Gadgetopia

Polaroid betting big on digital kiosks: Polaroid is two years out of bankruptcy and looking for someting — anything — to build its future on. Here’s what it came up with.

“Polaroid’s kiosks, fed a credit card and camera memory card, spit out a high-quality print every two seconds. That’s three times faster than what Kodak, with the largest installed base, plans to roll out next year and ten times faster than the current top speed of most competitors.

The new Polaroid kiosks don’t offer bells and whistles, such as cropping and enlargements. Polaroid says 85 percent of the digital print market is first-time printing, with most customers wanting merely to pick their best shots and print on 4-by-6-inch paper — all in a transaction as easy as getting cash from an ATM.

Polaroid aims to deploy its kiosks in airports, cruise ships, and restaurants popular for children’s birthday parties — anywhere the urge for instant photographic gratification may strike.”