Amazon Just Opened A 3D Printed Products Store To Bring You Countless Customization Options

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-opens-3d-printed-products-store-2014-7

Dying to customize some cufflinks?

Amazon just launched a new store for 3D printed products, which has over 200 listings that can be customized by material, color, style, text, or size.

The marketplace includes jewelry, toys, iPhone cases, home-goods, personalized bobble heads, and, yes, cufflinks, among other things. 

Amazon isn't actually printing anything itself, but merely connecting consumers with companies that specialize in 3D printing, like Mixee Labs, Sculpteo, and 3DLT. 

Price-wise, there's quite a range: You can get a small, metal T-Rex head for nearly $200, but a 3D bobble-head designed to look like you will only set you back $30. 

"The online customer shopping experience will be redefined through 3D printing," Clément Moreau, CEO and co-founder of Sculpteo, said in Amazon's press release. "With 3D printing, a customer’s wants are no longer limited to what is in stock but instead by what they can imagine."

Amazon's new store closely follows eBay's efforts at breaking into the 3D printed space. The company launched the eBay Exact app in early July, but it only offered roughly 20 products to customize. 

SEE ALSO: 9 Easy Tips For Finding Exactly What You Want On Google

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Build Your Own Voice Controlled TV Unit with an Android Phone

Source: http://lifehacker.com/build-your-own-voice-controlled-tv-unit-with-an-android-1611103727

Taking a little time to be a couch potato is sometimes just what the doctor ordered. If you want to maximize your laziness, this DIY setup from Jayvis Vineet Gonsalves lets you control your TV with your beautiful voice.

Gonsalves calls his project "Aergia," which is the name of the Greek goddes of laziness and sloth—fitting. With Aergia, you can control your TV, set top box, stereo, or any other device that uses an IR remote. All you need is an Arduino Uno, a Bluetooth module, some IR receivers, and a few other electronic parts. If you have an Android device, it only costs you $20 to build, requires minimal electronics knowledge, and just a little skill with a soldering iron.

Using your Android touch screen device you can power the TV on and off, change the channel, navigate menu settings, turn the volume up or down, and it has 12 additional buttons you can program for whatever you like. The best button of all, though: the speech recognition button. Tap that button and you can control the whole setup with your voice. For a list of parts, thorough instructions, and more information regarding voice commands, check the link below. Happy channel surfing!

Aergia: Android controlled TV Remote (with Speech Recognition) | Instructables

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Next-generation lithium cells will double your phone's battery life

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/07/27/lithium-anode-battery/

The lithium ion batteries in your mobile devices are inherently limited by the "ion" part of their name; they can safely use lithium only in the part of the cell that supplies ions, wasting a lot of potential energy. It's good news, then, that researchers at Stanford have developed a new lithium battery that could last for much, much longer. The technique allows for denser, more efficient lithium in the battery's anode (which discharges electrons) by using a nanoscopic carbon shield that keeps the unstable chemical in check -- uncontrolled, it can quickly shorten the device's lifespan.

The result is a power pack that lasts considerably longer on charge, won't decay quickly and remains relatively safe. Stanford's Steven Chu (the former US Secretary of Energy) reckons that a cellphone equipped with these advanced lithium cells could have two to three times the battery life, and automakers could build cheap electric cars that still offer a healthy driving range. There's more engineering work required before you see any shipping products, but it's entirely possible that future portable gadgets will run for more than a day on a charge without resorting to giant battery packs.

Filed under: Cellphones, Laptops, Tablets, Science

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Via: Phys.org

Source: Nature

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This floating 3D video shows 'Star Wars' holograms are closer than we think

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/07/28/floating-3d-video-art-exhibition/

Thanks to Princess Leia's famous Star Wars plea, true holograms rank just behind flying cars as tech we want, nay deserve to have in our lifetimes -- and Tupac-style flimflam won't cut it. Now, an exhibition from artists Chris Helson and Sarah Jackets whimsically called "Help Me Obi" projects objects as large as 30cm (12-inches) in space. Visible from any angle in the room, the subjects include a newborn baby and NASA's Voyager 1 space probe. The creators are quick to point out that the machine doesn't create a true hologram, but rather a "360-degree video object." We take that to mean that it's more like a floating 3D movie that looks the same from any angle, rather than a true holographic object you can study from all sides. Since they're seeking a patent, Helson and Jackets are coy about exactly how it works, but say that there's nothing else quite like it (that they know of). If you're in the Edinburgh, Scotland area between July 31st and August 30th, you can judge for yourself at the Alt-W exhibition.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Science, Alt

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Via: CNET

Source: Helson and Jackets

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UV-Powered Blood Test Could Make Universal Cancer Detection Possible

Source: http://gizmodo.com/uv-powered-blood-test-could-make-universal-cancer-detec-1611341681

Early detection is the best tool to fight cancer, but biopsies can be painful and inconclusive. New research shows a simple blood test can detect cancers by blasting white blood cells with UV and seeing how they respond. Painless, universal cancer detection could be a drop of blood away.

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