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Polaroid had announced they were leaving the instant picture business and with that many people thought they would just quietly disappear. Well it seems that has been quite the opposite, just recently they had announced the ZINK printer and now they have announced the Freescape 4360 portable media player.

The Freescape 4360 features a 4.3-inch 16:9 widescreen display, 60GB of internal storage, Wi-Fi, FM tuner and TV-out. With a rechargeable Li-ion battery it will offer up to 16 hours for audio playback and 4 hours for video playback. The Freescape 4360 has support for MPEG4, WMA, WMV, MP3 and JPEG formats, with some speculation that there will be a future plugin for DivX. While the Freescape 4360 is not yet available, it is expected to retail for around $400.

Via [CrunchGear]

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While Polaroid may have dropped their instant “film” production they have not left the instant “picture” business entirely. Polaroid has just announced their ZINK printer. This pocket sized printer will still offer instant gratification, just with some better image quality. The ZINK features both USB and Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity that is said to be able to print your pics in as little as 60 seconds.

While some, myself included, may miss those instant camera’s the ZINK printer seems to fit with the current times just a little better. The Polaroid ZINK printer is expected to be available this May and retail for around $200.

Via [CrunchGear]

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This was clearly inevitable with the rise of digital technology in the late 20th century. Polaroid is closing its instant film producing factories in Massachusetts, Mexico and the Netherlands some time next year. If you own a Polaroid, you’d better enjoy it while it lasts as you won’t be able to buy any more instant films.

Polaroid now focuses on generic consumer electronics such as digital cameras, printers and scanners as it tries to survive “for the next 30 to 40 years,“ Tom Beaudoin, Polaroid’s president, chief operating officer and chief financial officer, said.

Read [BusinessWeek]

• Wal-Mart leaks out full Black Friday deals
• Spiff up your MySpace photo with Pixisnap mosaics and Polaroids
• Nokia tries to patent writing on the back of digital pictures