Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

uPrint 3D Printer Gets Faster But Still Can't Print Time [3dPrinting]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/c7IGS0Su9To/uprint-3d-printer-gets-faster-but-still-cant-print-time

If you're a designer with a need for three-dimensional printing and $20,000 to spare, the uPrint Plus is right up your alley—it's 33% bigger, 69% faster, and 40% more efficient than its predecessor.

It may not play Daft Punk like the MakerBot—and it costs a whoooole lot more— but Dimension's uPrint Plus is professional grade, small enough for desktop use and gives users resolution settings of either .010 inches or .013 inches and prints materials in nine colors. It'll ship in March, hopefully by which time they'll have figured out how to get me that 4D support I've been holding out for.

World's Best-Selling 3D Printer Line Expands

Dimension uPrint Plus offers material colors, larger build volume, resolution options, and more

MINNEAPOLIS—(BUSINESS WIRE)—One year after introducing what has become the world's best-selling 3D printer - the Dimension uPrint - Stratasys (NASDAQ: SSYS) says it has expanded the product line with the uPrint Plus – an enhanced version with lots of new features – while still keeping the price under $20,000 (USD).

Like the Dimension uPrint personal 3D printer, the uPrint Plus has a small footprint for true desktop use [25 x 26 in (635 x 660 mm)]. uPrint Plus can print in eight colors of Stratasys ABSplus material, making it easier for designers to differentiate individual assembly components and better depict their product. The printer has a build envelope of 8 x 8 x 6 in (203 x 203 x 152 mm) – 33 percent mo! re volum e than the uPrint, enabling larger models. uPrint Plus offers two resolution settings – 0.010 in (0.254 mm) and 0.013 in (0.330 mm) – to give users additional print options.

uPrint Plus also features two support-material enhancements that reduce material consumption and modeling time. The first, Smart Supports, is a software enhancement that reduces material usage by 40 percent, cutting costs. The second, SR-30, is an improved soluble support material that dissolves 69 percent faster, to speed the modeling process. Smart Supports and SR-30 enhancements are available for both uPrint and uPrint Plus.

"When the uPrint was introduced one year ago, it quickly became the best-selling 3D printer worldwide, with 1,000 units sold in the first 9 months," says Dimension Product Manager Mary Stanley. "Based on its success and customer requests for expanded features, the uPrint Plus was created. Now designers, engineers and architects have expanded options for building models based on proven FDM technology."

uPrint Plus material colors include red, blue, olive, black, dark gray, nectarine, fluorescent yellow, and ivory. The new 3D printer will be available for shipment in March through authorized Stratasys resellers.

MediaHub HD Will Make Hotel Rooms a Lot More Entertaining [Streaming]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/1lnt3kJ6gi8/mediahub-hd-will-make-hotel-rooms-a-lot-more-entertaining

TeleAdapt is hoping to deliver a more personalized entertainment experience for guests in hotel rooms with their TA-7650 MediaHub HD box. Basically, it makes it easy to play media from your portable devices through the TV.

MediaHub HD Features

• All-in-one audio/video connectivity panel for enjoying content from any portable
electronics device through the in-room TV
• Guest-facing A/V sockets include Composite Audio/Video, S-Video, VGA with
paired audio (for laptops), HDMI, Stereo Bluetooth, USB (5v) for device charging
• Stereo Bluetooth wireless technology allows guests to pair their portable media
devices to the entertainment panel and play music or other audio through the in-room
TV speakers without having to physically connect the device with a cable
• Single-HDMI back-end connection to the TV for simplified installation
• Only requirement: TV with an available HDMI port and a power source (wall outlet)
• Prevents guests tampering with existing TV connections
• Auto-sensing of devices upon plug-in means intuitive controls for any hotel guest
• Wide range of available trims and bezels, designs that fit any room decor
• CE, CSA, FCC certified (MediaHub plus PowerHub extension is also UL certified)
• Can be deployed worldwide

So if you have your iPod, laptop or other portable device with you on the trip, you can play your own media content through the TV without a hassle. If I'm on a trip, spending time in the hotel room is probably not going to be my first choice for entertainment—but it would be nice to have this option. [Teleadapt]

Remainders - The Good, Bad and Ugly Things We Didn't Post (and Why) [Remainders]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/P_Gnd_Qv340/

In today's remainders, the big and the little. A big quantum computer simulates a little molecule. A big series of tubes make a big difference at Stanford hospital. And a Big Brother ad makes me a little worried.

Quantum Time
Quantum computing, like Pilates, is one of those things that sometimes seems to offer more in theory than in meaningful results. In the case of the former, the tide may be turning. Chemists at Harvard University have used a quantum computer to calculate the exact energy of a hydrogen molecule, a finding that could only be approximated by conventional supercomputers. These traditional computers, working in binary bits of zeroes and ones, falter as molecular simulations become increasingly complex. Instead, the quantum computer works in qubits which can test configurations with both ones and zeroes, allowing for more precise models. Still, some might say that "meaningful results" have yet to be achieved. [Eureka Alert]

Half Past Cloudy
One of the makers over at Make has made this handsome clock which instead of telling time tells the weather. The weatherpiece checks for updates on the Environment Canada website every quarter of the hour via an Arduino micro-controller, its lower hand adjusting to the correct temperature and its upper hand swinging to show the day's forecast. Though the clock's case gives it a decidedly old-school feel, it hosts a web server so it can be tweaked from any browser. It may not dispense the most robust meteorological data but what it does display it does with style. [Make]

A Dose of Tubes
Your local bank isn't the only place that's zipping your information around using pneumatic tubes. This report on the Stanford Hospital's pneumatic tube system reminds us that the very old technology is still very much alive today. Stanford's system, which includes over four miles of pipes, is one of the largest in the nation. The containers navigate the complex system with computer guidance and reach speeds of up to 18 miles per hour as they send important patient data to and fro distant areas of the hospital. Dating back to the 19th century, pneumatic tubes are not a new technology, to be sure, but they are an important one. As Leander Robinson, chief engineer of Stanford's system, puts it: "The tube is everywhere." [Stanford School of Medicine]

Ad Watch
At seven and a half feet tall and packed with super-smart tech, not only do you read Intel's Intelligent Digital Signage Concept, it reads you, too. Conceived by Frog Design, the multi touch-enabled, data-collecting, life-size advertisement (which we mentioned and showed briefly when covering Intel CEO Paul Otellini's keynote at CES 2010) looks to make signage an interactive affair.

Intel's concept engages shoppers with captivating graphics and a touchable screen and then uses a built-in camera to register their demographic data. Fast Company has a video of the gigantic advertisement, but thankfully it's just a prototype and there are currently no plans for it to invade malls or your privacy anytime soon. [Fast Company]

Asus Core i7 Laptop Claims 12-Hour Battery Life [Laptops]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/mQB2Pdmfk78/asus-core-i7-laptop-claims-12+hour-battery-life

The fastest laptops usually get lousy battery life, but Asus has made a few innovations that supposedly net its memorably named UL80JT laptop an incredible 12 hours of battery life, despite its Core i7 processor. I really hope it's true.

The big change here is a real-time management system that re-clocks the processor on a moment-to-moment basis depending on what you're doing, which means light work should result in light power usage. That's how it can hit 12 hours of battery life despite the Core i7 and its Nvidia GeForce 310 GPU. We haven't been able to test it yet, since it was just announced at CES, but here's hoping the claims are anywhere near true. [Ars Technica]

Might Walmart Devour Vudu? [Vudu]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/q2hkdPOiT4A/might-walmart-devour-vudu

Sources have told AllThingsD that Vudu is in "meaningful" acquisition discussions, with Walmart being the most likely analog moneybags candidate. Given that Vudu is making its way to most new TVs, acquisition sounds like a good plan for Walmart. [AllThingsD]