Digital camera with built-in printer launched

We already caught a brief glimpse of Tomy's Zink printer-equipped Xiao digital camera earlier this month, but with the Friday release date now upon us, we finally have a few more details about the would-be Polaroid successor. That includes word of a price for both the camera (¥34,800, or just under $370), and the paper you'll need to actually print photos which, at ¥880 (or about $9) for 20 sheets, likely won't have you plastering your walls with the 2x3-inch shots, even though they do actually have adhesive backs. Interestingly, you can also use the camera to print photos from any IrDA-equipped cellphone, but unfortunately not via WiFi or Bluetooth, which would be a tad more welcome. If that's got you intrigued, you should have a slightly easier time picking one up when it launches internationally next spring, although by then it'll likely also be competing with Polaroid's own Zink-equipped camera.

The 21st century equivalent of the traditional Polaroid, the Xiao digital camera enables users to take photos and edit them before printing them out.

The candy-hued camera, produced by the Japanese toy company Tomy Co, prints out photographs within 45 seconds via an integrated mini printer.

Photographs sent to the five megapixel Xiao from other digital cameras and mobile phones via infra-red technology can also be printed out from the portable device.

The photographs produced by the camera measure two by three inches and have adhesive covers on the back side so they can also be used as stickers.

Xiao – meaning 'small' in Chinese – is the result of a collaboration between Tomy and the technology company ZINK Imaging which has produced the printing device.

The thermal printer does not require ink due to the presence of tiny colour crystals embedded in the paper which are heat-activated when a photograph is taken.

The partnership has led to the creation of the first digital camera on the market capable of printing out photographs as well as taking them, confirming its status as a digital version of the traditional Polaroid.

Available in three colours black, magenta and green the camera will go on sale in Japan on Friday, costing £239 (34,800 yen) and £6 (880 yen) for 20 sheets of paper, before being launched internationally next spring.

The Polaroid has been hailed as an icon of camera technology since Edwin Land, the US scientist and founder of Polaroid Corporation, unveiled the first commercial instant camera in 1947.

However, the emergence of the digital instant camera is likely to fuel further the demise of traditional film photography, with film sales declining 25 per cent a year in the past decade.

The rise of digital technology for both cameras and mobiles has resulted in a steep decline in film photography, including Polaroid products.

In February this year, 61 years after the appearance of the first Land Camera, Polaroid announced that it would discontinue film production, close three factories and lay off 450 workers.