The iConvert features a small footprint, but can scan documents ranging from 2- to 8.5-inches wide. Documents are scanned with 300 DPI resolution and saved to your iPad’s picture folder. The controls for the scanner show up on the iPad screen via the iConvert iOS app that you can download from the iTunes App Store.

The scanner dock is compatible with both the original iPad and the iPad 2. It’s priced at $150 and will go on sale in February, giving you enough time to scan and sort all your receipts in time for tax season. The iConvert will be available through Brookstone.

[via Cult of Mac]

What these scanners do, if you’ve never heard of them before, is employ ionizing radiation to see through the clothes a person is wearing. What the creators of these scanners argue is that a single scan douses the person being scanned in such a small dose that it’s acceptable. Here in the USA, it has been deemed acceptable and the scanners continue to be newly employed throughout the country. Just a couple weeks ago your humble narrator was scanned once in Minneapolis and once in New York City – zapped!

TSA officials in the USA have responded by saying that the scanners have been through “rigorous testing” and that the’ve found over 300 “dangerous and illegal items” in the time they’ve been active. Have a peek at TSA spokesman Mike McCarthy’s comment here:

“As one of our many layers of security, TSA deploys the most advanced technology available to provide the best opportunity to detect dangerous items, such as explosives. We rigorously test our technology to ensure it meets our high detection and safety standards before it is placed in airports. Since January 2010, advanced imaging technology has detected more than 300 dangerous or illegal items on passengers in U.S. airports nationwide.” – TSA

That comforting enough to you, or will you be opting for the handsy pat-down from now on? The new European Commission policy deployed this week has the UK able to complete a trial of the X-ray scanners but will not be allowed to have them deployed on a permanent basis once the trial is over. Helen Kearns, spokeswoman for the European transport commissioner, Siim Kallas noted the following:

“These new rules ensure that where this technology is used it will be covered by EU-wide standards on detection capability as well as strict safeguards to protect health and fundamental rights.” – Kearns for Kallas

While there are two different technologies being used for full-body scanners at the moment here in the USA, that being the X-ray scanner, aka backscatter, and the millimeter-wave scanner. Our understanding is that neither will be allowed on a permanent basis under the European transport law.

[via Propublica]

This little monster is small enough to fit in your briefcase (or backpack, whatever the case may be), and has a folded-down size smaller than a footlong sub sandwich. Unless you get a lot of toppings, of course. A mister Jom Rosetta, vice president and general manager of Imaging Systems Group, Canon USA, had the following to say about the scanner, noting its double use and tiny size:

“The combination of simple use, high-image quality and a built-in card scanning capability in such a compact footprint make this solution ideal for office users and mobile professionals in healthcare, financial services, government and other areas looking to take document capture beyond the walls of the office to the convenience of any location.” – Rosetta

The unit measures in at 11 inches long, has a weight right around two pounds, and folds in and out easily for the documents you plan on working with. You’ll be powering this device with a single USB cable, and the whole unit can handle a batch of 20 documents at once at 15 pages per minute max speed. This scanner comes bundled with Canon CaptureOnTouch Lite software which launches right when you plug the device into your PC, requiring no additional drivers to function. You also get the full version of CaptureOnTouch which allows you to scan directly to several applications in the cloud including Google Docs, Microsoft SharePOint, and Evernote.

If you don’t want to use the bundled application for scanning, you also get Windows ISIS / TWAIN drivers and a Mac TWAIN driver (this is all software, mind you,) that you’ll be able to easily install and have your scanner work with essentially any 3rd party scan-ready app. The imageFORMULA P-215 Personal Document Scanner is available starting immediately through all Canon resellers for MSPR $325 USD.

Before the scanners will support any of the new features, they will need to be updated. Once the scanners are updated they will have icons for “Scan-to” that will allow the scanner user to choose where the documents are scanned. The user will be able to Scan to Mobile from that point. The ScanSnap Connect app will work with devices running iOS 4.2.1 or later.

Other new options will include Scan to Salesforce Chatter, Scan to SugarSync, Scan to Evernote, and Scan to Google docs. These new options will be great for the mobile worker that needs access to the documents in different places.

The portable scanner isn’t completely wireless, as you can’t wirelessly transfer a scanned document directly from the scanner to your computer or smartphone. But, it’s still pretty handy for road warriors that need reliable scanning while on the go and can scan a full color page in less than 8 seconds. It can store up to 600 scanned pages before you have to transfer the scans to your PC or Mac via a USB cable, USB flash drive, or an SD card.

The Doxie Go is priced at $199 and will be available sometime in November. It will be getting an optional $39 accessory in December that will allow it to scan directly to your iPhone or iPad. The Doxie 2.0 software it comes with can create OCR searchable PDF scans as well as sync to Evernote, Dropbox, and Google Docs, among other cloud services.

[via TUAW]

That means you can just scan your content through and then it is stored on the SD card. The scanner measures in at 2″ x 2.75″ x 11.5″ making it portable and sized for normal sheets of paper. It also comes with a 2GB SD card, a rechargeable battery, and a carry case. Use is simple requiring the SD card or flash drive to be installed, the document put in the feeder and the press of a single button.

The scanner can also scan directly to mobile devices like Android, Windows, and Blackberry devices. You can connect the scanner to a computer and it is recognized as a storage device allowing you to copy files to and from the SD card or flash drive connected to it. If you put an Eye-fi card inside the device, you can scan directly to online sites like Facebook or Shutterfly. The scanner is available now for $199.99.

The Book Saver Book Scanner uses a unique design to give you the best possible way of scanning each page accurately. Unfortunately though, you’ll have to flip all of the pages yourself, as the scanner won’t do it for you. However, it does feature an angled cradle, putting the book in the best possible position for scanning each page. There are two cameras with built-in flash on each side of the upper-frame. You just click the button to take a picture, flip the page, and repeat until you get to the end.

Ion Audio says that you’ll be able to scan a 200-page book in about 15 minutes. For the $149 price tag, and the possibility of saving some space in your locker or book bag, the Book Saver Book Scanner may be the perfect gift for a student. Saving the scanned book onto a microSD card will make loading it into an eReader easier, too.

[via Mobile Magazine]

Although there’s no sheet feeder as on the larger ScanSnap models, you do get a continuous document feeding function which allows you to turn on scanning, feed in pages at your leisure, and then end the process later, with all documents saved concurrently. By using a highlighter, you can also create searchable keywords.

You miss out on duplex scanning, which the ScanSnap series is known for, but gain in portability. The Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100 is available now, priced at $199.

Press Release:

Fujitsu Introduces Next Generation Cross-Platform Portable Scanner to its ScanSnap Line

New “One-Button” Mobile Scanner Quickly Digitizes Documents Wherever You Go; Scan Directly To The Cloud for Easy Organizing and Sharing

Sunnyvale, CA, January 5, 2010 — Fujitsu, the market leader in document imaging scanners, today introduced one of the world’s smallest document scanners, the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100, designed with many of the same advanced functionality and productivity features of its larger, award-winning ScanSnap predecessors. The new ultra-portable scanner, weighing just over 12 ounces and featuring a new sleek style, easily fits into a briefcase or purse and digitizes your documents anywhere, and at any time – whether at home, in the office, at a cafe or traveling around the world. Fujitsu will give live product demonstrations of its new ScanSnap S1100 at the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show (booth: 35861 South Hall Upper Level), January 6-9 in Las Vegas.
The ScanSnap S1100, designed for use with a PC or Mac, utilizes its innovative paper path system and fast front-side color scanning functionality to quickly scan anything from contracts and long receipts to business cards and plastic IDs. For complete flexibility and productivity at home or on the go, the ScanSnap S1100 is powered by a single USB cable, converts scanned data into searchable PDF files and even allows you to quickly transform your paperwork into editable Word and Excel files. Additionally, the ScanSnap S1100 enables you to scan documents directly to Evernote® and Google Docs™ cloud services, making your paperwork and photos easy to store, share and access from just about anywhere.
“Since the launch of the first ScanSnap in 2003 we have not only consistently expanded its features for both consumers and small office professionals, but have also broadened the product lineup to include desktop, personal and now a true mobile scanning solution,” said Scott Francis, vice president of marketing, Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc. “Simply put, the ScanSnap S1100 takes many of the most popular and powerful features of its larger predecessors and gives users the flexibility and tools they need to be more efficient and paperless anywhere, and at anytime.”
Advanced Features to Make Scanning On-the-Go Easy!
The ScanSnap S1100 incorporates many of the powerful, advanced, easy-to-use features of its larger ScanSnap predecessors, such as the ScanSnap S1500(M) and the ScanSnap S1300, and packs them into a compact, mobile form factor, giving users even more flexibility to be productive, efficient and paperless wherever they go. Key features of the ScanSnap S1100 include:
The Smallest and Lightest ScanSnap in the World: With an ultra-compact footprint measuring a mere 10.74 x 1.87 x 1.33 inches and weighing only 12.3 ounces, the ScanSnap S1100 is the perfect solution for digitizing your paper world anywhere, and at anytime.
Fast Scanning Speeds: With the push of a button, ScanSnap S1100 can scan a letter-size sheet of paper in an astounding 7.5 seconds (300dpi, color).
Cloud Services Support: The ScanSnap S1100 enables you to scan documents directly to Evernote and Google Docs cloud services, making your paperwork and photos easy to store, share and access from just about anywhere.
Continuous Document Feeding (CDF): Utilizing the scanner’s Continuous Document Feeding (CDF) function, users are able to scan multiple-page documents into PDF by simply pushing the “Scan” button and inserting each page into the scanner. After scanning is complete, users simply push the “Scan” button again to end the scanning task and convert the data into a PDF.
Switchable Paper Paths: With an adjustable two way paper path, ScanSnap S1100 is able to support a wider range of documents such as plastic cards, IDs and thick stock (through the strait paper path), normal paper, as well as long forms up to 34 inches (through the “L-shaped” paper path).
Intelligent Document Processing: For convenient automated scanning, ScanSnap S1100 selects the page size and page orientation while adjusting the resolution accordingly, and will recognize a document as color, black & white or grayscale.
Mark Text Function: To quickly and easily search and find documents, users can utilize a standard highlighter pen on a black & white document to automatically create searchable keywords of the highlighted text, such as an invoice number or last name.
Powerful Software for the Paperless Lifestyle
ScanSnap S1100 comes with software for PC and software for Mac so consumers who use both can optimize their ScanSnap for either platform with ease, making the scanner even more mobile and efficient. In-box software includes:
Scan to Word and Excel: ABBYY FineReader for ScanSnap™ allows users to be productive by quickly transforming their paperwork with machine print into editable Word and Excel files.
Efficient Business Card Scanning: PC users can capture a business card, extract the information automatically and export it to Outlook, Excel, Act! and other contact management software. While Mac users can conveniently scan their business cards and export the contact information directly to Address Book or Entourage.
Scan-to Functions: The ScanSnap S1100 offers users a flexible way to manage PDF, searchable PDF and JPEG files, providing users with an easy way to scan to a folder, a network folder, attach scans to an email, and send scans to a printer.
ScanSnap Manager: Provides PC and Mac users one button searchable PDF creation, access to intelligent features and custom scan settings (profiles) for simple operation with sophisticated results.
Pricing & Availability
The Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100 is available now for $199 (U.S. list) through online dealers, through Fujitsu authorized resellers, and the Fujitsu store located at http://www.buyfcpa.com.

The idea is that the graphic designer or decorator might be out during their day and see the perfect color for a project on an object and they can use the Capsure to capture that color for use in the project back in the office. The Capsure takes the color and can then match it to any Pantone color accurately and easily.

The device has tri-directional image capture tech inside and can eliminate the shadows and interference that comes with textured and patterned surfaces. The surface is illuminated form three directions at once and the Capsure records 27 color accurate images in 1.6 seconds and the device can extract four dominant colors from a pattern and allow the user to pick just one of the colors. The device includes a library of 8,000 Pantone colors. Capsure is available right now for $649.

The Lexmark Genesis All-in-One printer features a glossy piano black finish, making sure that it looks “futuristic” in any setting. On the inside, Lexmark included a 10MP imaging sensor, which makes it easy for the printer to transfer a page from “document to digital” in just a few seconds. No more waiting for that flatbed scanner to get the job done, as the Genesis will do the job for you faster than ever.

On the front of the device, you’ll find a 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen, featuring a color display. You’ll control the printer from the touchscreen, and you’ll even get to access Lexmark’s SmartSolutions applications. Some of the apps included are Evernote, Box.net, and Stamps.com. You’ll even find Twitter and Facebook applications, which you’ll be able to upload images to the social networking sites right from the machine. The Genesis also features two-sided printing, and integrated wireless-N connectivity. Lexmark confirmed that the new printer will launch in 2011, and have an estimated price tag of $399.

[via ChipChick]

The new Focus3D is five times smaller than the precious model. The device is able to make complex 3D images of environments and geometries in only a few minutes. The image produced is a composition of millions of 3D measurements in color for an exact digital reproduction of existing conditions in a place.

The Focus3D can be used for many tasks like documenting crime scenes, accident sites, product geometry, process plants, reverse engineering of products and more. The Focus3D camera is self contained and uses rechargeable batteries good for up to five hours of use per charge and measures 9.5″ x 8″ x 4″. The scanner stores to SD cards.

Pandigital throw an SD card of unspecified size in the box, but the scanner will happily work with SD, MS, MS Pro, MMS and XD cards.  Files are saved as JPEGs with up to 600dpi 3,800 x 7,200 resolution; if you’d rather use it with a PC or Mac there’s a miniUSB port to hook it up and use it more traditionally.

In fact, the only thing missing is a battery, which would have allowed you to whip out the Pandigital and scan things quicker while mobile than you can say its name out loud.  Available now, the Pandigital Personal Photo Scanner/Converter has an MRSP of $149.99.

Press Release:

Pandigital Personal Photo Scanner/Converter Digitizes Images up to 8 ½ x 11-inches, Making Them Easy to Share and Enjoy

New scanner features one-touch scanning and fast transfer for immediate enjoyment

Dublin, Calif., July 12, 2010 – Pandigital announced today that it has expanded its line of innovative photo scanners with a new model – the Pandigital Personal Photo Scanner/Converter – that can scan print photos up to 8 ½ x 11-inches large.

Incredibly simple to use, the Pandigital Personal Photo Scanner/Converter requires no PC to convert print photos into digital images. Consumers can simply plug it in, insert their photo through the slim device, and, with a single touch of a button, scan photos onto the included SD card. Consumers can then insert the SD card loaded with full-color JPEG images into their computer to upload the photos or insert the card into their Pandigital digital photo frame to immediately view the images.

While the Pandigital Personal Photo Scanner/Converter (PANSCN06) can accommodate photos up to 8 ½ x 11-inches large, it can also scan in photos as small as wallet-sized or any size in-between.

“Consumers everywhere have photos that they want to preserve for future generations,” said Dean Finnegan, CEO and founder, Pandigital. “The new Pandigital Personal Photo Scanner/Converter lets families easily archive precious moments and milestones such as weddings, yearly school photos, and sporting events are often captured as large 8 x 10-inch prints.”

Pandigital’s award-winning line of scanners have been acclaimed for their ease-of-use and excellent performance. The scanner does not require any expensive or confusing software and employs a new twin-roller feeding system to ensure that the photos are scanned evenly each time. Further optimizing the quality, images are scanned at up to 600 optical dpi for resulting scans that have a crisp and clear 3800×7200 24-bit color depth resolution. In addition to being able to scan images onto the included SD memory card, the scanner accepts other popular memory cards (SD, MS, MS Pro, MMS, XD) and can also be connected directly to either a Mac or PC computer via its mini-USB port.

Weighing in at less than a pound at only 13.79 ounces and measuring only 10.59(L) x 1.73(H) x 2.32(D) inches, the Pandigital Personal Photo Scanner/Converter is incredibly portable and can be taken nearly anywhere to quickly and simply preserve images.

The new Pandigital Personal Photo Scanner/Converter extends Pandigital’s line of photo scanners which also includes the Pandigital PhotoLink One-Touch 5×7 Scanner and the Pandigital Photo & Negative Scanner that can scan print images up to 4×6-inches large as well as negatives.

Product Availability and Pricing
The Pandigital Personal Photo Scanner/Converter is available now for a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price of $149.99.

About Pandigital
Privately held, Pandigital® develops and markets digital entertainment products. The company recognizes the growing digital lifestyle market as well as the convergence of digital media such as photos, video, published content, and audio, and is delivering high quality products to utilize and share that content by combining innovative technology with contemporary style and simplified user interfaces. Pandigital sells its award-winning line of Pandigital® and PanTouch® digital photo frames and PhotoLink® scanners through more than 33,000 well-known national retail storefronts in the United States, Canada, Europe, South America and Central America. The company has received numerous accolades and industry awards for its outstanding products that are renowned for their easy-to-use features and high-quality, elegant design, and providing exceptional value to consumers. Pandigital is headquartered in Dublin, Calif. For more information, please visit http://www.pandigital.net.

All offers subject to change without notice or obligation and may not be available through all retail partners. Prices listed are manufacturer’s suggested retail prices and may vary by retail location. Applicable taxes extra. Trademarks used herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Pandigital. Other product or service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.

The 3115 has a 20 page automatic document feeder and scans at 15 ppm. When the portable section is in use, it can be powered from an AC outlet or from a USB port on a computer. The scanning slot of the 3115 can accept documents in most major sizes, photos, receipts, and plastic ID cards.

The optical scanning resolution is 600 dpi and the device has 24-bit color, 8-bit grayscale, and 1-bit bitonal. The dimensions of the scanner at 11.7″ x 4.7″ x 4.8″ and it weighs 3.9 pounds. The 3115 is available now for $399.99 and works with Mac and Windows machines.

The dimensions of the X05 are constrained by its need to cover the width of a regular sheet of paper, though its scanning area is – at 8-inches across – actually a little narrower than either an A4 or “letter” document. Overall it’s 8.5-inches long and roughly the thickness of a Sharpie marker. Planon supply a leather zip-case and you’ll want to use it; the glass scanning window underneath is exposed and fingerprints won’t do your scans much good.

Also in the box there’s a driver CD, a quickstart guide, a copy of PaperPort SE (Windows only) and a USB cable which is used to charge and sync the X05. We’re disappointed that Planon used a proprietary connector on the X05 rather than mini- or microUSB. The battery is preinstalled, a small rechargeable unit that slots in under the chrome-effect plastic section on the top of the scanner; also under that cover is a microSD card slot with which you can add to the native 64MB of storage. Planon claim that only 1GB or 2GB Sandisk cards have proved “reliable”.

The scanner itself has four buttons and a two-line monochrome OLED display. Two of the buttons – either side of the screen – are used for scrolling through menus and selecting options, while the remaining keys toggle Bluetooth and power. The addition of the screen certainly makes using the X05 easier than some of Planon’s previous models, which used an array of LED indicators instead, and it scrolls through scanning mode, battery status and memory status when powered on. It takes around four seconds to go from hitting the power key to the X05 being ready to scan, and you trigger that by pulling the scanner down the page; it starts up as soon as the rollers start to turn. Left unused for a few seconds and the scanner automatically powers off.

Using the X05 is reasonably straightforward. The default mode is black & white 300dpi TIF, but you can quickly flip through grayscale JPG or color scanning and between 150dpi, 300dpi or 600dpi resolution. There’s also a Printstik mode that allows you to instantly send the most recent scan to Planon’s own portable Bluetooth printer, though we didn’t have a unit to test this functionality. As you might expect, black & white TIF files are the most space-conscious, with the X05′s 64MB capable of holding many such scans, while at the other end of the scale a single high-resolution color scan could fill the whole memory.

You’ll need a steady hand in order to scan effectively, and preferably two if you’re going to avoid skew. Initially we tried gripping the document at the very top with the left hand and pulling the scanner slowly down with the right, but found it reasonably difficult to keep the bar level down the full length of the page. Scans tended to bend to one side, and while it was sufficient for quickly emailing across a B&W form photos were less successful. Better results came by fixing down the document somehow and using two hands to roll the scanner down. The OLED display warns you if you’re moving too fast, but it takes around 30 seconds to cover a regular sheet of paper. After that there’s a roughly 20 second pause as the X05 saves the scan before you can go again.

Where things got frustrating was in transferring files from the scanner to a computer. Planon advertise the X05 as both PC and Mac compatible, but we experienced issues with both platforms. The included driver CD was recognised in our Vista 64-bit test machine and claimed to have installed the USB driver, but when we hooked it up the system couldn’t locate those drivers. Instead we had to download the latest driver package from the Planon support site, after which it was instantly recognised. Planon include an app called DocuPen which sucks all of the files from the X05 and then allows you to wipe the scanner’s memory, and it works as expected; there’s also the PC-only ScanSoft PaperPort SE which is a basic organisational tool for sorting scans and offering OCR.

On our Mac OS X 10.6 test machine, the CD offered no drivers and we had to go to Planon’s support site to find instructions. The X05 is supposed – as long as it has a memory card installed – to show up on the desktop as a removable drive when plugged in via USB; however even with the latest firmware – 9.38 at time of writing – this failed to happen. We hoped to be able to use Bluetooth instead, but while the X05 paired with the Mac we were unable to browse its storage. Meanwhile the Mac version of DocuPen for earlier Planon models would recognise the X05 but couldn’t open its scans.

Bluetooth was somewhat more successful on the PC. Once paired, the DocuPen app could “see” the X05 after a Bluetooth connection with the scanner was manually made; however it was unable to trigger that connection itself. From then on the process is just as if using the USB cable. We had hoped to be able to link the scanner to a cellphone and sent files wirelessly that way; however, Planon only supply a driver for BlackBerry handsets (which we didn’t have on hand to try the X05 with) and other phones, while they could see the device, were unable to actually do anything with it.

In terms of the end-results, color accuracy is surprisingly good – the Planon box, for instance, matches very well with the 300dpi scanned image in the gallery below – but try as we might it’s difficult to get a consistent, non-jagged reproduction. We’ve no doubt that with practice you could coax reasonable results out of the X05, but this is definitely a tool for occasional or impromptu use; if you regularly need to scan documents then a flatbed scanner will be far more useful.

Unfortunately, at that point the $369.99 price is a whole lot more difficult to stomach. Planon’s target market is always going to be small – not a lot of people really need a portable, battery powered scanner with wireless connectivity – but that market also has to be patient enough to work with the X05′s foibles and get the best results. It can be frustrating running through a series of scans and then only discovering how patchy the results are once you finally transfer them across to the computer; still, that’s an inevitable side-effect of the portability. If you’ve a steady hand, patience and a dire need for mobile scanning worth $370 then the Planon X05 is capable of reasonable results; everyone else would do better clearing some desk space for a larger – but cheaper – desktop flatbed.

The scanner doesn’t organize as in make it easy for you to put your hands on the actual book or movie. What it does is allow you to scan the barcode from the movie or book and then the scanner sends that data to a computer program.

Once the data is in the program, the app automatically pulls title, creator, cover art, and more data to attach to your collection. You can then peruse your own database of films and at least know what titles you have available, even if you still have to dig through boxes to find it. The scanner sells for $99 or for $79 to students and teachers.

The scanner is designed for reverse engineering, product design, and other applications. The ZScanner 600 has a resolution down to 0.1mm and XY accuracy of up to 80 microns. The scanner is handheld and very portable and can scan an object in one continuous scan rather than in multiple shots that require lots of post processing to form a cohesive scan.

The scanner also includes the ZScan Lite software that produces a .stl file automatically for importing into a 3D CAD software package and output to a 3D printer. The scanner “paints” the object being scanned with a laser crosshair and the surface is then scanned by the binocular cameras. The software the scanner runs on generates a mesh of the surface on the computer screen in real-time. The object being scanned can be moved during the scanning process. The scanner is available to purchase now.

Mac users don’t have the same luxury. Canon has announced its first two Mac-compatible high-speed scanners called the imageFormula DR-2510M and the DR-2010M. Both of the scanners are aimed at users in the home or office setting. Both ship with Mac-compatible OCR software.

The difference between the two scanners is speed. The 2510M can scan color pages at up to 25 ppm in simplex mode and 50 images per minute in duplex mode. The 2010M scans color pages in simplex mode at 20ppm and in duplex mode at 40 images per minute. Both of the scanners are available now with the 2510M selling for $795 and the 2010M selling for $555.

This new scanner is capable of scanning 12 x 17-inch A3 pages. It can do so at a rate of 2.4 seconds and works with even very thick books. And for your convenience, your scans will convert to PDF automatically.

It can adjust for the distortion caused by the curve of a book’s spine and automatically convert scanned text into image files. You can get the OpticBook A300 soon, though pricing information is not yet available.

Scanning a 3D object use to require certain hookups and would be very time consuming, not to mention taking a huge bite out of your pocket book. Now the RealView 3D scanners are here to bring this technology to the everyday household. This new age device has a rotating platform that spins the object while two cameras scan the surface.

Now you can take your 3D image and import it into any application that you would like to use. RealView creates models that scan in VGA, HD and larger-format resolutions. Being the first in-home 3D scanner we can only imagine this will cost a penny, this may be why there is no pricing yet. Sadly we don’t have a release date to provide either.

This scanner is completely portable. It is capable of up to 1800 x 1200 resolution at 300dpi. You can’t go scanning everything, however. Only photos up to 4 x 6-inches can be scanned. Other than that, this little scanner is pretty standard. It is memory card compatible with formats such as XD, CF and SD. It also sports a mini USB 2.0 port for easy transferring once your photos are scanned.

It’s also important to note that this scanner is pretty nice to look at. It features a simple design and features only the essentials, which is key to portability. And for $99, you’re looking at an all-in-all pretty reasonably-priced little gadget that can scan your photos on the fly.

Demo video of the Skyla Memoir in action after the cut

Two USB ports allow for memory expansion, displaying images transferred from elsewhere, or offloading scanned photos.  The Memoir is also capable of displaying Motion JPEG, MPEG 1 and MPEG 4 video, together with playing MP3 files.  A remote control is included, and the scanning process is meant to be pretty foolproof.

LiteOn expect to have the Skyla Memoir in stores by late December, priced at $219.99.  For once, we’ll even forgive the lack of wireless connectivity.

[via GearLog]

Check out the video demo of the FetchBot after the cut

It’s the work of ‘Maker Dino’, who has kindly put up the schematics so that you can make your own.  Surprisingly, the guts of a scanner are quite impressive: the motor can, with 12v added, apparently pull 10 pounds, which is plenty to ratchet back a slingshot.

Of course, with it being Halloween today there are plenty of other applications for an automatic slingshot.  How about firing red-hot toffee apples at trick or treaters? 

[via Hacked Gadgets]

This NXT scanner can scan and save images as BMP-files and those images can be saved in either 24-bit true color,  8-bit color or of course, gray scale. Honestly the scanner isn’t exactly a great scanner, but the fact that it’s made out of Legos more than makes up for it.

The creator, Anders, has posted DIY instructions for how to make your own. The instructions even include programming directions and you can find all of this directly on his website.

[via gearfuse]

The CLX-3175FNK may be bigger, but you do get a color scanner and fax functionality, and according to Samsung it’s still almost 40-percent reduced from its predecessor. Printing specs are basically the same as the CLP-315K; what’s different is that the all-in-one needn’t be hooked up to a computer for all its functionality. Plug in a USB memory stick and you can print documents directly from it, or even scan pages in and save them directly to it; it’s also PictBridge compatible.

No prices or availability details released yet. Samsung claim that their previous “world’s smallest” color laser printer doubled the South Korean compact color laser market when it was released last year.

[via Akihabara]

The purpose of the exercise was so that if the heights or shapes of certain parts of the cavern changed, a precursor to collapses or other trouble, the people running the operation would be able to notice it ahead of time and either support the area or keep everyone away from it. So basically this robot has the potential of saving lives.

This is just one use for this particular machine though. I’m sure now that its proven itself worthy its uses will be greatly expanding, it may not be an R2 unit or C3-PO, but its nice to see robots being used in places where you never thought you’d see them.

[via DVICE]

MXI, the company that manufactures the drives actually recommends you install entire operating systems on these drives instead of trying to trust whatever it is that’s running on the machine you wind up using. You can get FIPS 140-2 Level 2 portable security solutions on these drives, which are about as secure as it gets.

I’m no security professional, but I know a bit, and I don’t care how good the security on a flash drive is I certainly would not want my underlings running around with an 8GB flash drive, sure, the content of such a flash drive is the real risk, but you can fit a lot less content to be potentially lost or stolen on a smaller flash drive. However, this is a pretty cool flash drive and the type of biometric scanner on this one would make it a bit harder to crack, and then they’d have to crack all the software security on top of that, so at the very least you’d probably have some time to try and find them before they cracked it all. The new 8GB version is not yet listed on their site, but to give you a clue, the 4GB version is $257.

[via mxisecurity]

Other than that it has an aluminum casing, black buttons, a 1.3MP webcam, built in mic, stereo loud speakers, and a fingerprint scanner all built in, it doesn’t look too bad as far as laptops go either. The two Intel chips you get to choose from are the Core 2 Duo T5550 or the T8100 (I believe the 5550 is a Merom chip, whereas the 8100 is the Penryn chip).

It comes with 2GB of RAM, your choice of a 160 or 250 gigabyte HDD and with the Peynryn chip, a base price of $1481, with the AMD chip, $1184. There aren’t any details on the P300, but there are pictures, I checked Toshiba’s site in hopes of finding even a mention of these, no luck though.

[via notebookitalia]

It scan up to 8 pages per minute in full color and will detect blank pages and eliminate them from your PDF’s.

It’s powered via USB on any PC so you can scan on the go, although when used with a seperate AC adapter Fujitsu claim it will scan faster.  Anti-skew settings will correct mis-fed pages automatically, and the supplied ScanSnap Manager software can be used to save images as PDFs and password protect them. 

The ScanSnap S300 is already available and costs around $300.

Fujitsu

The case is all metal and has flash memory and all the necessary biometric hardware as well as some sort of UI with and LCD and a D-Pad. It can store up to 50 users which are all granted access to the contents of the safe.

The only downside is that word is its possible to pull a print off of the reader and then for the thing to read that print again, which would grant access to someone careful enough to pull that hack off. But I suppose you could just tell everyone to touch it with a finger that isnt in the database before they walk away, problem solved. The only other downside of this safe is the $400 price tag, which wouldn’t be bad if it were protected from any of the elements, but its not.

Fingerprint Safe [via ubergizmo]

Prisons in England and Wales are using the BOSS to scan inmates for “hidden objects”. This chair comes with three sensitive sensors capable of detecting hidden materials as small as a paperclip within the body.

Truthfully, I think it’d be a lot more useful in another setting, airports. Just a quick sit in the chair and no more hassle of “random inspections”. I think it would be quicker as well as less invading.

Boss Body Scanner [via Coolest Gadgets]

While the HP technology isn’t new, when you combine it with the Mouscan optical recognition, translation and vocalization it becomes one amazing device. The usefulness potential is off the charts. Just think of all the people it could help: the elderly, the blind, travelers, students, etc… Oh, did I forget to mention its handy dandy portable size?

This product isn’t on the market yet, it’s expected to be on sale sometime next year. I’m eager to see it in action. I already know now what will start out Christmas Wish List ’08.

HP Enables Scanning For Text To Voice [via The Technology Chronicles]

It offers up dual core processors from Intel, a card reader, a slim remote that stows away in the ExpressCard slot, HD display choices to get the most out of your media, a 2MP web cam, a fingerprint scanner, and low-pro optical drives featuring either Blu-Ray or a DVD-burner. You get your choice of 3 colors, Crimson Red, Tuxedo Black, or Alpine White too.

Specs wise your processor choices range from a Core 2 Duo T5250 processor at 1.5GHz all the way up to a Core 2 Duo T7800 at 2.6GHz, up to 4 gig of DDR2, your choice of a 5400 RPM 250GB HDD or a speedy 7200RPM 200GB HDD. You can even get WWAN connections from your choice of Sprint or Verizon, and that’s pretty much the bulk of what this notebook has to offer.

XPS M1530 [via Dell]

So basically this works a lot like most of the newer credit/debit cards that are coming out with the scanning technology were you just have to tap your card to the reader and off you go. The only difference it works with cell phones instead, this may not be the first mobile phone based payment system, but it definitely seems like the most functional.

Singaporean phone manufacturer iWOW has given away 1000 phones that work with the technology. The iWOW SZ1.0 phone has two chips, the EZ-Link chip for payment of transportation or really anywhere else the EZ-Link cards are accepted, except you can check your balance on the phones screen. The second chip is an NFC processor that allows you to download promo stuff, or other useful info like bus routes through a GPRS data connection or from smart tags in posters.

Using the phone to pay for bus rides [via crave]

The e-STUDIO180s is a black and white printer, copier, and color scanner. The e-STUDIO200s is the same thing, but add the ability to fax.

They both do 18ppm too. Both of these are laser printer based with that high of printing speeds, its no surprise. It’s nice of Toshiba to bring enterprise grade equipment to the SOHO market without taking away too many of the features. The 180s will run you £660 and the 200s will get your for £999, the toner cartridges for both are £65

Toshiba introduces its MFP product range into the SMB and home office market [via webitpr]

“The screen, on show at the Ceatec exhibition, features an optical scanner for each LCD pixel, and could also be used to recognise fingers or other objects.” Just imagine if something like this were incorporated into a mobile phone. If someone were to say, hand you a business card, you could simply place it on the screen and scan it. Or, you could have a biometric lock on your phone.

Something else that’s rather cool is that since the scanners are at each pixel, you could in a sense have a multi-touch screen. We could expect to see these screens commercialized as early as the first half of 2008.

Sharp’s LCD and Scanner: An Integrated Sensing Display? [via macrumors]

This verification system was a technique that uses illumination of the hand with near-infrared rays to shows the veins on the user’s hand and taking a snapshot of the vein pattern to converts the photo into a digital pattern that can be compared to a records of patterns stored in the computer.

The palm scanner mouse is developed to automatically scan and verify as soon as the user pushes the mouse.

Palm-reading mouse – Fujitsu takes PC security to another level [via gizmowatch]

Why not scan them into your PC and convert them to digital? This USB negative scanner will take care of that for you. Just a simple press of a button is all that it takes. It scans at 1829 dpi, so your pictures will look their absolute best on your PC.

There are plenty of scanners out there that already have a negative/slide attachment, so I’m not really sure why you would want to purchase a separate device that can only do this one function. For the $100 price, I wouldn’t bother.

Portable USB Scanner turns Film Negatives into Digital Photos [via everythingusb]

video after the jump

Friedrich Kirschner got the brilliant idea to use a small tub, a Lego-mounted webcam and some milk to make his very own 3D scanner. The idea is that he slowly fills the tub with milk, thus surrounding the object and allowing the webcam to record it. A piece of software translates it and an then import it into moviesandbox.

It’s such a simple design that it almost blows you away. From the video it looks as though it is fairly precise. It is still a work in progress, I’d be interested to find out how he can improve upon this idea.

Milkscanner – 3D mapping that’s good for you [via hackaday]