Just when you thought the fax machine was dead, Sharp goes all out to make the screeching paper-guzzlers fashionable again.
While other people try to cut their paper costs by integrating software fax features with their computers, Sharp has gone the other way, by integrating computer features with a fax.
The Sharp Fappy does everything you never wanted your fax machine to. You can surf the Internet, take digital photos and check your e-mail - at 9,600 kilobits per second. But it is not all bad. In fact, many of the device's features have enough appeal even to get me to considering a return to the bad old days of shiny paper.
The most striking feature of the Fappy is its detachable 65,000-colour display, with its attached 31,000 pixel webcam. With the display as a viewfinder, you can position the camera to take regular 640x480 pixel images and send them to you by e-mail or fax. It is billed as a security feature, so perhaps you can check whether you left the lights on. Sharp promises the camera will also be remotely accessible by mobile phone.
Besides the built in camera, the Fappy has a slot to read Secure Digital memory cards - the idea being that you can use SD cards for storage or to fax documents or photographs.
The two different units, the UX-W60CW and UX-W60CL, are due for release in Japan in early August at about 60,000 yen (about HK$3,600). The company has not said when or whether the devices will arrive in Hong Kong.