TechnicaMag.com

The Polaroid camera was a very cool gadget back in its day, allowing you to take and print pictures almost instantly, but the quality was never really that good and digital cameras soon eclipsed any of its unique benefits.

However the Japanese company Tomy Co have been working on a 21st Century update to the Polaroid, and have now just released the first digital camera with a built-in printer, that can take and produce instant photographs at the touch of a button. What is even better is that these cameras are light and compact (the product name ‘Xiao’ actually means ‘little’ in Cantonese) and unlike the original Polaroid you can also edit photos before you print them out.

The Xiao is currently being sold in a five megapixel version, and the printed photos measure about 5cm by 7cm, and a major bonus is that the integrated printer is of a thermal crystal design, meaning that it does not require ink. Current prices are 34,800 yen which is about £240, and the printing paper for the camera is about 880 yen or £6 for a pack of 20 sheets.