Thursday, July 31, 2014

Why Type When You Can Scan with the Zcan+ Scanner Mouse {Review & Giveaway}

Zcan+ logo
While I don't claim to be at the forefront of new technology (I'm actually a bit ornery and resistant to change), as soon as I go without one of my devices or gadgets, I start to feel as though I'm missing a limb. How did I get along before my smartphone or my printer?

Along those lines, the next item that is surely going to join the must-have list for personal and business use is none other than the Zcan+ Scanner Mouse.

zcan+ scanner mouse

At first glance, the Zcan+ Scanner Mouse looks like just about any mouse, complete with a scroll wheel and a shiny white casing. However, the secret lies hidden underneath, where there is a built in scanner that uses OCR (optical character recognition) software, allowing users to not only control the pointer on their screen, but also scan any tables, documents or images!

Even better, unlike traditional scanners that simply transfer an image from one place to another, the material scanned with a Zcan+ Scanner Mouse is then able to be edited. Instead of just pulling up a jpg image or a pdf document, users can actually change the scanned material in in Excel, Word or Powerpoint instantly.

Considering that I utilize a scanner quite often for blogging as well as for personal use, it didn't take too long before I knew that I needed to try out Zcan+ for myself.

Zcan+ mouse

Right out of the box it was easy to see that Zcan+ didn't take much knowledge or technical skill. Simply plug it in to the USB port of your computer, install the provided software and start scanning!

zcan+ scanner mouse review

While it didn't take long for the necessary files to be setup in my computer system, it did take quite a few minutes for the actual installation process to occur. I could see why Zcan+ included a message letting users know that things weren't stalled if it seemed like nothing was happening!

Zcan+ installation

Once all of the installation and setup was complete, however, there was no wait or time needed to learn how to use Zcan+. Just click and scan!

Zcan+ instructions

This user-friendly mouse can truly scan just about anything and everything — it even comes with a small protective cover/sleeve to eliminate the worry of damage if you are scanning old photographs.

Whether you are scanning recipes to try, pictures drawn by your children, craft ideas for upcoming projects, business cards from a meeting or conference, knitting patterns for future use, receipts that you'll need for your taxes or much more, Zcan+ does it quickly and easily.

portable scanner

Once you start scanning and moving Zcan+ back and forth across the page, your image immediately appears on your computer screen. If you accidentally lift the mouse off of the page, you simply place it back down on an area that has already been scanned and it continues without problem.

Zcan+ scanning

When you are finished scanning, all sorts of options are available to crop, zoom, rotate, erase, change colors and much more.

Zcan+ cropping

The result is that you're left with exactly what you want to keep and can put it directly into a jpg, png, Word document, pdf and more... and remember that if there is text (for example you want to make a slight change to DIY instructions you just found), you can edit right away!

Zcan+ also takes things even further by including an app in their software that allows users to connect to Dropbox, Evernote or Google Translate. The latter means that if you have found a tasty recipe in Italian, you simply scan it, click Google Translate in the app, and have the real time translation right away so that you can start cooking!

But wait, there's still more! Along with all of the other features, Zcan+ Scanner Mouse also has added the convenience of sharing to its list. That's right, after scanning in your items, there is no need for any extra steps, you simply click "Share" in the software and can upload directly to Facebook, Twitter or your email directly.

kitchen storage

In all, I love the concept of a portable scanner mouse and Zcan+ has thought of everything to make their product user-friendly and extremely convenient. The only thing I would change is that this is a corded mouse — I'm a devotee to my cordless one — but Zcan+ already has an answer for that, too.

Head over to Indiegogo right now where you can support (and order at an early bird lower price) Zcan Wireless, the world's first wireless scanner mouse!

Whether at home, work or school, the Zcan+ Scanner Mouse has the ability to surpass language barriers (it supports 60+ countries' languages) and make it a snap to store and organize just about any information. Never wonder where a lost receipt is, wish that you could preserve your great-grandparents photographs or try to keep track of the birthday party ideas you've been ripping from magazines again!

For more information about Zcan+, visit their website and be sure to connect with them on Facebook and Twitter as well. This handy mouse can be purchased now on Amazon where it retails for $79.90.

But, thanks to their generosity, one person will soon see just how easy and fast it can be to scan nearly anything and everything, because...

One lucky person will win a Zcan+ Scanner Mouse!

zcan+ scanner mouse giveaway


A big thank you to DTOI for providing a Zcan+ for me to review as well as for one lucky giveaway winner. The opinions shared are my own and honest and if you really need to see more, click here to see how I roll.