Your Smartphone is Your Camera

There’s an entire generation of people who have never owned a camera, yet snap more photos that ever before. With a smartphone in hand, photos are taken to capture all life’s great moments, sights and adventures, then shared on social media. What’s missing from this equation is the appeal of a printed copy.

That’s the problem the new HP Sprocket photo printer solves.

HP Sprocket photo printerThere’s a Reason for Old School Physical Media’s Popularity

Digital media is great, but it has its downsides. It can be fleeting—one click of a button and it’s gone forever. It can be cold. And you need a device to interact with it. These reasons help to explain the growing popularity of old school physical media. Vinyl is a perfect example of this trend. Despite the many imperfections of records, they have been staging a massive comeback in a digital world. Listeners love the warmth of the analogue recording and the connection they get from picking up a record and examining the jacket and sleeve.

That same thing is true of photos. An endless slideshow of photos scrolling on a smartphone display begins to get overwhelming. People love to pick up a photograph—an actual printed photograph. It has a warmth that digital lacks and you can slip it in a pocket to look at whenever and wherever. With the HP Sprocket photo printer, you print a lab quality photo any time you want, directly from your smartphone or tablet.

HP Sprocket Photo Printer: Lab Quality Prints, Fits in Your Pocket

Many years back, I owned a “portable” photo printer. I use the quote makes because, although amazingly compact for  the time, portable really meant you didn’t need both hands to carry it. Despite the limitations, being able to print photos on demand was amazing.

The HP Sprocket photo printer is seriously portable. Its footprint is about the size of a smartphone and it weighs just 171 grams. You can literally fit it in a pocket. It has a built-in battery, so you can use it anywhere—no power outlet or USB cable required. It spits out lab-quality, 313 x 400 dpi, 2 x 3-inch prints. You can print directly from your iPhone or Android smartphone (or tablet) using Bluetooth. So can your friends.

And, there are no ink cartridges to buy!

The HP Sprocket uses special ZINK Zero Ink technology photo paper to instantly print 2 x 3-inch photos or stickers. They’re bright, durable (water and tear-resistant) and smudge-proof. Download the free HP Sprocket app and you can personalize those photos before you print them. Add a message, titles, borders or whatever. Snap a photo on your smartphone and instantly print copies to share with your friends, or a print a copy of a favourite photo that shows up in your social media feed.

The HP Sprocket puts a high quality photo printer in you pocket or purse, so you can permanently capture and share your favourite moments.

The HP Sprocket is now at Best Buy.

 

Make sure to see what it can do, and compare it to the wide selection of instant cameras and printers you’ll find at Best Buy, all designed to capture the best of your digital photos in a warm, lasting and sharable paper format.

Brad Moon
Editor Computing solutions
I’m a long-time electronics and gadget geek who’s been fortunate enough to enjoy a career that lets me indulge this interest. I have been writing about technology for several decades for a wide range of outlets including Wired, Gizmodo, Lifehacker, MSN, About.com, Kiplinger, and GeekDad. I’m in my 10th year as a senior contributor for Forbes with a focus on reviewing music-related tech, Apple gear, battery power stations and other consumer electronics. My day job is with the Malware Research Center at AI-native cybersecurity pioneer CrowdStrike.

2 COMMENTS

  1. They are demoing this at *competitor* tomorrow. Cost there is $159 (same as Best Buy . Prints are the size of a business card. Very cute to see, but prints are 50 cents each (20 pack for $10).

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