ZINK (short for ‘zero ink’) this morning announced that it has scored $35 million in Series B funding in a round led by Genii Capital. The company also announced the hiring of former board members Mary Jeffries (as chairman and co-CEO) and Ira Parker (as president and co-CEO).

Jeffries was once the CEO of Polaroid, where Parker also served as VP and General Counsel before moving on to a similar role at AOL.

ZINK is behind the ‘Zero Ink Printing Technology’ and its sibling, ZINK Paper, with which the company aims to ruffle some established feathers in the global printing industry.

The company has invented technology and a full-color printing system that essentially eradicates the need for ink cartridges or ribbons when used with its proprietary ZINK Paper. I’m not sure how they pull this off, exactly, but the company pitches its technology thusly:

Based on advances in chemistry, engineering, physics, image science, and manufacturing, the development of ZINK has generated an IP portfolio that includes over 180 patents and patents pending.

At the heart of the technology is ZINK Paper which looks like regular white photo paper before printing. Heat from a ZINK-enabled device activates the color-forming chemistry within the ZINK Paper, forming all the colors of the rainbow.

ZINK’s technology already powers a limited range of home photo printers, digital cameras with built-in ZINK printers, as well as logging printers, with more coming. Partners include Dell and Polaroid.

Founded in 2005, ZINK’s R&D labs and headquarters are based in Bedford, Massachusetts, with a manufacturing plant located in Whitsett, North Carolina.

Back at CES, we spent a long time waiting for Lady Gaga to show up (again) and introduce her new product line, a collaboration with Polaroid called Grey Label. The camera sunglasses and Bluetooth printer didn’t exactly blow our socks off, but the GL30 camera prototype sure did. It was beautiful. Of course, no matter how much I bugged Polaroid, I never got word one about availability or what have you. And then this thing turns up!

Now, I’m not convinced this is the same product we saw at CES. A relative of that product, perhaps, but not the real thing. I refuse to believe that they’d throw away a perfectly good design like that, one associated with Gaga herself. So what is this?

The Z340, which ePhotozine previews here, has similarities with the prototype GL30, but I’m not digging the differences. Gone is the shiny veneer and bellows motif. Gone are the (slightly impractical, I’m guessing) controls under the LCD. The shots show an interface that isn’t particularly lovable, and although I don’t want to bash it too much without trying it, that forest of buttons doesn’t look like a lot of fun. I down with Zink, but this isn’t something I’d like to carry around with me.

Polaroid hasn’t gotten back to me, and we weren’t invited to the hands-on party (sniff), so until we hear about the fate of the actual GL30, it’s anybody’s guess how this thing fits in. All we know is it costs £229.99 (around $375) and it’ll be available in December.

Update: Polaroid writes “The Z340 is launching this October in both the US and UK. The GL30 Instant Digital Camera will be available in the spring of 2012.” I suspected as much: the GL30 is taking a bit too long to finalize, and this, perhaps a polished-off version of a more consumer-oriented prototype, is being made available in the meantime.

Zink stands for “zero ink.” It’s the name of a company that has created a new way of printing that uses, yes, zero ink. It’s all in the paper, hoss.

The paper has three layers of cyan, magenta, and yellow crystals layered over each other. You roll the paper through Zink printers, which then heat specific areas of the sheet, creating an image.

The first version of Zink’s technology was hobbled in that the paper was too big, only 2×3 inches. Version 2.0 is beginning to trickle out, but will appear more widely in the first quarter of 2010. Paper size goes all the way up to 4×6 inches, big enough for printouts of your photos (if you still print out photos!).

More on this come CES, when we’re running around all day talking to 1 million people at the same time.

This rather nondescript printer was found on FCC’s website is actually a sweet Dell mobile photo printer. The PZ310 features a ink-free printing curiosity of Zink technology that pumps out photos either by USB or Bluetooth. It seems that this new Dell device is really a re-branded Polaroid PoGo mobile printer and will probably carry a similar $149 MSRP when launched. If you need more info, cruise over to the FCC site for the Dell manual and a bunch of testing results but don’t look for a release date, cause it isn’t there.

Zink’s camera and printer convergence device is inching its way closer to launch, at least we think it is. It remains to be seen whether or not this will be worth the wait and cost, but a few more details have emerged and it’s raising our brows. How good will the 7-megapixel sensor be and does anyone really want 2-x3-inch prints? The 2-inch display and rechargeable battery don’t do a whole lot for me, but I guess an SD card slot is pretty cool. Right?

Product Page

Zink is using a new kind of printing technology utilizing crystalized-ink embedded in paper. The result is a heat-activated printing solution that will create quick, great looking photos. Zink’s first product is a small pocket printer that is about the size of a deck of cards and is priced to sell for less than $100.

The printer will easily connect to a mobile phone or a computer to print out fun little prints that you and your friends can throw up on the fridge. Little details are available on a release date, but this could really bring Polaroid (Zink’s parent company) back into the limelight.

Zink Pocket Printer: iPhone Companion? [Gizmodo]