The Mini Mobile Printer

Printing things can be a real pain sometimes if you are frequently on the go. Sure, most smartphones now have the capability to send something to a printer to print, but what if there’s no printer available? What do you do if you really need to print something, but there’s not a library or an OfficeMax anywhere around you? Sadly, there’s not a whole lot you can do except to decide to just print it out when you finally arrive somewhere that has a printer. In today’s technological world, it seems like there should be a much easier way to print things on the fly – after all, since students can virtually write an entire paper using their smartphone (if they really wanted to, that is) – should’t they also have the ability to instantly print it as well?

There’s a popular product on Kickstarter that thinks the answer to that question is a resounding yes. It’s called the Mini Mobile Robotic Printer, but I think I’ll call it the Pocket Printer. It’s a tiny printer that can easily fit in a (big) pocket or a handbag/backpack. It seriously allows you to print whatever you need wherever you are, as long as you have some paper with you. You don’t even have to plug it into an outlet – it’s that convenient.

Now, you can carry a printer with you wherever you go and can instantly print things from your smartphone. It currently supports iOS and Android mobile devices (it connects via bluetooth), as well as Linux and Windows operating systems. It’s not a fast printer by any means, as it will print about 1.2 pages-per-minute, but this printer isn’t what you use when you need speed; it’s what you use when you need convenient. As far as its size goes, it measures about 10 centimeters high and has a diameter of around 11.5 centimeters. And its wheels can travel anywhere it needs to go across the page. One inkjet will last for around 1,000 pages while the battery will last for an hour with a full charge.

A group of students from the Jerusalem College of Technology first thought of this idea in March of 2013. If everything goes according to plan, they will begin manufacturing these printers in September of 2014. As of this writing, they only need another $7,000 to reach their initial Kickstarter goal of raising $400,000.

What do you think of this idea? Let us know in the comments section below.