“I’m surprised how easy it is to use and how much it makes my scanning life more enjoyable. I have scanned literally 1000′s & 1000′s of photos on DeadFred.com and when it comes to scanning Flip Mobile is a revolution. I scanned a yearbook while sitting on my couch watching a Razorback Football game ( GO HOGS!). Never thought I would be doing that. Only question I have is to your scanner, where have you been all my life?I will be letting everyone know that scans (and those I don’t know) how much I like Flip (can I call him Flip?) In other words I will highly recommend it,” wrote DeadFred.com
The Flip-Pal mobile scanner has been under development since September of 2009 and was formally introduced to the North American market as well as to more than 8,000 consumers who attended the CHA event. The Craft & Hobby Association is an international trade association for the $27 billion craft and hobby industry. Members include companies engaged in the design, manufacture, distribution and retail sales of related products.
The Flip-Pal makes it possible to scan photos, images in books and magazines, and similar works of art anywhere, any time with no connection to a computer. The resulting digital files can then be stored and shared. The battery powered flatbed scanner is about the size of a typical netbook computer.
The patented “flip-and-scan” technology allows the hinged cover to be removed and the scanner placed face down on top of a old family album, for instance, without having to remove pictures that might be fragile or glued down. The included stitching software enables users to reassemble multiple 4×6 inch scans later into a larger image on their computer.
Scanned JPEG images are saved immediately to an SD memory card that can be read by any computer. Batteries, a 2 GB SD card and a USB to SD adaptor are included with each unit. Early sales orders for the $149.99 USD scanner can be placed online now at www.flip-pal.com.
Melissa McKee of Golden, CO saw a demonstration of the Flip-Pal scanner and wanted to use it to create a digital archive of scrapbooks she has already made. “I’m excited about this because I have a fear of losing my fabulous scrapbook pages to theft, fire, or water damage.” she said. “I haven’t lost anything yet, but it’s only a matter of time, right?” Another visitor said she wished she had owned a Flip-Pal to copy old family photos that her relatives had brought to a recent family reunion.
When we went to the Family History Expo in Loveland, CO, a couple of weeks before Craft and Hobby Association (CHA), people were lined up two or three deep wanting to get a demonstration of the Flip-Pal mobile scanner. These people understood the difficulty of trying to get copies of precious family photos from family gatherings and from photo albums, and they were anxious to see how the Flip-Pal mobile scanner could solve their problem.
The crowd at CHA was very different. Most of the women there seem to have come for hands-on crafting experiences and to buy craft supplies, not to learn about scrapbooking or to buy scrapbooking supplies or tools. As a result, many women initially didn’t seem interested when we first asked them if they wanted to see a demo of our mobile scanner. However, when we explained that it was battery powered and portable so they could take it to family gatherings, and that it could scan photos right in their family photo albums without removing the photos, they were curious to see how it worked.
It was a lot of fun to give the demos and watch people’s eyes light up when they saw how easy it was to scan photos right in the photo album! People would often share their own stories of how they had tried unsuccessfully to get copies of photos from their own photo albums or from relatives who wouldn’t share their family photo albums. Now they had a way to capture those family photos easily!
The Flip-Pal mobile scanner is all about helping people to protect and to share their family memories. This is something that is important to me and it was fun and satisfying to show people how easy it would be with our scanner. By Ben Kimbell
Hi my name is Gene and I’m part of the Rocky Mountain Ventures Company team. I led the design of the Flip-Pal™ mobile scanner, our first product coming out soon. What excites me most about our scanner is its unique mobility.
I have had the privilege to show a prototype of the Flip-Pal™ to many people. One of the most frequent comments I get is “I wish I had one of these when I went I went to …”. These folks continue their individual stories which share a common theme of a lost opportunity to save and to share something very important to them.
The stories vary. They include stories of reunions, personal and family histories, weddings, graduations, and school and business needs. They are frequently told with great emotion. And from these people, I hear that there is nothing available today that really would have met their need.
This is exactly the need we intended to address with the Flip-Pal™ mobile scanner. Our entire team was focused on providing unmatched mobility in a scanner that made no compromises in other areas. My experience in showing our prototypes to folks gives me confidence that we understood their needs and have addressed them well. I’m excited to be able to offer people a way to save the things that are precious to them, whenever and wherever they are found.
Gene Miksch
Meet Gene …..
Gene Miksch has 32 years experience in the electronics industry, including nine years in imaging product development. His design work has resulted in over 20 products reaching production, including seven imaging products, spanning consumer, commercial, and enterprise class products. He has 18 U.S. patents, plus foreign patents and defensive publications, and is experienced in production and process engineering, tool and fixture design, quality engineering, and OEM product support. Gene is the designer for the mechanical parts and has two patents pending. Gene has small business experience as owner and operator of a small ranch and boarding stable east of Loveland.
