Print in the park with Canon's newest mobile companion

As far as mobile printers go, Hewlett-Packard's recent Officejet H470 left us with a sour taste in our mouths. We know that there are folks out there begging for a mobile printer that can do it all: portability, quality, and unique connectivity features bundled into a stylish package, but so far, we've seen a stronger push toward photo-specific kiosk printers instead of professional units. Fortunately, Canon looks as if it's poised and ready to take the mantle with its newest Pixma iP100, just announced today.

Let's take a closer look at the specs:

1. Maximum 9,600 x 2,400 dpi resolution

2. One picoliter droplet size: fewer droplets equals crisper image on paper

3. Two-cartridge bay with pigment-based inks: pigment inks last longer than dye-based inks

4. Auto Image Fix technology: used for on-the-go image optimization

5. Pictbridge, IrDA, USB 2.0 ports onboard

The iP100 sells for $250, the same price as the HP Officejet H470. Canon also offers an external battery for $100 and a car charger for $90.

Thanks to the wonderful folks at Canon, we unboxed our own iP100 this morning and we already love the design--it looks a lot like the older Canon iP90v: thinner than the HP and much lighter, two very big plusses in the mobile world. Canon claims it can print 20 pages of black text per minute (14 pages for color)--we'll put that to the test and report back with a full review later this week.