First off, that isn’t a typo - it’s supposed to be SELPHY and not Selphy. Just like with Canon’s other line, the PIXMA, even though the name is capatilized, it’s not an acronym. So SELPHY is not short for Super Elegant Lightweight Personal Home Yunit. Glad we got that cleared up.

Canon announced that they were releasing the SELPHY ES1, which has a pretty innovative design. Here’s what it looks like:

As you can see, this printer is very small and slim. It’s completely upright, so it takes up a fraction of the space that other printers do. The other unique thing about it is that the paper and the ink cartridge are combined into one cassette. Now there isn’t a picture of that, so what this paper/cartridge thing actually looks like is a mystery. Canon says that this makes it easier because you won’t have to worry about the paper or the ink running out separately. That sounds sort of convenient, but it also sounds like a nice way for them to sell you more consumables. Who’s to say that the paper and the ink are always going to run out at the exact same time?

Other than that, the SELPHY ES1 has a 2.5″ LCD, a built-in retractable USB cable, memory card slots and the ability to produce a 4 x 6 photo in about 60 seconds. It will retail for $250 when it hits stores next month.

Canon’s Compact Photo Printer SELPHY ES1 Features New Vertical Design, Easy Paper Handling and Fun Printing Options [Press Release]