Data scanner

A data scanner was a piece of non-Earth technology that Suzie Costello of Torchwood Three salvaged a year before Lisa Hallett attacked the Hub. Suzie claimed it could open any lock in 45 seconds. (TV: Cyberwoman)

The device could also be used to store text and other data in the form of photograph-like images. Merely by waving it at printed text and images such as A Tale of Two Cities, it could record and store them as information inside itself or transfer the data to a computer. Despite Torchwood Three's policy that alien artefacts must never leave the Hub, Toshiko Sato took the scanner out several times in order to experiment with it. (TV: Everything Changes)

Toshiko later used it to translate the words that the Death-possessed Owen Harper spoke soon after his revival. This, however, did not work, something which she claimed it had "never done before". She used it again within the same adventure to unlock a hospital door. Owen stole it from her, distracting her with a kiss, and used it to relock the door, sealing Tosh outside while he fought Death. (TV: Dead Man Walking)

Torchwood website
The series 1 version of the Torchwood website featured "current investigations" on alien technology by Tosh. She said of the book, "It's brilliant — kind of like an iPod for books. It can take any book, and scan it in seconds, and transfer the text any storage device [sic]." While testing it out at the library, Tosh claimed it had "limitless" storage capacity. Tosh speculated the device originated as part of an archaeological survey team which waved the scanner over carvings on some planet, and then translated the writing on the journey home.

The digital copy of A Tale of Two Cities is recognisable to modern viewers of Everything Changes as an ebook. Viewers of the original broadcast, however, would not have known about commercial ebook readers such as Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, or Apple Books. Indeed, both Apple Books and Kindle have since become downloadable apps on (among other Apple hardware) the iPod's App Store, making Tosh's comparison to iPods on the Torchwood website apt.