While the tears spilled mourning the death of Polaroid's instant film division are still somewhat damp, the company has a little spark of an announcement that could make hardcore 'roiders (of the best kind) happy?the company looks like it's finally getting serious about building its Zink instant digital printing tech into a camera. And it won't use the diminutive 2 x 3 inch format currrently spit out by the PoGo printer, which is the only product that currently features Zink tech. Instead, the new camera is planning to use the classic 4x3 vertical rectangle size, which became the company's trademark. And they're even taking (or pretending to take) suggestions from the public on the camera's features.

Just drop by the Amateur Photographer site and fill out the form, rating which features are important. Not a whole ton of flexibility here, but it's a nice gesture.

Zink's dye crystals are built into the paper itself, so there's no need for the white chemical pack/label area/shaking handle of the classics, but let's hope they keep that anyway, for old time's sake. I would encourage everyone to vote for that, as a write-in.

We've already seen a prototype camera packing Polaroid's Zink instant digital printing tech (at the 2x3 size), which is still apparently going to ship, someday. The new 4x3 cam is scheduled for "sometime in 2009." [Amateur Photography via Gadget Lab - Image: mocvdleung]