Pocket Technology

Technology seems to be getting smaller. Phones used to basically be bricks before the lithium-ion cell battery was created. Now we have drones, mini-cameras, I think I mentioned a portable washing machine a few weeks ago, etc.
Well going along with this theme Zuta Labs has just created the Pocket Sized Printer. I know what you're thinking, I thought it too when I first saw this, "How the heck does that work?"  Being about 4 inches wide and 3 inches high it seems impossible. Actually, it's quite simple. Modern Printers are basically operated by a small printer-head that slides back and forth along the paper to print the image. The Pocket Printer is one of the printer-heads on top of a set of wheels and the creators stated that "in principle it could print on any surface." It uses the same type of battery that modern cell-phones use and can constantly print paper for up to one hour before being charged. Available in early 2017. This is a super awesome development and could lead to some great technology in the future.

Then you have the Square. Invented by Jack Dorsey, the square is a small plug-in to your mobile device that reads credit cards/debit cards right off the spot, making electronic shopping incredibly easy.

If you want to get even smaller than try these microscopic chains that were developed at Drexel University. By manipulating magnetic fields engineers can link and unlink tiny chains of beads. Why is this cool? Because over time scientists could use these beads to create more complex shapes to do more things on a microscopic level. They could prove to be extremely useful later on.

Even smaller? How about the Superlens. No it's not pocket tech, since I doubt anyone who isn't a millionaire scientist is going to be walking around with one of these babies in their pocket. Researchers have developed a microscope that has broken the size limit on what we can look at. Made out of millions of beads of Titanium-Dioxide (look it up) this lens uses these beads and has them organized into a certain pattern that amplifies the microscopic view.

That's about as small as you get, new pocket tech. is just beginning to be developed. Who knows what it's going to be like in 20 years?