First off, this isn’t what you’re thinking: this scanner doesn’t actually allow you to scan objects in 3D but it allows you to scan physical objects. Think of it as a larger camera. That said, the HP TopShot scanner is clearly a bold move for the beleaguered HP. The $399 MFP prints, copies, and scans and has a special arm that swings up to scan 3D objects. For example, you could place a model on it and “scan” it (really “take a picture of it”) from different angles.

This is one of the first scanners I’ve seen with this feature set and if you’re an Etsy manufacturer or an eBay fiend, it might be a good way to grab shots of items without an expensive light box and lights. Otherwise, it’s just a bog standard multi-function printer that would look at home in anyone’s den or small office.

No availability yet but knowing HP it will probably be discontinued in 47 days [[optional sound effect].

NEC today announced it has developed the industry’s first contact-less biometric authentication system that can read both fingerprints and finger veins. According to the company, the “HS100-10 Contactless Hybrid Finger Scanner” is extremely difficult to deceive and makes it possible to authenticate people with close to 100% accuracy.

The way it works is that the person in question has to hold their hand in front of the reader to let a camera shoot pictures of the fingerprint and finger vein. As no physical contact is needed, the system can also be used by people with dry or moist fingers.

The data from those two biometric markers is then compared with a database of registered individuals (the scanner connects to a PC via USB 2.0).

NEC plans to sell their system starting in May, primarily targeting financial institutions and public organizations in Japan, the US and parts of Asia. The company hopes to sell up to 400,000 units of the system in three years (priced at between $305 and $370).

Scanning or copying books will get a lot more comfortable in the future, thanks to the Ishikawa-Komuro lab at the University of Tokyo. The lab has already developed an awesome prototype of a camera that shoots “3D” pictures of pages while a human quickly flips through a book (see video below).

Now Japanese business daily The Nikkei is reporting that the university and major printing company Dai Nippon are planning to develop a high-speed copier that can take 500 pictures per second. The aim is obviously to make digitizing books and any other printed material much easier.

That high-speed scanning system mentioned above (and shown on video below) is able to capture about 170 pages in 60 seconds. The new system is expected to be ready by 2012, with Dai Nippon saying it plans to develop “robots” to turn the pages.

Here’s the current system (which still requires a human touch):

Does your Mac need a new scanner? (I think I’ve had the same scanner for like 10 years. The Mac driver is still for PPC processors, that’s how old it is.) I ask because I needed a fun way to segue into a brief discussion of the Canon imageFORMULA P-150M, which, as you may have surmised, is a scanner that works with your Mac.

It’s portable, so that’s neat, and it works with Evernote, which I’m also going to consider neat. Note that that’s different from “fairly neat,” which is reserved for much more exciting things.

I’m going to assume that you, the CrunchGear reader, knows what a scanner does. Put your paper in, hit the button, and off you go. It can scan 15 pages per minute!

I’m also going to assume that this is a higher-end scanner, since it carries a $295 price tag.

How do you make boring tech exciting? This is probably a fine, fine scanner, but there is no way to make talking about a scanner fun and exciting. Believe me, I was going to write a short story where the main character’s name was Scanner McScanney to try to jazz this up, but was like “meh, I’ve already written enough about this. I sure could use a sandwich.”

The new Canon P-150 scanner (also called the “Scan-Tini”!) ships with a CD that contains two things: a scanner driver, and a link to install Evernote. That’s the kind of bundled software that I think actually makes sense. Both Windows and Mac are supported by the new plug-and-scan offering from Canon.

Features

• Lightweight and ultraportable
• USB powered: no power brick
• Includes photo sleeves, alignment paper, cleaning paper, and fun adhesive skins with which you can personalize the product
• MSRP: $129

Pros

• Scans pretty much anything, as long as it’s no more than 8.5″ wide
• Can perform modest image manipulation within the Doxie application
• Can feed scanned items into local apps (Adobe, GIMP, etc) or cloud apps (Picnik, Flickr, Twitter, etc)

Cons

• Requires manual execution of Doxie application
• Calibration (currently) requires administrator access
• USB port is poorly placed

Review
I’ve enjoyed using Doxie. It’s easy to use, and it has a sassy attitude, as evidenced in the screenshot above. It’s certainly not a selling point on its own, but the sense of lighthearted fun will help ease nervous users into successful operation.

Scan quality is good, and there’s plenty of control provided for different kinds of scanning jobs. Scanning photos and documents are supported with two different interfaces via a drop-down (on Windows) or tab (on Mac). Documents default to 200 dpi in greyscale, and photos default to 300 dpi in color. I admit I didn’t try to scan a photo in document mode or a document in image mode because that would just be silly.

Resolution scales from 75 dpi all the way up to 600 dpi. Scans can be in black-and-white, greyscale, or color. Once scanned, you can save the image to a local file, twiddle a few settings (exposure, contrast, saturation, etc), send it to a local application, or send it to a cloud application. All in all, I had no problems using the scanner or the software.

No software is provided with Doxie. This is an interesting decision, but I think it’s a good one. Instead of installing outdated software via Plug-and-Play, Doxie asks you to visit www.getdoxie.com/start to download the latest version of the software. The upside is that absolutely no fluff add-on software is “helpfully” bundled with it: you get just the Doxie software and are expected to use existing software on your computer or a cloud-based application to manipulate your scans.

I have two basic gripes with Doxie. First, the software requires you to launch it manually. Pressing Doxie’s heart-shaped “scan” button doesn’t do anything at all if the software isn’t running. This is a minor annoyance; but it’d be really nice if Doxie could hook into the USB sub-systems on Mac and Windows so that the application launches when the button is pressed. My second beef is the placement of the USB port: it’s on the back right of the unit (as you look at it from the front), behind the heart-shaped button. This means that if you place Doxie to the right on your computer the USB cable falls right in the path of your documents as they exit the scanner. This is hardly a make-or-break situation, but I found it caused some consternation as I scanned fragile older documents and they butted into the USB cable. I would have liked to see the USB port on one of the ends of the tubular unit, rather than the back surface.

All in all, Doxie is a good product. If you need convenience scanning, or are looking for something more portable than a huge flatbed scanner, Doxie is a good choice.

Product Page: GetDoxie.com

Yeah yeah, you can get scanners for like $40 at Best Buy, but you know Canon has got your best interests in mind when they put out a piece of hardware like this. They know what image quality is, and they’ve been making the pieces of devices like this one for long enough to know what needs to be done.

At that resolution, you’ll never have to buy another scanner… if you’re okay with a gigantic, slow thing like this being your only scanner. If I’m honest, I think I would prefer something like this portable one. Who am I kidding, I’ve been avoiding printers and scanners like the plague for a good five years now, I’m not going to stop.

[via Gizmag]

Sure, I know what you’re thinking: scanners are a bit boring. But Fujitsu hopes to tempt you with some of its delicious ScanSnap S1300 features including direct to PDF scanning as well as scanning directly into Excel spreadsheets. That’s right: you can recreate a printed Excel sheet just by sliding it through the scanner. Cool, right?

The S1300 is a mobile scanner which means it should fit in something like a briefcase. Almost everything you scan is searchable and you can even highlight tags and search terms with a highlighter. With tax season coming up, this might be a good way to store and send all of your precious W2s.

The list of included features and software, below, is pretty impressive. It’s available now for $295.

Scanning speeds of up to 8 double-sided color pages per minute (ppm)
Automatic document feeder (ADF) holding up to 10 pages (letter size)
One button searchable PDF: Converts scanned data into searchable PDF files that let users quickly and easily find the documents they have scanned
Scan to Email, Scan to Folder & Scan to Print functions
Automatic paper size detection: From 2×2 inches to Legal
Automatic de-skew & orientation
Automatic blank page detection & deletion
Small footprint (compact and 3.1 lbs)
Can be powered by USB (USB cables and AC power adaptor included)
ENERGY STAR® and Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) compliant

Software:
ScanSnap Organizer 4.1 (PC): Offers PC users a convenient way to store, manage and view PDF and JPEG files as well as perform post-scan editing, keyword entry and searchable PDF conversion.
CardMinder 4.1 (PC): Provides PC users a fast way to capture both sides of a business card, extract the information automatically and export it to Outlook, Excel, Act! and other contact management software.
Scan to Functions (PC): Offers PC users an easy way to scan to a folder, attach scans to an email, send scans to a printer, or scan to Microsoft SharePoint for ad-hoc efficiency.
ScanSnap Manager (Mac and PC): Provides Mac and PC users one button searchable PDF creation, access to intelligent features and custom scan settings (profiles) for simple operation with sophisticated results.
Scan to Functions (Mac): Offers Mac users a flexible way to manage their PDF, searchable PDF and JPEG files. Users can save content to a folder, a network folder, iPhoto, and even directly to their iDisk account.
Cardiris 3.6 (Mac): Provides Mac users a convenient way to scan their business cards and export the contact information directly to Address Book or Entourage.

Fujitsu Introduces Next Generation Cross-Platform Portable Scanner to its ScanSnap Line

The Mobile Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300 Provides Consumers and Business Professionals New Productivity Features and Increased Versatility for PC and Mac

SUNNYVALE, Calif., February 10, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc., the market leader in document imaging scanners and services, today introduced the newest addition to its portable ScanSnap product lineup. The Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300 is the company’s next generation mobile multi-page scanner that provides the same easy-to-use one-button scanning and reliable operation as its predecessors. With enhanced productivity features and added versatility, it is also the first ScanSnap scanner designed for full cross-platform functionality for PC and Mac.

Optimized for operation with a PC or Mac and small enough to digitize paperwork easily and efficiently from the road, the ScanSnap S1300 is engineered to provide consumers and business professionals the most productive scanning experience at home or on the go.

“Following the successful launch of the ScanSnap S300 and S300M, the predecessors of the ScanSnap S1300, it was important that we bring even more scanning functionality and platform flexibility to mobile consumers and business professionals with this latest solution,” said Michael Sidejas, product marketing manager, Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc. “Whether it is scanning contracts, receipts, bills, invoices, or business cards on the road or using a PC at one place and a Mac at another, the new ScanSnap S1300 provides users the tools to be even more productive and paperless anywhere, regardless of the computer they use.”

New Productivity Features
Fujitsu was the first to introduce multi-sheet, duplex performance in a USB powered mobile scanner with the ScanSnap S300 series and now the next generation ScanSnap S1300 provides even more intelligence, productivity features and flexibility. Key features that are new to the ScanSnap S1300 include:

Automatic Quality: When Auto is selected under Image Quality, ScanSnap increases the resolution on small documents (A6 or smaller), helping ensure the fine-print on small documents remains legible and searchable.
Mark Text Function: Users can utilize a standard highlighter pen on a black & white document to automatically create searchable keywords of the highlighted text, such as an invoice number or last name.
ABBYY FineReader for ScanSnap: ABBYY FineReader for ScanSnap allows users to be productive by quickly transforming their paperwork into editable Word and Excel files at the push of a button.
Grayscale Support: In addition to automatically detecting color and monochrome, users can now scan images or text in grayscale. This is especially important for small images or text within business cards and small receipts that typically includes fine print.
Long Document Support: Users are able to scan a document up to 34 inches long, allowing ScanSnap S1300 to support a wider range of documents, such as long grocery receipts or lengthy rental agreements.
Increased Versatility on the Go
ScanSnap S1300 comes with software for PC and software for Mac so users who use both can optimize their ScanSnap for either platform with equal ease, making the scanner even more portable and versatile. In-box software includes:

ScanSnap Organizer 4.1 (PC): Offers PC users a convenient way to store, manage and view PDF and JPEG files as well as perform post-scan editing, keyword entry and searchable PDF conversion.
CardMinder 4.1 (PC): Provides PC users a fast way to capture both sides of a business card, extract the information automatically and export it to Outlook, Excel, Act! and other contact management software.
Scan to Functions (PC): Offers PC users an easy way to scan to a folder, attach scans to an email, send scans to a printer, or scan to Microsoft SharePoint for ad-hoc efficiency.
ScanSnap Manager (Mac and PC): Provides Mac and PC users one button searchable PDF creation, access to intelligent features and custom scan settings (profiles) for simple operation with sophisticated results.
Scan to Functions (Mac): Offers Mac users a flexible way to manage their PDF, searchable PDF and JPEG files. Users can save content to a folder, a network folder, iPhoto, and even directly to their iDisk account.
Cardiris 3.6 (Mac): Provides Mac users a convenient way to scan their business cards and export the contact information directly to Address Book or Entourage.
Additional ScanSnap S1300 features that continue to deliver on the ScanSnap legacy of intelligence, quality and ease-of-use include:

Scanning speeds of up to 8 double-sided color pages per minute (ppm)
Automatic document feeder (ADF) holding up to 10 pages (letter size)
One button searchable PDF: Converts scanned data into searchable PDF files that let users quickly and easily find the documents they have scanned
Scan to Email, Scan to Folder & Scan to Print functions
Automatic paper size detection: From 2×2 inches to Legal
Automatic de-skew & orientation
Automatic blank page detection & deletion
Small footprint (compact and 3.1 lbs)
Can be powered by USB (USB cables and AC power adaptor included)
ENERGY STAR® and Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) compliant
“Customers who travel regularly for business or share devices between work and home computers need a mobile scanning experience that offers them easy operation, quality image processing and platform flexibility,” continued Sidejas. “With new productivity features, dual PC/Mac functionality and multi-page performance, the new ScanSnap S1300 underscores Fujitsu’s commitment to building cutting edge products based on what our users need.”

Pricing & Availability
The Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300 is available now for $295 (U.S. list) through Fujitsu authorized resellers, mail order catalogs and the Fujitsu website located at http://www.buyfcpa.com.

Designed for 4×6 photos, the iConvert Photo Scanner turns your old pictures into 100, 300, or 600dpi digital images. It’s both Windows and Mac compatible and costs $100 though SkyMall or Brookstone.

iConvert Photo Scanner [SkyMall]

The BBC brings word that the scanner is being tested in Manchester airport, and that reaction from the public is mixed, at best. Never mind the fact that the scanners allow travelers to pass through without removing their coats or shoes, dramatically speeding up a horribly inefficient process. The scanners show you naked!

But the full body scans will also show up breast enlargements, body piercings and a clear black-and-white outline of passengers’ genitals.

The spokespeople for the manufacturers and various security entities all assure us that the images cannot be stored. Yeah, right. If there’s one thing we know, it’s that a distressingly large number of human beings will do darn near anything to look at nekkid pictures of other human beings. I can envision a whole new fetish springing up around black market rips of security scanner images. Start registering domains now, gang!

The good news is that you can show your junk to the TSA goons up to five thousand times per year before you need to worry about the radiation you’re subjecting said junk to.

Oh, look, a legitimately clever use of the iPhone, and one that’s not hard at all to replicate at home. Essentially, you set your iPhone on a raised surface, then you snap away using the phone’s camera. Congratulations, you’ve just created an inexpensive document scanner.

The key here, obviously, and why this is more effective than merely holding a sheet of paper up to the phone’s camera is that the document is always a fixed distance away. Plus, both the phone and document are stationary, ensuring that your “scan” won’t be unreadably blurry.

Of course, you could opt out of all cutting cardboard and whatnot by paying $45 for it.

via Crave

If you’re thinking of scanning all your old photos using a traditional flatbed scanner, let me be the first to tell you what a royal pain in the ass it is. I’ve done it a few times in my life and I put it up near the top of the list of things I don’t want to do, right underneath “helping someone move”.

This “photo converter” looks a lot quicker and more convenient. It’s not a scanner, though — it actually takes a photo of your photos using a 5-megapixel digital camera and then zips the file into your computer via USB.

You’ll notice a single button marked “COPY” which ought to be straightforward enough. You load your photos into one of three trays — 3×5, 4×6, or 5×7 — drop it into the box, and hit the button.

No lifting the scanner lid, aligning the photo just right, scanning it, and then cropping or rotating the finished image file because the picture moved when you took your hand off of it.

This thing is just $50, which is down from a list price of $200. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but that actually seems like a fair price.

Hammacher Schlemmer Photograph Converter [Buy.com via dealnews]

This is a scanner produced by someone by the name of Pandigital. It’s called the PhotoLink Handheld Scanner. It’s portable!

Right, so it’s a portable scanner with a max resolution of 1800×1200 at 300dpi. That’s roughly 60 percent of the resolution Getty—they’re like the Associated Press of photography—uses. You can scan photos up to 4×6-inches in size.

It’s got the usual bells and whistles, if you can call them that: she works with all the popular memory cards out there (SD, XD, CF, etc.) and has a mini USB 2.0 port should you want to transfer you photos that way.

It’s $99 for this, which, I think, isn’t unreasonable.

I’m not one to get overly excited about the technology behind transportation logistics (or am I?) but this thing from HP looks pretty cool. It’s basically a handheld wireless-enabled barcode scanner that can also print quick-drying ink directly onto boxes.

So if you work at, say, UPS, you scan a box coming in, that info is transmitted wirelessly to your warehouse servers, and then you print another barcode or “FRAGILE” or some other message onto the package itself, all in the blink of an eye.

Check out this video to see it in action.

[via Treehugger]

If you have old folks sitting quietly at home, get them this and give them something to do. Slide scanning – along with vinyl record conversion – is one of those things that our elders would love to get around to but don’t quite have the time or resources to do it correctly. This $100 Ion model, however, will let my mom and pop import those pictures they snapped at the Knudsen’s swingers party where, I suspect, I was conceived.

The kit includes two slide holders and it basically just scans in slides. It’s so cheap it’s almost disposable and it’s available now. This is a kickass birthday or holiday gift.

I hate scanners. Hate ‘em. They’re slow, noisy, and they take up too much space. Here’s a departure from the traditional scanner that aims to truly offer no-bullshit document archival. It’s simply a tower for your iPhone (could probably use any phone, though) that uses the camera to take snapshots of the documents underneath. Best of all, you’ll likely have all your important documents with you at all times. Worst of all, if you lose habitually lose phones, this probably isn’t a good idea.

Also, it could be argued that the iPhone document scanner takes up almost as much space as a regular scanner but, hey, it costs next-to-nothing and doesn’t require power or a computer and all your documents are kept right in your pocket.

corrugate iPhone document scanner – free template! [Core77 via BBG]

Canon announced today three new additions to their scanner line. The film and document scanner CanoScan 5600F and two document dedicated models, the LiDE200 and LiDE100. A few new upgrades have been added across the board. Besides powering up faster and scanning quicker, users now have the option of using the new Auto Scan Mode. A dedicated “SCAN” button is incorporated which lets the scanner automatically detect which type of document is being scanned.

Round up of features after the jump.

CANON CANOSCAN 5600F COLOR IMAGE SCANNER

• Ability to scan up to six frames of a 35mm filmstrip or four 35mm slides at a maximum optical resolution of 4800 x 9600 dots-per-inch (dpi).

• Inculded white LED, which eliminates warm-up time while decreasing overall power consumption.

• Quick and Automatic Retouching and Enhancement (QARE) Level 3 technology, which aids in automatic dust, scratch, fading and graininess reduction,

• Ability scan letter-sized color documents at a resolution of 300 dpi in approximately 11 seconds.

• Built-in power source, an easier to open document cover and internally wired FAU cable.

• The estimated selling price for the CanoScan 5600F Color Image Scanner is $149.99.

CANON CANOSCAN LiDE200 and LiDE100 COLOR IMAGE SCANNER

• The CanoScan LiDE200 has a maximum optical resolution of 4800 x 4800 dpi while the CanoScan LiDE100 has a maximum optical resolution of 2400 x 4800 dpi.

• Only one USB 2.0 high-speed cable is necessary for connecting to a computer and providing the necessary power.

• The QARE Level 3 technology, used with the CanoScan 5600F Color Image Scanner, is used for both of these scanners as well.

• With the enhanced PDF function, bulky documents can be filed easily and letter-sized color documents can be scanned on the CanoScan LiDE200 in approximately 14 seconds, while on the CanoScan LiDE100 the scan can be completed in approximately 24 seconds at a resolution of 300 dpi.

• The estimated selling price of the CanoScan LiDE200 Color Image Scanner is $89.99 and $59.99 for the CanoScan LiDE100 Color Image Scanner.

Anybody who’s had to scan a big fat pile of old photos into their computer knows that it suh-huuucks. So along comes the ingeniously named “Photograph to Digital Picture Converter” from Hammacher Schlemmer for $150.

It’s got a 5MP CMOS sensor with an 1,800 dpi resolution that basically takes a digital photo of whatever regular photo you slide down into the tray. The device plugs into your computer’s USB port (Windows only, sorry), allowing you to manipulate your now-digital photos any way you see fit.

Sure, a scanner might accomplish the same task but this doodad looks nice for whizzing through a bunch of photos in rapid succession. If Hammacher Schlemmer comes out with a 250-photo add-on tray for automating the entire process, I’m sold.

Product Page [Hammacher Schlemmer]

Stand-alone photo scanners like Epson’s just released Perfection V200 are great for folks who used film cameras during the stone age to take pictures. Whereas those of us who reached full statue during the digital camera boom have less use for them, others could do far worse than this Epson offering. Its 4800 dpi resolution should hold up just fine even when scanning images at the maximum 14×21-inch size, to say nothing of its ability to scan 3D objects. Yup, its lid lifts up a might 180 degrees in order to scan real life 3D objects. The prank possibilities are unlimited. Perhaps, then, kids should look at the V200 a little more closely.

That the scanner is only $99 not only means that a lowly blogger like me can afford it, but that you can buy two or even three and hand them out like smarties on Halloween.

Epson

The DocuPen RC800 is a full color 24-bit scanner that looks like pen — hence the name. It is capable of producing full page scans from its compact case. It includes a conspicuous looking carrying case intended to protect it during travels.

The design allows you to select from black and white, standard color or high 24-bit color. It also has resolution options ranging from 100 to 400 dpi. The included Paperport software is reasonably intuitive and allows you to grab scans from the DocuPen without much hassle. Its onboard memory can store up to 100 lesser quality images, but it has a MicroSD expansion slot for larger storage capacities. When you’re ready to upload your scans, the device connects via an included USB cable. It is powered by a rechargeable lithium-Ion battery that is charged via USB.

I know people tend to think that reduced size and increased portability is always a good thing — I was one of those people — but it really became something of a issue here. The problem exists when attempting to scan documents. With a flatbed scanner, one simply sets the document on the bed and hits the button. There is no attempting to steady a device while manually dragging the scanning mechanism. That was a huge issue for me here. It’s difficult to keep a document straight while moving the DocuPen appropriately. I found that I often botched several scans before finally getting one down correctly.

Another problem that I have with this device is the flimsiness of its design. Sure the scanner works, but the DocuPen does not feel sturdy in the slightest. I was not comfortable toting it in my bag for fear that it wouldn’t survive a trip In its defense though, it was never destroyed, but I’m not sure if that’s a testament to its durability or I was just uncommonly unbrutal those particular days.

I carried it around for about two weeks, expecting to scan stuff, but I only ended up using it to scan a handful of documents on the go. Now, it’s not that I never had anything to scan, it’s just that whenever I found myself in situations that needed scanning, there was almost always a flatbed scanner on hand. And given the problems I explained about documents shifting around while using the DocuPen, I can’t see ever opting for the DocuPen over a flatbed.

The DocuPen RC800 from PLANon is a product of dubious utility. I have to question whether there is a huge demand for such a product. It seems to me that if you’re scanning papers, you could just use a normal flatbed scanner. If, however, you’re in the niche group that absolutely needs a portable scanning device, this is probably the best option out there. The scan quality isn’t bad if you can figure out an effective way to brace what you’re scanning—I never could.

It is available in two models: the standard for $299.99 and the pro for $349.

DocuPen RC800