I don’t mean to sound like an advertisement for HP, but like everything else in our lives, this is pretty fast-evolving so I thought it might be helpful to highlight some of the technology my friends and I use, as well as one I want to try.  Admittedly, I’m a geek about having fun with technology.

A lot of photos these days sit on cell phones and media cards sitting in a camera, but I’ve found that HP can help me get those photos out in some pretty cool ways.

1)    Your iphone and your wireless networked printer.  This one is cool.  Download the free “iprint” app from the iphone apps store.  Make sure you are on your wireless network and that your printer is set up for wireless.  Put photo paper in your printer.  Then, this is the cool part – stand near your printer.  The app will recognize it and you can select and print photos from your iphone camera roll, printing them without hooking anything up.

2)    The portable printer.  Also very cool, and fun for the kids.  I met the engineer at HP who led the team that created that product and I really like the vision they put behind this.  I have the HP Photosmart A626.  Hand the kids a camera and this printer and it’s great entertainment for them.  So simple, a 5 year old was printing out pictures.

3)    The all-in-one.  Shoeboxes full of photos?  Use your scanner to get those onto your computer and upload to Snapfish, Facebook, and make some photo books for gifts.  My home all-in-one is a HP Officejet Pro L7780.

4)    This is the one I still want to try: MagCloud.  If you try it first, let me know how it turns out.   I’ll post more on this once I get a chance to try it.  Make your own magazine with pictures from an event or a club or even a family get-together, which people can print on demand.  Tons of potential here.

5) Snapfish.  HP bought Snapfish several years ago, and to me, this was a match made in heaven.  In Snapfish, you can do all of the traditional things like upload and share photos, and make holiday cards.  But there is a lot more if you know where to look. 

Some of the unique features are group rooms, photo books, and social media linkage. 

You can set up free group rooms – you send that link to the people you want, and you can all upload and order prints of photos from anything your group members upload into the room.  It’s like a collective photo album, and you don’t have to wait for someone to make a print for you, you can order that yourself.  Our extended family has done this, and it works great. 

I’ve made photo books for gifts, which is a great way to give a unique gift to grandparents, and I always order two so I have a copy for myself, saving me from having to create scrapbook pages.  And try the Flip Books – they are inexpensive and great to have your kids make as gifts to their friends.

If you’re on Twitter, follow @snapfishbyhp, so you can get coupon codes and updates on new functionality.

What are other ways you’re having fun with your photos?

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 I'm on twitter: @StephKinHR