The BBC brings word that the scanner is being tested in Manchester airport, and that reaction from the public is mixed, at best. Never mind the fact that the scanners allow travelers to pass through without removing their coats or shoes, dramatically speeding up a horribly inefficient process. The scanners show you naked!

But the full body scans will also show up breast enlargements, body piercings and a clear black-and-white outline of passengers’ genitals.

The spokespeople for the manufacturers and various security entities all assure us that the images cannot be stored. Yeah, right. If there’s one thing we know, it’s that a distressingly large number of human beings will do darn near anything to look at nekkid pictures of other human beings. I can envision a whole new fetish springing up around black market rips of security scanner images. Start registering domains now, gang!

The good news is that you can show your junk to the TSA goons up to five thousand times per year before you need to worry about the radiation you’re subjecting said junk to.

Oh, look, a legitimately clever use of the iPhone, and one that’s not hard at all to replicate at home. Essentially, you set your iPhone on a raised surface, then you snap away using the phone’s camera. Congratulations, you’ve just created an inexpensive document scanner.

The key here, obviously, and why this is more effective than merely holding a sheet of paper up to the phone’s camera is that the document is always a fixed distance away. Plus, both the phone and document are stationary, ensuring that your “scan” won’t be unreadably blurry.

Of course, you could opt out of all cutting cardboard and whatnot by paying $45 for it.

via Crave

If you’re thinking of scanning all your old photos using a traditional flatbed scanner, let me be the first to tell you what a royal pain in the ass it is. I’ve done it a few times in my life and I put it up near the top of the list of things I don’t want to do, right underneath “helping someone move”.

This “photo converter” looks a lot quicker and more convenient. It’s not a scanner, though — it actually takes a photo of your photos using a 5-megapixel digital camera and then zips the file into your computer via USB.

You’ll notice a single button marked “COPY” which ought to be straightforward enough. You load your photos into one of three trays — 3×5, 4×6, or 5×7 — drop it into the box, and hit the button.

No lifting the scanner lid, aligning the photo just right, scanning it, and then cropping or rotating the finished image file because the picture moved when you took your hand off of it.

This thing is just $50, which is down from a list price of $200. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but that actually seems like a fair price.

Hammacher Schlemmer Photograph Converter [Buy.com via dealnews]

This is a scanner produced by someone by the name of Pandigital. It’s called the PhotoLink Handheld Scanner. It’s portable!

Right, so it’s a portable scanner with a max resolution of 1800×1200 at 300dpi. That’s roughly 60 percent of the resolution Getty—they’re like the Associated Press of photography—uses. You can scan photos up to 4×6-inches in size.

It’s got the usual bells and whistles, if you can call them that: she works with all the popular memory cards out there (SD, XD, CF, etc.) and has a mini USB 2.0 port should you want to transfer you photos that way.

It’s $99 for this, which, I think, isn’t unreasonable.

I’m not one to get overly excited about the technology behind transportation logistics (or am I?) but this thing from HP looks pretty cool. It’s basically a handheld wireless-enabled barcode scanner that can also print quick-drying ink directly onto boxes.

So if you work at, say, UPS, you scan a box coming in, that info is transmitted wirelessly to your warehouse servers, and then you print another barcode or “FRAGILE” or some other message onto the package itself, all in the blink of an eye.

Check out this video to see it in action.

[via Treehugger]

If you have old folks sitting quietly at home, get them this and give them something to do. Slide scanning – along with vinyl record conversion – is one of those things that our elders would love to get around to but don’t quite have the time or resources to do it correctly. This $100 Ion model, however, will let my mom and pop import those pictures they snapped at the Knudsen’s swingers party where, I suspect, I was conceived.

The kit includes two slide holders and it basically just scans in slides. It’s so cheap it’s almost disposable and it’s available now. This is a kickass birthday or holiday gift.

I hate scanners. Hate ‘em. They’re slow, noisy, and they take up too much space. Here’s a departure from the traditional scanner that aims to truly offer no-bullshit document archival. It’s simply a tower for your iPhone (could probably use any phone, though) that uses the camera to take snapshots of the documents underneath. Best of all, you’ll likely have all your important documents with you at all times. Worst of all, if you lose habitually lose phones, this probably isn’t a good idea.

Also, it could be argued that the iPhone document scanner takes up almost as much space as a regular scanner but, hey, it costs next-to-nothing and doesn’t require power or a computer and all your documents are kept right in your pocket.

corrugate iPhone document scanner – free template! [Core77 via BBG]

Canon announced today three new additions to their scanner line. The film and document scanner CanoScan 5600F and two document dedicated models, the LiDE200 and LiDE100. A few new upgrades have been added across the board. Besides powering up faster and scanning quicker, users now have the option of using the new Auto Scan Mode. A dedicated “SCAN” button is incorporated which lets the scanner automatically detect which type of document is being scanned.

Round up of features after the jump.

CANON CANOSCAN 5600F COLOR IMAGE SCANNER

• Ability to scan up to six frames of a 35mm filmstrip or four 35mm slides at a maximum optical resolution of 4800 x 9600 dots-per-inch (dpi).

• Inculded white LED, which eliminates warm-up time while decreasing overall power consumption.

• Quick and Automatic Retouching and Enhancement (QARE) Level 3 technology, which aids in automatic dust, scratch, fading and graininess reduction,

• Ability scan letter-sized color documents at a resolution of 300 dpi in approximately 11 seconds.

• Built-in power source, an easier to open document cover and internally wired FAU cable.

• The estimated selling price for the CanoScan 5600F Color Image Scanner is $149.99.

CANON CANOSCAN LiDE200 and LiDE100 COLOR IMAGE SCANNER

• The CanoScan LiDE200 has a maximum optical resolution of 4800 x 4800 dpi while the CanoScan LiDE100 has a maximum optical resolution of 2400 x 4800 dpi.

• Only one USB 2.0 high-speed cable is necessary for connecting to a computer and providing the necessary power.

• The QARE Level 3 technology, used with the CanoScan 5600F Color Image Scanner, is used for both of these scanners as well.

• With the enhanced PDF function, bulky documents can be filed easily and letter-sized color documents can be scanned on the CanoScan LiDE200 in approximately 14 seconds, while on the CanoScan LiDE100 the scan can be completed in approximately 24 seconds at a resolution of 300 dpi.

• The estimated selling price of the CanoScan LiDE200 Color Image Scanner is $89.99 and $59.99 for the CanoScan LiDE100 Color Image Scanner.

Anybody who’s had to scan a big fat pile of old photos into their computer knows that it suh-huuucks. So along comes the ingeniously named “Photograph to Digital Picture Converter” from Hammacher Schlemmer for $150.

It’s got a 5MP CMOS sensor with an 1,800 dpi resolution that basically takes a digital photo of whatever regular photo you slide down into the tray. The device plugs into your computer’s USB port (Windows only, sorry), allowing you to manipulate your now-digital photos any way you see fit.

Sure, a scanner might accomplish the same task but this doodad looks nice for whizzing through a bunch of photos in rapid succession. If Hammacher Schlemmer comes out with a 250-photo add-on tray for automating the entire process, I’m sold.

Product Page [Hammacher Schlemmer]

Stand-alone photo scanners like Epson’s just released Perfection V200 are great for folks who used film cameras during the stone age to take pictures. Whereas those of us who reached full statue during the digital camera boom have less use for them, others could do far worse than this Epson offering. Its 4800 dpi resolution should hold up just fine even when scanning images at the maximum 14×21-inch size, to say nothing of its ability to scan 3D objects. Yup, its lid lifts up a might 180 degrees in order to scan real life 3D objects. The prank possibilities are unlimited. Perhaps, then, kids should look at the V200 a little more closely.

That the scanner is only $99 not only means that a lowly blogger like me can afford it, but that you can buy two or even three and hand them out like smarties on Halloween.

Epson

The DocuPen RC800 is a full color 24-bit scanner that looks like pen — hence the name. It is capable of producing full page scans from its compact case. It includes a conspicuous looking carrying case intended to protect it during travels.

The design allows you to select from black and white, standard color or high 24-bit color. It also has resolution options ranging from 100 to 400 dpi. The included Paperport software is reasonably intuitive and allows you to grab scans from the DocuPen without much hassle. Its onboard memory can store up to 100 lesser quality images, but it has a MicroSD expansion slot for larger storage capacities. When you’re ready to upload your scans, the device connects via an included USB cable. It is powered by a rechargeable lithium-Ion battery that is charged via USB.

I know people tend to think that reduced size and increased portability is always a good thing — I was one of those people — but it really became something of a issue here. The problem exists when attempting to scan documents. With a flatbed scanner, one simply sets the document on the bed and hits the button. There is no attempting to steady a device while manually dragging the scanning mechanism. That was a huge issue for me here. It’s difficult to keep a document straight while moving the DocuPen appropriately. I found that I often botched several scans before finally getting one down correctly.

Another problem that I have with this device is the flimsiness of its design. Sure the scanner works, but the DocuPen does not feel sturdy in the slightest. I was not comfortable toting it in my bag for fear that it wouldn’t survive a trip In its defense though, it was never destroyed, but I’m not sure if that’s a testament to its durability or I was just uncommonly unbrutal those particular days.

I carried it around for about two weeks, expecting to scan stuff, but I only ended up using it to scan a handful of documents on the go. Now, it’s not that I never had anything to scan, it’s just that whenever I found myself in situations that needed scanning, there was almost always a flatbed scanner on hand. And given the problems I explained about documents shifting around while using the DocuPen, I can’t see ever opting for the DocuPen over a flatbed.

The DocuPen RC800 from PLANon is a product of dubious utility. I have to question whether there is a huge demand for such a product. It seems to me that if you’re scanning papers, you could just use a normal flatbed scanner. If, however, you’re in the niche group that absolutely needs a portable scanning device, this is probably the best option out there. The scan quality isn’t bad if you can figure out an effective way to brace what you’re scanning—I never could.

It is available in two models: the standard for $299.99 and the pro for $349.

DocuPen RC800