Bolle iPhone photo printer: bollocks or boldy printing where'¦

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Saturday, 20 November 2010 18:53

Your IT - Mobility

Physical photos: the final printed medium? These are the voyages of the iPhoto-printer, Bolle BP-10, on a mission unconnected with sunglasses, exploring the albums of strange new iPhones, to seek out what the replacement ink and paper costs are, and to boldly go where no dedicated photo printer has gone before.

If you've wanted to print photos from your iPhone direct to a compatible HP, Canon, Epson or Lexmark printer, it has been possible for some time - you just needed the right printer, the free app, a Wi-Fi network and some config on your PC.

It wasn't exactly always a 'one click' process, but if you wanted to set it up, it does work, and that's long before Apple's AirPrint technologies are yet even available to the general public, which they still aren't as of publication!

MobileFun in the UK is now selling a dedicated iPhone photo printer, the Bolle BP-10 Phone Printer - iPhone, which is said to work with all iPhone models Apple has ever made - the original iPhone (or iPhone 2G as it is often now known), the iPhone 3G, 3GS and naturally, the iPhone 4.

While this news is all over the Internet, what no-one seems to have twigged to is that MobileFun is not listing any prices for the consumables, nor the type of consumables being used - it is ink, is it using those four-colour tape cartridges to make four passes before spitting the colour photo out, or is it some other technology?

How much will each photo end up costing compared with using your existing photo printer, even if you've had to copy the photos off your iPhone by - shock, horror - plugging it in via USB cable to your computer?

We don't know. There's no word of consumables pricing, nor special pricing for multi-packs of paper and 'ink'.

The Bolle BP-10 Photo Printer - iPhone does have an app, as do the other printing solutions we mentioned earlier, and let you print out photos in various sizes, in passport format or across multiple photos to create a larger image - all of which is a nice touch.

But at £119.99, or just under AUD or US $200, and especially without knowing the prices of the consumables, it's a lot of money to pay just to get the ability to dock and print, even if it is a completely PC and wireless network-free solution.

Still, if that's what you need, such a product is available, although you'll still have to wait - MobileFun lists it as 'coming soon'. Just like iOS 4.2.1, huh?

So, what's some of the information that MobileFun has listed about the Bolle BP-10 Photo Printer - iPhone?

Find out on page two, please read on!