PoGo

One of the things on my wishlist for the holidays was the Polaroid PoGo. I used to have a Polaroid iZone camera, which I used to call my "sticker camera". It would take tiny instant pictures (1-1/2" x 1") that had a backing that would peel off so that they could be used as stickers. I used the photos in travel journals, but most often in our guest book, especially for Halloween. I used to have our guests take a quick photo with the iZone, then would stick the photo on the page in our guest book next to where they signed their name. We did this for several years of Halloween parties, and it's a lot of fun to look at the crazy costumes that people wore.

The film for the iZone was pretty expensive, and Polaroid eventually stopped producing it. I haven't had any sticker pictures in our guest book for at least two years.

I first heard about the PoGo when it was released last summer. It sounded like a cool product, and the perfect replacement to my beloved old iZone.

Here's the deal: It's a portable Bluetooth device that can be wirelessly connected to a bluetooth enabled cell phone, or connected via USB cable to a camera.

It prints 2"x3" borderless photos in under a minute. It also has a removable backing so that it can be used as a sticker! There is no ink involved - the PoGo works with ZINK technology (zero ink), which makes it water-resistant, tear-proof and smudge-proof. Extra sheets cost $12.99 for a pack of 30. Not bad.

Sounds great, right?

Here's the rub:
It's not compatible with the iPhone

Yep. That's a bummer.

I vaguely remember reading that when I was first looking into the product, but I think I conveniently forgot that fact, hoping that it would become compatible eventually.

Happily, my parents bought me the PoGo for Christmas. We charged it up, and tried it out Christmas morning. We first tried to pair it with my iPhone (because I had forgotten that it wasn't compatible) and it obviously didn't work. What a bummer. I love the idea of printing wirelessly through bluetooth.

We eventually got it to work by connecting a USB cable to my camera. Okay, that's cool. The picture quality is fine, certainly not great, but good enough. Very polaroid-ish. Actually, better than the traditional polaroid prints.

I also was able to pair it with my computer via bluetooth, but, while still kind of cool, kind of defeats the purpose of it being quick, convenient and mobile.

Today, my sister and Graham came over. They both recently got new cell phones. I suggested that we try using my PoGo with their phones. It worked like a charm, and was super cool.

Really made me wish that it would work with my iPhone.

Looking at the list of which cell phones it is and is not compatible with, it's really hard to believe that it's not compatible with the iPhone. Seriously, out of a list of about 48 phones sold at AT&T, only 4 models weren't supported.

It seems that the problem lies with the iPhone, rather than with Polaroid. Just did some research on the web, and found this:

The Polaroid POGO uses the bluetooth OBEX profile. The iPhone does not support this profile at this time.

Here's hoping that Apple eventually releases some sort of firmware update eventually that will enable printing from the iPhone.

Until then, I'll make due by printing PoGo photos from my camera and computer, and other people's cell phones.