On 3D Printing

Motorola Mobility, a Google company, is building a 3D printed modular phone, and has partnered with 3D Systems for commercial fulfillment. More »

The Captured Dimensions pop-up studio was located in the Smithsonian Castle and featured approximately 80 digital cameras all connected to 3D software. More »

Microsoft expanded their support for 3D printing by launching a Windows 8 app called 3D Builder. It includes a library of objects you can edit and 3D print. More »

3D Systems (NYSE:DDD) announced the availability of the Sense 3D scanner, the first 3D scanner designed for the consumer and optimized for 3D printing. More »

With rumors circling that 3D Systems will be purchased by IBM, the stock soars. We look at why IBM might be interested in the 3D printing giant. More »

Search Results for: 3d printer

Featured Design: 3D Printed Japanese Laquer Containers

April 15, 2012 Design

Our featured design comes this week from nendo:

A small container created using a 3D printer that cuts, stacks and pastes sheets of paper one by one. We finished the surface with lacquer. The lacquer adhered thickly to the edges of the accumulated paper, and pulled at the paper’s surface, resulting in a mysterious texture like wood grain.

View all images of the design.

Will 3D Printing Disrupt the Lucrative Toy Industry?

April 13, 2012 Editorial

LEGO Star Wars kits are currently selling on Amazon.com for hundreds of dollars. Even small components come with a hefty price, such as a V-wing Starfighter that measures 9″ when full assembled and costs $20.

Enter 3D printing and open-source design package LeoCAD. If kids could design their own LEGO-style building kits and print them out on their home 3D printer, why wouldn’t they? Hey, even LEGO is training kids how to design online with the LEGO Digital Designer.

With the price of toys so marked up, it’s within reason to think that kids will turn to generics or pirated designs to fill out their toy chest after parents tap out the budget at retail.

Look back at the music industry. The only way to buy music in the late 90s was to purchase the full album at retail. Then Napster and other P2P sharing software came along and allowed consumers to download individual mp3 songs, albeit pirated. When iTunes launched with individual song pricing and a more reliable service than the P2P networks, consumers flocked to the legal alternative. The retail music industry died but the digital music industry was born.

Perhaps in the next 5 years we’ll see the retail toy industry collapse and be replaced by a digital successor. The question is whether we will see a digital toy black market in the interim. In our view, that will be up to the toymakers and their willingness to disrupt their current model.

Some references are from MIT Technology Review.

The Motley Fool Reviews the 3D Printing Market

April 12, 2012 News

Investment advice site The Motley Fool posted a review of the emerging 3D printing industry. Naturally their attention turned to the performance of public companies in the space.

Objet inc. has recently filed for an IPO valuing itself at $500,000,000 with the last years of revenues topping $150,000,000. Object is one of the biggest 3D printing companies although there are many already trading on the exchanges. Stratasys (NASDAQ: SSYS) is the maker of additive manufacturing machines for prototyping manufacturing and making plastic parts. Stratasys has a market capitalization of 771 million dollars with a P/E of 38.03. 3D Systems (NYSE: DDD) is a manufacturer of 3D printing software and the printers themselves. The company has 1.36 billion market capitalization with a P/E of 35.21.

Expect more IPOs in this space!