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Now, your pictures can speak for themselves.

Labels That Talk, from Kailua Hawaii, has come up with software that lets consumers print high-density bar codes on strips of paper that store recorded voice messages. Scan the paper with a cheap handheld scanner--or a cell phone with a built-in scanner--and it plays back a message. The strip of paper you see in the picture can hold about eight kilobits, enough for a ten-second voice message, said Ken Berkun, president and founder.

"We're trying to get it to twenty seconds," he said.

This strip of paper holds about eight kilobits, enough for a ten-second voice message.

(Credit: Michael Kanellos/CNET News.com)

The idea is to let consumer enhance their mementos with sound. "I have a daughter and I have photo albums," Berkun said, explaining how he came up with the idea for the company. Another large potential market lies in pharmacies and hospitals, which would put labels on medicine bottles. Thus, Mick Jagger, via your plastic prescription vial, could sing "You go running to the shelter of your mother's little helper" every time you go for a Paxil.

Hewlett-Packard is working on something similar called Memory Spot, which is a sticker that contains a NAND flash chip. Memory spot prototypes can contain 256 kilobits to 4 megabits of data, so you could store videos in them or additional pictures. Pictures and videos on Memory Spots could be beamed to a nearby computer or cell phone via an integrated networking interface.

Although flash costs continue to drop, chips invariably will always be more expensive than paper, Berkun said. HP, in fact, has estimated that Memory Spots could cost ten to 50 cents each when (and if) they finally come out. Labels will cost far less, says Berkun.

Other companies have experimented with talking bar codes too, but the bar codes typically contained canned messages from a vendor.

Labels that Talk wants to concentrate on making and selling the software to consumers and printer makers. The company is currently trying to line up partners to make scanners. Some cell phone makers, he said, are already in discussions with the company.

Although you don't see a lot of start-ups like Labels that Talk out of Hawaii, some believe the picture could change in the future. Ira Ehrenpreis, a partner at Technology Ventures, calls it one of the last untapped geographies for start-ups. His firm has made a couple of clean energy and medical deals in the state in the past few years. The state's somewhat generous tax credits offered to in-state tech companies help too, added Berkun.

HP Labs got a makeover recently when it installed Prith Banerjee as the new director of the storied research facility. After a month on the job, he sat down with CNET News.com to talk about what he has in store for the future and how he plans to rejuvenate the heart of the company that birthed Silicon Valley.

First selected for the post in May, Banerjee comes to Hewlett-Packard after eight years as the head of the electrical engineering department at Northwestern University and three years as dean of the College of Engineering at University of Illinois-Chicago. He says he feels prepared to take on the trappings of a large organization like HP Labs, which now spends $3.6 billion a year on research and development. But he also had a hand in launching two different start-up companies, the spirit of which he'd like to see more of around his new digs.

"I went through the process of identifying the really high-impact research problems, worked on it in large, collaborative projects...then sold the concept," he said. "I want to see if that start-up entrepreneurial spirit can be brought to HP Labs."

To do so, Banerjee is going to have to change some of the ways things work at the facility in Palo Alto, Calif., which over the past 40 years has brought technology like inkjet printers, handheld scientific calculators and LEDs (light-emitting diodes) to the mass market. The research facility doesn't enjoy the same cutting-edge reputation it once did, but Banerjee has ideas of how to restore that.

First, they need to regain focus. That means working on 30 to 40 "high-impact" projects, instead of 150 as there are now. There will also be tighter deadlines.

Often projects will be run by a couple of people for "a long time," he said. "It's difficult to let go. Projects don't really have a well-defined life cycle. I want to see well-defined research milestones."

"Researchers should ask themselves the hard questions: 'Why am I doing this? How many people will it impact?' Then try to focus on the technology transfer aspect of it," he said.

Getting real results out of the lab and into actual products is one of his main points of focus. Much of what comes out under his regime will revolve around HP's company-wide focus: next-generation data centers, mobile computing and digital printing and imaging.

This will require the help of people outside of HP. It's a concept he refers to as "open innovation." It means "not all the smart people work for us," said Banerjee. He is pursuing more collaborative relationships with start-up companies and universities, the exact nature of which will become more clear by about mid-November, he said.

He also intends to focus on recruiting and retaining young people. It's something that's been more difficult for a lab that doesn't carry the same hip mantle as a Google or Yahoo, which are seen as hotbeds of innovation and, of course, lots of fun employee perks.

"If you want free food, go to Google," he joked. "If you want to feed your mind, come to HP Labs...We will not give free pizza or play ping-pong--we will do things that really matter."