Printers Don't Need Ink Anymore, Thanks to ZINK

This is one of those inventions that might very well turn a big chunk of the IT industry on its head, provided the printer idea actually takes off.

ZINK is a relatively young company, founded in 2005, but it might just make printer ink totally unnecessary.

That is the nature of its focus: to create printers that do not need any sort of ink when transferring virtual images to paper.

The idea is called “Zero Ink Printing Technology” (ZINK) and is being developed in conjunction with ZINK Paper.

Essentially, when using ZINK Paper, there is no need of ink cartridges or ribbons in order for full-color printing to be carried out.

ZINK Paper looks like white photo paper, but reacts when exposed to ZINK-enabled devices and, through patented color-forming chemistry, can produce colors.

There are already some home photo printers and digital cameras with ZINK printers built into them.

“Genii Capital is delighted to have led this financing. We believe that ZINK Imaging's technology is the future of printing. It will continue to transform the critical role printing plays in key markets such as cloud computing and on-demand hard copy communication,” said Christian Frampton, of Genii Business Exchange.

“Over the past six years, ZINK Imaging's talented team has pioneered a unique technology, along with a very strong business model, and we are excited about expanding our already strong partnership with them in the future.”

This isn't exactly the sort of high-tech marvel that can use any old piece of paper, but the potential is great regardless, especially if the paper can be mass produced at reasonable cost per page.

Now we just have to wait and see if this upstart makes a name for itself or if it winds up bought, along with its 180 or so patents, by one of the bigger fish.

Go here to learn more about the Zero Ink Printing Technology and how it works.