iMakr 3D Printing Store

In the video below, the iMakr 3D printing store opens in London. With 2,500 square feet of 3D printers and 3D printing fun, there was quite a crowd to see the grand opening.

Exhibits from Solidoodle, UP!, MakerBot, Cubify, Leapfrog and all the big names of desktop 3D printing were on site, plus models from 3D artists.

Here is the official press release from Solidoodle about the retail debut:

Solidoodle Makes Retail Debut at World’s Largest 3D Printer Store in UK

Brooklyn, NY — April 30, 2013 — Solidoodle, maker of the most affordable fully assembled 3D printers, is proud to announce its printers will be sold at iMakr, the world’s largest 3D printing retail store, located at 79 Clerkenwell Road in Central London.

iMakr announced its 3D printer lineup to include the Solidoodle 3rd Generation model at its grand opening event today. Solidoodle CEO Sam Cervantes was in attendance for the opening.

“3D printers are a rapidly expanding segment in the consumer electronics market,” says Cervantes. “iMakr is making a big splash in a major international city and we are glad to be a part of it. Working with distributor and retail partners will definitely help us satisfy the growing demand we’re seeing from the international public.”

Located in Farringdon, the heart of the designer district of London, iMakr is featuring some of the most popular brands of 3D printers, supplies and accessories and will cater to the needs of designers, architects, early adopters, hobbyists, jewelers and schools.

Solidoodle also announced, in late February, its plans for dedicated Solidoodle retail locations in Eastern Europe to open later this year.

Image via SolidSmack.

MakerBot Has Several Major Announcements

Last year, MakerBot won Best of CES 2012 in the Emerging Tech category. We think MakerBot deserves an award this year again for the biggest announcements. In our exclusive footage of Bre Pettis, the MakerBot CEO revealed the new MakerBot Replicator 2X “experimental” 3D printer, announced changes to the Thingiverse API, and talked about the plans for “bot farms.”

Stratasys and Objet

Recently merged Stratasys and Objet were exhibiting at CES 2013, showing Mojo 3D printers in action.

3D Systems Wins Best Emerging Tech with New Cubify 3D Printer

3D Systems had announced that they would bring the next generation 3D printing showcase to CES, and they did by introducing two new printers.

Above photo courtesy of core77:

This year they pulled the sheets off of not one, but two machines: Their updated Cube 2, a faster and more accurate update to the original, and their larger CubeX, which can print “basketball size” (10.75″ x 10.75″ x 9.5″) in both ABS and PLA.

The Rest

• Afinia showed off its latest H-Series 3D printer.
• FormLabs announced that it would be shipping its Form1 3D printer soon to Kickstarter funders.
• Delta Micro Factory Corp showed off the UP! 3D printer.
• 3D printing marketplaces Kraftwurx and Sculpteo were at the show.

What else did you see at CES? Write your thoughts in the comments!

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) opens this week in Las Vegas. This year will include over 20,000 products from more than 3,000 exhibitors.

CBS News highlighted 3D printing as one of the key trends at CES this year, along with Ultra HD and mobile computing.

MarketBot, 3D Systems Corp and Sculpteo are among a handful of companies that make 3D printers that will be showing off new products at CES 2013, Scientific American reports. As home 3D printers become more affordable, the community of enthusiasts also continues to grow. Cracking the mass consumer market may be the next step for manufacturers of 3D printers.

“The consumer space is a key market for 3D and small steps have been made in this space via hobbyists and model makers in arts and craft projects and self-employed designers,” Accenture senior executive Kumu Puri writes in a blog post for Forbes.

Here is our list of the top exhibitors showing their latest developments in 3D printing.

3D Systems

Since 1986 3D Systems has transformed entire industries with powerful 3D content-to-print tools. The company intends to democratize access to affordable 3D content-to-print solutions for professionals and consumers. Launched last year at CES, Cubify is 3D System’s consumer zone (www.cubify.com).

Booths: LVCC, Central Hall - 15447, Venetian Ballroom - 71003

See our coverage on 3D Systems.

Afinia

Afinia will be showing it’s award winning 3D printer, and full line of ABS filament. Our H series 3D printer was voted “Best Overall Experience” in the recent make magazine 3D printer shootout. Live 3D printing demonstrations will be held continuously during the day.

Booth: LVCC, South Hall 4 - 36388

See our coverage on Afinia.

Delta Micro Factory Corp.

Maker of popular personal 3D printer, Up! Series.

Booth: Venetian Ballroom - 70524

See our coverage on UP! 3D printers.

Formlabs

The Form 1 is the first truly high-resolution, low-cost desktop 3D printer, achieving professional quality at a price individual designers and engineers can afford. Our technology fills the gap between low-quality hobbyist machines and high-end printers that cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Booth: LVCC, South Hall 4 - 35160

See our coverage on Formlabs.

Kraftwurx

Kraftwurx is the worlds original platform for 3D printing in the cloud. Showcase, buy, sell and create virtually anything you can imagine in 70 materials and worldwide shipping. Based in Houston, TX, our mission is to empower everyone for custom-made goods and empower manufacturing to deliver it.

Booth: Venetian, Lvl 3 - 74411

See our coverage on Kraftwurx.

Makerbot Industries

MakerBot® is a global leader in desktop 3D printing with engineers, entrepreneurs, and people who just like to make things. Honored as Popular Mechanics “Overall Winner” for best 3D printer, Time Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2012, and Fast Company 2012 Innovation by Design Awardee.

Booth: LVCC, South Hall 3 - 32025

See our coverage on MakerBot.

Sculpteo

Sculpteo offers a fully online 3D printing service – from the upload of your 3D model to the final object – designed to make this new technology easy and accessible to all. In addition to affiliates, Sculpteo, has its own 3D printing facilities in France for R&D purpose.

Booth: LVCC, South Hall 2 - 26111

See our coverage on Sculpteo.

Stratasys, Ltd.

Stratasys is a leading manufacturer of 3D printers and production systems for prototyping and manufacturing applications, recently merging with Objet to create leader in 3D printing and direct digital manufacturing.

Booth: LVCC, South Hall 4 - 35463

See our coverage on Stratasys and Objet.

You can setup your own CES itinerary at the MyCES website.

See you at CES!

We are excited for 2013 to be the Year of 3D Printing.

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This week’s featured Fab Lab is Fab Lab Adelaide in South Australia.

Fab Lab Adelaide is managed by ANAT (Australian Network for Art and Technology). ANAT supports artists and creative practitioners engaging with science and technology.

Fab Lab Adelaide is funded by the South Australian Government’s Department of Further Education, Employment, Science & Technology.

Equipped with both MakerBot and UP! 3D printers, the Fab Lab will launch in October 2012. In the meantime, follow them on Twitter @FabLabAdl.

We are looking forward to seeing more.

Read about all of our featured Fab Labs in our weekly series.

South Australia photo by S.H. Photography used under Creative Commons license.