement" becomes less random that way though.
All in all, a nice idea, even given some limitations like randomness of movement, special fast drying ink, limited surfaces.
Such a device would be controlled by a robot arm, a la Starshit Troopers.
If the robot runs Windows, which is very popular in tattoo parlers, then you are more likely to get a 300 page raw postscript dump. If you are put under for the tattoo, or pass out from the pain, you will awake to have postscript covering your entire body.
At first this sounds bad, but you could sue M$ for enough money to buy the UNIX code and GPL it.
(Sorry if this turned into a rant, the printer at work dumped hundreds of pages of postscript onto expensive paper under the direction of a Windows XP system. My Debian iBook came to the rescue and reprinted it correctly.)
Anyways, postscript is cooler than a null pointer exception, especially if it's a poscript http server.
-- You can't judge a book by the way it wears its hair.
So does this work like the paint buckets in old cartoons, where you can paint a whole picture with the swipe of a single brush?
/me quickly paints a picture of a tunnel on a blank wall.
=)
Nicodemuis
Advertisment
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
I can see people using these to bomb ads all over, on everything from school posters to that ugly shaved cat up the street.
Personally I think I'd use it to print clever things on the back of bills when I go out. Perhaps comments on service quickly typed out on the PDA and then printed in detail. Instant gospel message too.
This would be great for actually getting that information OUT of that PDA to people who don't have one, forget beaming a business card, print it on their hand, ok not exactly professional.
What was even more impressive ...
by
jc42
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
... was how, in the demo movie, it seemed to know where the print head was going to be, and made the text appear there just before the printer passed over the spot.
That is truly impressive tracking technology.
-- Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
Slashdot Mirror
Is if this was adapted into a tattoo gun. Just wave it over the skin, and have a permanent (or temporary might be more marketable) tattoo placed on the body. Anything you can dream up or download could be printed onto the skin.
This sounds really bad.
In a good kinda way.
The "head" of this thing (a nanoprinter?) used the vibrations of nearby atoms to move...The vibrations were tracked by a controller of some sort, and if the head was bouncing around at just the right angle, they'd "print" an atom onto a surface. I was told this was how they made those famous pictures where individual atoms could be precisely lined up on a surface to show letters or numbers.. I remember IBM doing this sort of thing with Xenon atoms back in the late 80's or early 90's.
So, nyah. WOrld's smallest printer my ass!
Bowie J. Poag
<a href="link to smallest printer goes here">no it isn't</a>
Wouldn't have been too hard.
then wheres the proof? That editors note is rather convenient, but it doesnt prove anything, which is easily done by providing a link or two to sources of smaller devices.
I looked at the links, and from my brief once over, it looks pretty cool, I just cant figure out how the device knows with respect to the media, where it is and accurately enough to print without mucho mucho problemo's
I'm a little tea pot.
I bet I could still manage a paper jam.
Frankly, I find it hard to believe that on this system, you can move it THAT fast. There MUST be some limitations to how fast you can move it, as the print heads can't possibly respond soooo quickily.
What do you guys think? This looks like the first killer app for bluetooth to me.
Imagine being able to print hardcopy contracts or directions on demand... though, the flexibility of the device to deal with different paper surfaces will be crucial to its widespread adoption.
~Tetravus
Just take one of those mini RC cars, add an ink jet and a blue tooth interface and you could have a printer the size of matchbook.
It would be slow, but you could just set a piece of paper on a flat surface and have your laptop/pda "drive" the printer over the paper squirting out ink where needed.
Plus. if you needed a faster printer, imagine a beow... never mind
The principle of generating small amounts of finite printing by simply hooking the logic circuits of a Bambleweeny 57 Sub-Meson Brain to an atomic vector plotter suspended in a strong Brownian Motion producer (say a nice hot cup of tea) is now well understood - and such generators are probably going to be used to break the ice at parties by printing embarassing messages on the hostess's dress, in accordance with the Theory of Indeterminacy.
Many respectable physicists said that they aren't going to stand for this - partly because it is a debasement of science, but mostly because they don't get invited to those sort of parties.
Another thing they won't stand is the perpetual failure they encountered in trying to construct a machine which could generate the infinite distance printer needed to print mind-paralysing distances between the furthest stars, and in the end they will probably announced that such a machine is virtually impossible.
Mod me down and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!
Well, why isn't it? is it a hoax, does it really print or is the Tomshardware review gonna tell us how much of a bitch it is to use but you're not mentioning it, Mr. "ed"?
Until then I'll just ignore ed's comment, and say, this will probably be the next thing after Palm Pilots that will be added to standard management's attire.. but how fucking annoying, now they'll put every little thing in print.. I can just imagine it.. PHB scribbles something with graffiti, taps the screen a few times to get Bluetooth working, oh wait, turn on the printer to get its Bluetooth in listening mode (hopefully it still has enough ink), alright, tap "Transfer Data", and then rubs the printer over a piece of paper to produce a note to remind you about the TPS reports, meanwhile the Post-It pad and pen gather dust in his drawers.
What time is it/will be over there? Check with my iPhone app!
Why let prior art stop you? Doesn't seem to bother any of the technology patent obstructionists, and your idea is much cooler than most of theirs.
: )
Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
Quoting company representative: "We are expecting the first RMPT based printer products to be launched on the market early 2005"
This is not real yet. These guys are still pulling back the foreskin of technology. Call me back when it is on the shelf at Fry's.
"I can't figure it out."
"[Wave] something the size of a mouse and the print magically appears"
"How in the world can it know where [to] print?"
"I WANT ONE!...I think [this] company is going to make zillions."
Gentlemen, I believe that this post pretty much encapsulates all of consumerism in those phrases. No matter how much doubt there is, "OMG, that's so spiff!" often takes over.
Like those shitty products on infomercials that you know won't do anything worthwhile, but look damn spiffy up on the screen...
Impressive.
They expect some other big manufacturer to take the challenge of making the technology viable for mass production while they sit and wait for the IP-rights cheques to arrive!
Good way to pick up chicks - wave your hand with the printer concealed in it over a bar napkin and hand her your magically appearing phone number and a dirty limerick (ok, no limerick)
Label everything you own - roomies will no longer be able to claim the beer/CD/toliet paper wasn't yours.
Print up fake parking tickets for random cars.
This would rock for labeling CDRs - I might actually do it with this thing.
Add mystery "ingredients" to grocery store items. "What the hell is lead sucrose doing in these hot dogs?"
Graffiti made easy! Free Mumia, Impeach Bush, Repeal the 1st Amendment - easy as a wave of your hand! No incriminating paint can or marker!
Print barcodes on unsuspecting foreheads - "Hold on, I think there's a bee in your hair..." - Just for fun. For now......
Add inappropriate menu items at your favorite resturant. "Baby Seal and Carrots?!! WAITER!!!"
Fake classifieds - "Dude, what's this about you selling the state's largest used children's undies collection? Your name, phone number and everything!!"
Hide small notes on the bathroom walls in strategic places - "If you can read this, you're poopin'"
Quick name tags for people - don't worry, it'll wash off! Frankly, this thing is cool and sounds like fun - it may even be useful for labeling things, or handing out info. Of course, it will probably be priced too high for most people who would actually use it. It will probably be good for manufacturing, labeling parts and other irregular things.
Just remember, you read it on K5.
who read RMPT as RTFM at first glance? Only I guess with this, PTFM might fit better.
Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
I already have a Small Random Thingummybob
Printer.
I move it over a paper & letters appear on the
paper.
It's called a PEN
How in the world can it know where the print? .... Unless maybe you are supposed to start in the direct center of where the image is supposed to be and then it tracks from there I guess?
Good point. Can be solved however by making the device aware of the paper. Thus you'd move to the corners of the paper (even a while paper on a white surface should be ok, as there is a contrast difference visible) and as long as you don't lift the printer thing up, the printer is able to find out your relative position on the sheet.
This will not work on very large surfaces. Or spheres. My guess is, you push a button where it's supposed to start printing. And you click again to make sure the printer knows where "right" is. Or "down" or "left" in other languages.
What interrests me most is how you can swipe over a freshly printed surface without making a mess, unless they limit surface-ink combinations. Only if the printer thingy touches the surface on the lower, yet unprinted part of the paper, then it would not smear as it does not touch the upper part. The "random movement" becomes less random that way though.
All in all, a nice idea, even given some limitations like randomness of movement, special fast drying ink, limited surfaces.
Such a device would be controlled by a robot arm, a la Starshit Troopers.
If the robot runs Windows, which is very popular in tattoo parlers, then you are more likely to get a 300 page raw postscript dump. If you are put under for the tattoo, or pass out from the pain, you will awake to have postscript covering your entire body.
At first this sounds bad, but you could sue M$ for enough money to buy the UNIX code and GPL it.
(Sorry if this turned into a rant, the printer at work dumped hundreds of pages of postscript onto expensive paper under the direction of a Windows XP system. My Debian iBook came to the rescue and reprinted it correctly.)
Anyways, postscript is cooler than a null pointer exception, especially if it's a poscript http server.
You can't judge a book by the way it wears its hair.
=)
Nicodemuis
I can see people using these to bomb ads all over, on everything from school posters to that ugly shaved cat up the street.
Personally I think I'd use it to print clever things on the back of bills when I go out. Perhaps comments on service quickly typed out on the PDA and then printed in detail. Instant gospel message too.
This would be great for actually getting that information OUT of that PDA to people who don't have one, forget beaming a business card, print it on their hand, ok not exactly professional.
... was how, in the demo movie, it seemed to know where the print head was going to be, and made the text appear there just before the printer passed over the spot.
That is truly impressive tracking technology.
Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.