Looks like digital photo frames are beginning to move from nice-to-haves to actually quite useful: Skyla's Memoir photo frame has an in-built 600dpi scanner so it'll digitise your hardcopy photo archive for you. It's got a 1GB memory, apparently good for about 200 4 x 6-inch prints (the maximum size the scanner can take). Plus it's a respectable 800 x 600-pixel 4:3 ratio screen, and has two USB ports so you can sync the frame to your PC and plug in flash drives and the like. Not too shabby at all for $US220 when it comes out in December. [GearLog via OhGizmo]

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Wow. I can't believe you can still buy standalone scanners. It's not a product category I'd expect would be growing too quickly, considering the proliferation of multi-function devices these days. I guess it's probably just for those high-end users who need quality results, really.

So, if you're one of those people, Epson's latest scanner, the V300, sounds like a pretty good deal. It uses LEDs to scan, which not only has environmental benefits (like no mercury, less heat, less energy consumption), but means there's no time stuffing around waiting for the lamp to heat up.

The V300 scans up to 4800dpi (insanely detailed) with 48-bit colour depth, and will scan an image in as little as 16 seconds. It'll scan 35mm film as well, six frames at a time (or four 35mm mounted slides) too, which is quicker than scanning print after print after print.

RRP is $249, if you're interested, and it works with both Windows and Macs. It's available... Now!

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Whether you are a spy or a shady CEO, this laptop concept by Nicolas Lehotzky has features that will fit the bill. I'm not crazy about the giant protruding lock / finger scanner, and the USB slots hidden behind a lockable metal cap may be a bit of a nuisance—but I love the built in scanner and paper shredder to archive and / or eliminate incriminating evidence. I'm sure a product like be snatched up lightning quick by corporate America. [Coroflot via The Awesomer via Ubergizmo]

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A lot can be learned from simply counting the cells found in a sample of blood or water; the rub is that it requires either a lengthy and complex manual process with an expensive microscope or a quicker process with an even more expensive flow cytometer. Now, UCLA researchers have devised a compact system that scans samples with a cheap CCD digicam sensor to quickly spot and count 100,000 different kinds of cells in a sample. Please note my resistance here to the general tendency to call any type of advanced portable medical scanner a real-life tricorder, but that's kind of what it's like.

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Devices to digitise your old photo collections aren't new, but Ion Audio's new Slides2PC makes it about as simple and cheap as you might imagine. It takes a sled full of 35mm film negatives or slides, and turns them into 5-megapixel image files at the push of a button, with auto exposure control and colour correction. So it's no pro-resolution image-cruncher, but 5-megapixels is perfectly serviceable—especially when the USB-connecting gizmo costs just $US100. [Everything USB]

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If you are the kind of person who rushes around in the morning, but always makes the time for toast, you will love the Scan Toaster printer concept by designer Sung Bae Chang. Details are scarce, but we do know that it connects to the internet via USB and is capable of printing images or text on bread using some sort of flexible "module" unit heated by a wire.

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I always look at new printer releases as the wholemeal bread in my daily gadget sandwich - sure it probably does my body (and Giz) good to add that healthy mix of natural printer fibre to the daily gadget diet, but really, it's boring - there's very little flavour.

But for whatever reason (probably the fact that I currently need a new printer), but the new Pixma MP980 looks pretty appealing to me. They've shrunk it down from the previous model, there's wireless built in, plus it scans and prints photos from negatives. And while all of those features have been around for what seems like aeons, the new environmentally friendly packaging, compact body and 2-way paper feeding have me begrudgingly reaching for my wallet.

But before I do, I'll be testing this sucker out to tell you whether it's worth the money when it launches in October.

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Apparently, proxy test taking is a big enough problem that the nation's top business schools will soon require that students undergo a palm vein scan before taking their GMATs. Like a fingerprint, the system of veins running through the hand is unique to every individual, and supporters claim that using vein scanning is not only superior to the current digital fingerprint method, but it also does not come with the same stigma.

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Remember QR codes? Those small, square designs that act like barcodes that you can scan with your mobile phone's camera? They're huge in Japan - those crazy Japanese are even putting them on graves.

Well, Telstra announced today that they'll be introducing the software to read QR codes on their NextG handsets as a free download for customers. And from the sounds of it, it will happen automatically - so you don't even need to do anything.

According to the press release, Telstra's planning on using the QR codes to offer, among other things:

"the latest news, sport and weather information; music files; maps; store information for later if you're in a hurry; tickets to shows; video presentations that give users guided tours, how-to information and trailers; links to social networking sites and special discount offers."

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Did you know Daredevil's costume was supposed to be black, like the night, instead of bright flaming red? That's because Matt Murdoch is blind, and the bastard couldn't tell one material from another. Did you know I made this story up in order to introduce the Bright-F design, which scans clothing and speaks the colour so you don't match lime green with puke brown. We have a hard enough time dressing ourselves as it is, so we could see this being a tremendous help to the visually impaired. You know, if it were real. [Yanko Design]

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