FUJIFILM Corporation (President: Kenji Sukeno) announces the launch of the smartphone printer “instax mini Link” (Link) on or after October 4, 2019 on a market-by-market basis.
The Link creates high-quality instax prints of pictures saved in a smartphone through dedicated app*1 using Bluetooth*2. The app offers a function to choose the best frame from video to print, and also a variety of unique and enjoyable functions that can be used among many people such as a compatibility checker that examines compatibility between you and a friend or someone special, and a function that lets multiple people send their favorite pictures from their smartphone to the printer and compiles them into single instax print. The palm-top compact printer weighs just 200g for excellent portability, making it a fun tool that can be taken to any locations to enjoy photo opportunities.
The Link won the Good Design Award 2019 in recognition of its compact and lightweight design in pursuit of portability and its simple yet intuitive operability.
The new Link printer inherits all the features of the instax Series to produce high-quality prints quickly with ease, while using the dedicated app offering a variety of additional functions to enjoy among many people, including “Video Print” for printing a decisive moment in a video. The “Match Test” function, which tests your compatibility with a friend or someone special, provides a moment of anticipation while you wait for the test result to appear along with the picture on the instax print. The “Party Print” function, which produces single print from multiple pictures sent from smartphones by up to five people, generates excitement as everyone waits to see what kind of picture everyone else has sent in. The printer can be a perfect tool to bring lively energy into any get-togethers.
The Link’s main unit carries a built-in motion sensor. When taking pictures from the printer’s dedicated app on your smartphone, you can use the Link to remotely control the camera operation. For example, you can zoom in by facing down the side of the power button at the center, zoom up by facing up, and release the shutter by pressing the power button. The Link is functional as a remote-controller to take a photo of a large group of people with your smartphone’s camera with ease. The Link also pursues intuitive operability by allowing you to reprint the picture with holding the Link with the printout end pointing down and press the button at the center, and transfer picture to the printer by swiping up (running your finger upward from the bottom of the screen) on the app. The main unit weighs just 200g and uses a metallic material to key parts such as the power button at the center to realize a simple yet fashionable design,
The “instax” series of instant cameras, launched in 1998, is affectionately called “Cheki” in Japan, where it has enjoyed wide popularity for over 20 years. Today, it is sold in over 100 countries around the world, including Japan, Europe, Americas, and Asia, with the cumulative number of 45 million units worldwide*3. It has gained broad-based popularity as a tool that generates real-life communication, with many users saying “It is fun to share those precious moments in life in the form of instax prints. It gives me a real sense of connection with friends when I hand instax prints to them.”
<About the promotion>
Coinciding with the launch of the new “instax mini Link,” Fujifilm will run a worldwide promotional campaign under the catch phrase “Don’t just take, give,” to convey instax prints’ unique value. The company will showcase the features of the Link, through online media and retail stores, highlighting its use as a communication tool to casually print a large collection of precious images kept in a smartphone as a way of conveying one’s feelings, or as an “entertainment printer filled with warmth.”
*1: A free app compatible with Android phones and iPhones. It can be downloaded from Google Play in the case of Android phones and App Store for iPhones.
Android and Google Play are trademarks or registered trademarks of Google Inc. iPhone and App Store are trademarks of Apple Inc. The iPhone trademark is used in Japan under license from iphone Co., Ltd.
*2: Bluetooth® work mark and logo are registered trademarks of Bluetooth SIG, Inc. FUJIFILM Corporation uses these marks based on a license agreement.
*3: The total shipments for cameras and printers
1. Product name (1) Smartphone printer “instax mini Link”
2. Release date (1) Smartphone printer “instax mini Link”: on or after October 4, 2019 on a
market-by-market basis
3. Prices instax mini link is Php 6,999
4. Main features
(1) “instax mini Link”
① Transferring pictures from a smartphone to the printer with a dedicated app via Bluetooth connection to produce instax prints
The app allows easy photo adjustments, such as making it larger / smaller, rotating it, applying a filter or adjusting brightness, before printing it out. The printer has fast speed of about 12 seconds per print, supports continuous printing and is capable of printing about 100 pictures per charge.
② “Video Print” function for printing the best frame from video
You can scroll through video frames left to right to choose the best moment for your subject, and print it out.
③ “Match Test” compatibility testing function, which shows the result when the picture appears on the film
This function examines your compatibility with a friend or someone special. The level of compatibility is shown in percentage. It provides a moment of anticipation while you wait for the test result to appear along with the picture on the film. The app has the “Quick diagnosis” mode to check compatibility of people shown in a randomly-selected picture, and the “Precision diagnosis” mode that involves answering some questions in addition to shooting a photo of two people for whom compatibility is to be checked, in order to obtain a result of greater accuracy.
④ “Party Print” function to create single picture with photos sent from multiple people
This function connects up to five smartphones to the app, receives a picture from each of the devices and combines them into one instax print. In the “Surprise Mode,” no one knows what kind of pictures others have chosen and what the final print would look like until the images appear on the print. This generates a sense of excitement when used at a party or other events.
⑤ Using the printer’s main unit as a remote control
When taking pictures from the printer’s dedicated app on your smartphone, you can use the Link’s main unit to remotely control the camera operation. For example, you can zoom in by facing down the side of the power button at the center, zoom up by facing up, and release the shutter by pressing the power button. Taking a photo with a large group of people is easy with the Link, as it can be used as a remote-controller for your smartphone’s camera. You can print multiple copies of a picture by holding the Link with the printout end pointing down and press the button at the center.
⑥ Dedicated app designed for intuitive operability
Fujifilm has developed a dedicated app designed for intuitive operability such as swiping up on the smartphone screen to easily transfer a picture to the Link for printing. The app contains a variety of frame designs and allows you to combine up to eight pictures into one image in a Collage layout to produce a unique instax print.
⑦ Receiving picture data from Fujifilm’s digital cameras to produce prints
Picture data can be directly transferred from the FUJIFILM Camera Remote app*4 to the printer’s app to produce prints.
*4: The FUJIFILM Camera Remote is a free app for smartphones and tablet devices, provided to users of the X and GFX Series of Fujifilm digital cameras. Pictures in a WiFi-enabled digital camera can be sent one by one to this app so that users can view them on their smartphone (tablet device).
5. Specifications
Recording method 3-color exposure with OLED
Film used FUJIFILM INSTAX Mini Instant Film (sold separately)
Number of films 10 films/pack
Image size 62 mm × 46 mm/2.4 in. × 1.8 in.
Supported image size 800 × 600 dots
Printing resolution 12.5 dots/mm (318 dpi, 80 μm dot pitch)
Printing levels 256 levels per color (RGB)
Interface Standard compliance: Bluetooth Ver. 4.2 (BLE)
Supported image format JPEG, PNG, HEIF
Printing time Image recording – photo output (fed out):
Approximately 12 sec.
Approximate printing capacity Approximately 100 prints (from full charge)
* The number of prints depends on the usage conditions.
Power supply Lithium ion battery (internal type: not removable)
Charging time Approximately 80 to 120 minutes
(Charging time depends on the temperature and battery remaining level)
Power consumption Approximately 3 W
Operating environment Temperature: +5 ºC to +40 ºC (+41 ºF to +104 ºF)
Humidity: 20% to 80% (no condensation)
Main unit dimensions 90.3 mm × 34.6 mm × 124.5 mm/3.5 in. × 1.3 in. × 4.9 in.
(excluding projecting parts)
Main unit mass Approximately 209 g/7.3 oz (excluding film pack)
Supplied accessory USB cable (BOD700, Length: 30 cm/11.8 in.)
*The above specifications are subject to change for performance improvement.