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Polaroid to open stores to print Facebook, phone photos

Sketch of Polaroid Fotobar store
A sketch of Polaroid's Fotobar store.Polaroid

Some of our favorite photos are on our phones or on Facebook, pictures that we see from loved ones and friends. "I'd love to have a print of that," you think, and then you promptly forget about it, because it can be a hassle to print it yourself or order a photo. 

Polaroid is betting there's enough folks like you out there who would be willing to go to a brick-and-mortar store to print photos from phones and social network sites. The company says it will open 10 Polaroid Fotobars this year around the country.

The first store opening is slated for Delray Beach, Florida in February. Other stores locations to open later in the year include New York, Las Vegas and Boston. Polaroid says it will share more details at the Consumer Electronics Show.

"There are currently around 1.5 billion pictures taken every single day, and that number continues to grow in tandem with the popularity and quality of camera phones,” said Warren Struhl, founder and CEO of Fotobar in a press release

"Unfortunately, even the very best of those pictures rarely ever escape the camera phone with which they were taken to be put on display around our homes and offices. Why? Because turning those pictures into something tangible, creative and permanent is neither easy nor fun. Polaroid Fotobar stores are going to change all of that."

Of course, Polaroid isn't the first to offer this kind of service: You've been able to print iPhone photos at Costco for awhile; Walgreens recently started making prints from Instagram photos.

But, the Apple Store-like Fotobars will be "explicitly designed around the consumer experience, with the goal of helping people release their 'trapped' photos and display their cherished memories in the form of premium quality art," Polaroid says. That "consumer experience" will include "experienced 'Phototenders,' " (think: Apple "Geniuses") each of whom will "be a passionate photo enthusiast trained to help guide customers through the process from start to finish."

Polaroid says its technology will let in-store customers choose the photos they want from their phones or from Facebook, Instagram, Picasa and other photo-sharing sites, wirelessly send them to one of the store's workstations "for quick and hassle-free ordering within seconds."

Customers will also be able to edit the photos for issues like red eye, contrast or brightness.

 Of course, Polaroid will also want to sell customers copies of matted photos and frames that range from metal to bamboo.

Fotobar is already available online. You can check it out here to see how it works.

— Via The Next Web

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