Dezeen Wire: Little Printer, the web-connected gadget we featured earlier this year that prints out personalised messages, news, birthdays and to-do lists collected from the internet on a till-roll, is now going into production.
We posted a movie about Little Printer a few months ago as part of our Designed in Hackney initiative. Since then BERG have been working to get the product into production, perfecting the mirror finish on the plastic, tweaking the API for developers and fixing radio interference bugs.
Developers, publishers and website owners now have 60 days to produce bespoke publications for Little Printer, and BERG's Publisher’s Handbook is available to download here.
Little Printer is available for pre-order at the BERG Cloud Shop, priced £199 GBP ($259 USD) plus shipping.
Here's the full information from BERG:
Little Printer now available for pre-orders
Pre-order Little Printer now — personalised news with a face, only two inches across
BERG, the London product invention and design studio, today announced pre-order details for the hugely anticipated Little Printer, a smart printer for the home. Little Printer scours the Web on the owner’s behalf, assembling their interests into
delightful, personalised miniature newspapers, printed only two inches across.
Shipping in 60 days, BERG also fired the starting pistol for developers, publishers and website owners, inviting them to produce bespoke publications for Little Printer. With content uniquely customised for each user, and the easy Little Printer publishing platform, publishers can reach users directly in their homes in an inventive and highly engaging form.
Little Printer content partners already include the following:
• The Guardian – News headlines: The latest news, customised according to interest, delivered precisely when the reader wants
• Google – Integration with Google Tasks: Schedule a daily to-do list. Subsequent print-outs are updated as tasks are completed
• foursquare – Friend and location data and recommendations: If you’re heading out for the evening. schedule Little Printer to deliver a timely list of your friends’ locations just before you leave. Or get regular restaurant recommendations based on your location
• Arup – A collectable mini-series publication, cataloguing Arup’s renowned building projects such as the Sydney Opera House and the London Zoo Penguin Pool
Other publications include daily weather reports, horoscopes, and puzzles. Weekly birthday reminders, handy for keeping on the fridge or in the user’s wallet, are printed from Facebook. BERG and Facebook are working together on future and improved publications. Other brands are working with BERG on publications, including The Times of London and BBC Worldwide.
Owners manage their subscriptions using the mobile website “BERG Cloud Remote” on their smartphones (supported devices include iPhone, Android smartphones and Windows Phone). The unique publications are then printed at the precise time the owner chooses, using Little Printer’s compact, inkless, thermal printer, on 2.25 inch receipt paper. Owners can also send printed, direct messages to their friends via Little Printer, and choose from one of four characters to bring them their daily news: Little Printer prints its own face.
“We’ve built on our previous experience with publishing platforms and made it extremely easy for website owners to bring their services to Little Printer”, said Matt Webb, CEO and co-founder of BERG. “At a recent event, 25 developers with no previous experience of Little Printer produced 73 new publications in just eight hours using our Publishers Handbook.
We’re excited to bring Little Printer to both publishers, and users who have fallen in love with the delightful design and inventiveness of a Webconnected printer for the home. At initial announcement, Little Printer received global press attention with over 1 million views of the introductory video in the first 5 days. Over 60,000 people are signed up to hear news.”
Little Printer is packaged with BERG Cloud Bridge, which plugs into the user’s home broadband router to provide a connection to the Web, international power supplies, and spare paper. The box has been designed and produced in collaboration with Burgopak, winner of multiple awards for their innovative packaging.
Little Printer can be pre-ordered today from bergcloud.com, priced at £199 GBP ($259 USD) plus shipping, and is available for the UK, EU, USA, and Canada. The Publishers’ Guide can be downloaded from bergcloud.com.
About BERG
BERG has a track-record of innovation. The studio created the first magazine publishing platform for iPad (Mag+ with Bonnier AB), with the first magazine available on iPad’s day of launch. Fast Company list BERG as one of the world’s most innovative companies. BERG specialises in product invention and strategy, and has its design studio in London’s “Tech City” district. See berglondon.com for other projects.
BERG is included in our book, Dezeen Book of Ideas. Buy it now for just £12.