LAS VEGAS – Having introduced pop sensation Lady Gaga to much
fanfare as its new creative director last year, Polaroid returned the singing
icon to its International CES stage Thursday to unveil the first fruits of that
collaboration.
Sporting a blonde coif, sunglasses and a gray dress, Gaga
unveiled three Polaroid Grey Label products, including a prototype pair of
sunglasses with a built-in digital camera; a Zink-based Bluetooth portable
printer that can be paired with a smartphone to make instant 4-inch prints of
friends and family in their most embarrassing moments; and the latest spin on
the Polaroid “instant camera.” which combines the printer and digital camera in
one package.
The latter, called the Grey Label GL30 Instant Digital Camera, will
ship in the third or fourth quarters at a price to be announced. It features a
swivel-screen that when flipped up provides access to controls for various
camera functions, including zooming, flash and macro-mode.
Polaroid said the camera’s design is both reminiscent of Polaroid
cameras of the past and designed for the future. It can be stood up to use as a
digital photo frame. Filters and borders can also be selected to create
original images.
The GL30 and new GL10 use Zink-based Zero Ink technology to print
digital photos onto glossy paper.
The Polaroid PolaPrinter GL10 Mobile printer, which will be
available in April at a $150 suggested retail, spits out photo prints in less
than a minute and connects via Bluetooth to smartphones and digital cameras and
PCs.
“This is the camera of the future,” Lady Gaga told the hundreds
of onlookers who swarmed around the Polaroid booth. “I said, ‘How can we bring
the cellphone into Polaroid? How can we create something that is digital and
never gets printed into something [that gets printed] and is instant?’ “
Users can switch from full borderless 3- inch by 4-inch prints of
photos with the iconic Polaroid white border. Polaroid said it is also
introducing an exclusive and free Android app for fast editing and enhancement
of images before printing.
Apps for additional mobile platforms will be introduced
throughout 2011, Polaroid said. The printer measures 5.9 inches wide by 4.5
inches deep by 1.1 inches high and weighs 15 ounces. It is powered by a rechargeable
battery for a minimum of 40 images per charge.
The Polaroid PolaRez GL20, due in the second or third quarters at
pricing to be announced, are sunglasses with a built-in digital camera that users
wear to both look like Lady Gaga and be members of the paparazzi at the same
time. The built-in digital camera will both upload photos and display them on
the glasses’ LCD screens.
