Polaroid has unveiled a handheld printer which it hopes will have us all printing out copies of our terrible New Year’s Eve snaps directly from digital cameras and mobile phones.

Polaroid's Digital Instant Mobile Photo Printer: inkless

Dubbed the Polaroid Digital Instant Mobile Photo Printer, or PDIMPP for short, the unit connects to your digicam via USB and makes use of the PictBridge direct printing standard. The gadget can also receive shots over a Bluetooth connection, making it a handy way for printing photos snapped on your mobile phone.

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The PDIMPP is powered by a rechargeable battery and measures 120 x 70 x 24mm, but it won’t leak ink all over your hands because it uses an ink-less printing technology from manufacturer Zink.

Dubbed Zero Ink, this technique uses specialist photo paper which contains colourless dye crystals in a layer between the paper and a protective polymer surface. Heat from the printer activates and colours the crystals and, within about 60 seconds, Polaroid claimed, a borderless image appears on the paper.

The PDIMPP is expected to appear in the US during Q2, priced at around $150 (£75/€110). A UK release date or price hasn’t been announced yet.