The Selphy ES40 --Canon's small-format "talking" printer--isn't a great conversationalist; if anything, it's rather shy and reticent. (In its favor, it doesn't mindlessly babble.) It's actually multilingual--French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, and Mandarin, as well as English. Its female voice sounds reasonably human--it's no robotoid voice-box.

Other than its verbal ability, the ES40 is a fairly standard portable, dedicated small-format photo printer. It uses thermal dye technology to output its 4- by 6-inch prints. It's about average in speed, and except for a problem printing diagonal lines like spokes on a bicycle (they come out jagged), prints very nice-looking photos. Its main shortcoming is its relatively high running cost compared with some other small-format printers such as the Editors' Choice Epson PictureMate Dash.

As I mentioned, the Canon Selphy ES40 is no Chatty Cathy--it took some rather creative interrogation techniques to get it to speak (see our video "quick look"). The two times when it talks are when it finishes a print, and when you access the Creative Print Mode to add frame or clip art, change layout, or apply special effects to the photo. There's really nothing it says that isn't also imparted through the LCD screen itself. But it is a fun extra, which might appeal especially to kids, people whose first language is one of those represented, and the visually impaired. And that's on top of a very capable small-format printer that outputs beautiful prints.