According to Moore’s law, the number of transistors that can be placed in an integrated circuit can be approximately doubled every two years. This law is evident by the decreasing sizes of machines and gadgets. There was a time when mobile phones used to be accompanied by a backpack for their power supply. Computers used to occupy a whole room. Printers used to be operated by 2 people. Today anyone can have their own phone, computer and printer in the comfort of their own home, even in their pockets.

The world’s smallest printer is the PrintBrush, which was made by PrintDreams. It only 200 cubic centimeters, weighs about 250 grams and you can fit it in your palm. You can basically print on any size of paper since the printing method only requires you to wave this gadget sideways. Have you ever tried highlighting a whole page with a neon marker? That’s how you would print a page using the PrintBrush.

As of now, this gadget only prints black at a resolution of 600 x 600 dots per inch. This resolution is not that great compared to today’s desktop printers. However, it does make up for its lack of resolution by the ability to print without noise. That gives you the added advantage of printing even when you are in a meeting. Printdreams has totally brought another dimension to the concept of printing.

However great this innovation may be, PrintDreams has not been able to release it yet to the market. As a heads up to potential would-be owners of this printer, there are speculations that it will come out this year and it is expected to be sold at the range of $150 to $200.

There is however another printer that is already released in the market. According to IFA 2009 convention, the PrintStik, which is developed by Planon, is the world’s smallest mobile printer. In terms of size, it does not come close to the PrintBrush but you can still fit it in your pocket, coat pocket that is. It comes in a size of 1” x 2” x 11” (approximately 360cc). It weighs 1.5lbs even with a 20 page roll of paper inside. This is one advantage it has over the PrintBrush. This is not your ordinary mobile printer since it does not use ink or laser printing technology. It uses thermal printing so there are less movable parts inside making it more durable.

Planon’s mission is to provide mobile solutions to today’s challenges. This is why, aside from developing the world’s smallest printer, they also developed the world’s smallest scanner. Until PrintDreams release the PrintBrush in the market, the PrintStik will remain as the world’s smallest printer. Nevertheless, it is evident that these 2 innovative companies are the world’s makers of the smallest printers.