Ion Air Copy will scan on the go

In our rush to convert everything on paper into a digital file, I've been seeing more types of portable scanners. Last year, I wrote about the IRIScan Book 2, which works like a wand passing over page in a book or magazine. And I checked out the Neat Receipts scanner that's designed to capture documents like business cards and sales receipts.

Now comes the Air Copy from Ion, a compact wireless scanner that's perfect for quickly capturing batches of photos. The scanner has a rechargeable battery and a built-in Wi-Fi transmitter, eliminating the need for cables or power cords.

The scanner is meant to be paired with a portable device such as a smartphone or tablet. Ion has free apps apps for Apple or Android smartphones and tablets plus one for Windows 8 devices. Once the two gadgets are linked, any snapshots fed into the scanner are captured in a few seconds and stored in the photo gallery on the phone or tablet. From there, you can post a photo on Facebook, send it by email or upload it to cloud-based galleries or storage services like Picasa or Dropbox.

The scanner's slot if wide enough to accept an 8x10 photo or an 8.5x11 document. Scan quality is 600 dpi, which is pretty good for a portable scanner and sufficient to produce a readable document. Another nice feature is the digital images are automatically cropped to the edge of the photo.

My only disappointment with the Air Copy is it won't scan photos done on thick paper, which rules out many old photos and postcards.

You can find the Ion Air Copy for $179 on Verizon's website and other online sources.

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Written by Ric Manning

Follow me on Twitter @ricmanning and read my technology columns at My Well Being.