Polaroid PoGo Instant Digital Camera: Give it some stick

'Sharing' is an overused buzzword in the technology industry these days, but we have to admit there's a definite pleasure to be had from printing and handing round your photos. Polaroid may have ceased making film for its traditional instant camera, but isn't taking the advent of the digital age lying down: the Polaroid PoGo Instant Digital Camera takes a bow at CES 2009.

Sure, Tomy did get there first with the Xiao, but Tomy make toys and Polaroid make cameras. We got a sneak preview of the PoGo printer at last year's CES, where we were shown the ever-so-clever Zink technology. This replaces conventional ink with dye crystal-impregnated paper, bakes the image on to a print-out, and is dry to the touch within a minute. The original PoGo printer attached to camera or computer via USB, but now Polaroid has cut out the middleman with the PoGo camera.

Simply snap your image and instantly print it out. Brilliant. The camera is chunkier than most -- 119mm wide by 76mm tall -- but that's mostly down to the need to load it up with paper. It is surprisingly light, and still pocketable for all but the most snake-hipped pairs of strides. The extra size also makes room for a whopping 76mm (3-inch) screen.

The PoGo range is also customisable, thanks to a partnership with SkinIt. You can print your own image or select from templates, and stick it on your 'Roid.

The PoGo camera goes on sale in the US in March 2009 at a suggested price of $199 (£140), and will be available in the UK shortly after. Take a look at our photos for more from Polaroid as it moves into the 21st century.