Friday, September 6, 2013

MakerBot's Replicator 2 joins Amazon's newly launched 3D printer store

MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printers Available on Amazon

MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printers Available on Amazon
New 3D Printer Store on Amazon Becomes a MakerBot Reseller

Brooklyn, N.Y., June 14, 2013 – MakerBot, the leader in desktop 3D printers, is excited to announce that its MakerBot® Replicator® 2 Desktop 3D Printers will be available in Amazon's recently launched 3D Printer Store. Amazon is now an official reseller of the MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer and will start selling a limited number of the top-selling desktop 3D printer later this month. MakerBots will also still be available on MakerBot's own website, www.MakerBot.com, and sold internationally through its partner distributors.

"We are excited to see Amazon embracing 3D printing and devoting an online store to the technology," noted Bre Pettis, CEO of MakerBot. "Being a part of Amazon takes 3D printing and the MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer to a whole new level, and reaches a much broader consumer market. We're pretty excited about this opportunity."

The MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer is one of the most successful, affordable and accessible desktop 3D printers on the market and is helping to lead the Next Industrial Revolution. The MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer is MakerBot's fourth generation 3D printer and one of the easiest and fastest tools for making professional-quality models and prototypes. The MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer features a 100-micron layer resolution, and offers a 410 cubic inch build volume (11.2" L x 6.0" W x 6.1" H), setting a new standard in desktop 3D printing.

In addition to the MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer, MakerBot offers a full MakerBot 3D Printing Ecosystem that makes designing and printing in 3D even easier. The MakerBot 3D Ecosystem includes MakerBot's 3D printers, MakerWare software, MakerCare service, Thingiverse.com with more than 100,000 available digital designs, MakerBot Filament, the MakerBot Store, a 3D Photo Booth, and strategic partnerships with Autodesk, Adafruit, Nokia, OUYA, Amazon, and others. Bre Pettis, CEO of MakerBot, even wrote the book on 3D printing with Getting Started with MakerBot (O'Reilly, $15.99).


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Posted by Chris Holman at 8:36 PM 0 comments
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Alt-week 6.15.13: Chris Hadfield's retirement, invisibility cloaks and dino-bird feathers

Alt-week 6.15.13: Chris Hadfield's retirement, invisibility cloaks and dino-bird feathers data = {blogUrl: "www.engadget.com",v: 315};when = {jquery: lab.scriptBs("jquery"),plugins: lab.scriptBs("plugins"),eng: lab.scriptBs("eng")}; var s265prop9 = ('20622611' !== '') ? 'bsd:20622611' : ''; var postID = '20622611'; var modalMNo = '93319229', modalVideoMNo = '93320648', modalGalleryMNo = '93304207'; when.eng("eng.omni.init", {pfxID:"weg",pageName:document.title,server:"acp-ld39.websys.aol.com",channel:"us.engadget", s_account: "aolwbengadget,aolsvc", short_url: "",pageType:"",linkInternalFilters:"javascript:,",prop1:"article",prop2:"science",prop9:s265prop9,prop12:document.location,prop17:"",prop18:"",prop19:"",prop20:"", prop22:"steve-dent", prop54:"blogsmith",mmxgo: true }); adSendTerms('1')adSetMOAT('1');adSetAdURL('/_uac/adpagem.html');lab._script("http://o.aolcdn.com/os/ads/adhesion/js/adhads-min.js").wait(function(){var floatingAd = new AdhesiveAd("348-14-15-14d",{hideOnSwipe:true});}); onBreak({980: function () { adSetType("F");htmlAdWH("93319229", "LB", "LB"); adSetType("");}}); EngadgetMenu NewsReviews Features Galleries VideosEventsPodcasts Engadget ShowTopics Buyers Guides Sagas Store HD Mobile Alt Announcements Cameras Cellphones Desktops Displays Gaming GPS Handhelds Home Entertainment Household Internet Laptops Meta Misc Networking Peripherals Podcasts Robots Portable Audio/Video Science Software Storage Tablets Transportation Wearables Wireless Acer Amazon AMD Apple ASUS AT&T Blackberry Canon Dell Facebook Google HP HTC Intel Lenovo LG Microsoft Nikon Nintendo Nokia NVIDIA Samsung Sony Sprint T-Mobile Verizon About UsSubscribeLike Engadget@engadgettip uswhen.eng("eng.nav.init")when.eng("eng.tips.init") onBreak({980: function () {htmlAdWH("93308280", "215", "35",'AJAX','ajaxsponsor');}});Alt-week 6.15.13: Chris Hadfield's retirement, invisibility cloaks and dino-bird feathersBypostedJun 14th, 2013 at 5:15 PM 0

Alt-week takes a look at the best science and alternative tech stories from the last seven days.Altweek 61513 Chris Hadfield retires, invisibility cloaks and energyscavenging micro devices

What goes up must eventually come down, and shortly after landing on Terra Firma from his last of three ISS missions, Chris Hadfield has resigned from the Canadian Space Agency. That leaves us to wax poetic on his legacy of space education and other oddities, while we also make goldfish disappear and admire dinosaur plumage. Welcome to alt-week.

Space exploration is serious business, but you wouldn't know it by watching charismatic Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who just finished a stint commanding the International Space Station for 144 days. While getting that job done, Hadfield also flaunted breathtaking earthscape images, educated us on the weirdness of the zero-g environment, and even entertained with a surprisingly decent version of Bowie's "Space Oddity" from actual space -- prompting a "Hallo, spaceboy" reply from Ziggy Stardust himself. Shortly after rejoining the earthbound (see the video, above), Hadfield announced his retirement from the Canadian Space Agency and said he'd be moving back to his home in Ontario. Of course, he'll continue inspiring interest in science at Canadian schools while waving the space exploration flag on behalf of the CSA, and as his wife, Helene, said, "anything Chris does is always an adventure."

To date, so-called invisibility shields have been more or less parlor tricks, where the scene behind an object is projected onto the front, camouflaging it from the environment. However, such razzle-dazzle only works when viewed head on, making it useless in any practical applications. But researchers from Zhejiang University in China have created a pair of invisibility shields, one that cloaked a cat from any of four different directions, and another hexagonal system that shielded a goldfish from six viewing angles. Any object in the interior of the shields can be cached, thanks to optical systems that map the correct background to the given view. Though the illusion breaks down if you change the viewing angle, such a device would be cheap and easy to build, according to scientists -- meaning you may soon be able to put that pet-hiding project on the front burner.

Altweek 61513 Chris Hadfield retires, invisibility cloaks and dinobirds

Recently, we've had our childhood delusions dashed by the discovery that our favorite dinosaurs likely had feathers. But what about the plumage of actual, soaring dino-birds like Archaeopteryx? Little was known about its color and composition due to the breakdown and fossilization of the organic elements over hundreds of millions of years. Thanks to research at the Department of Energy's (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, though, scientists now have a complete picture of that species' feathers, right down to the coloration -- which was light overall and dark at the tips, not uniformly dark as previously thought. All that was possible thanks to SLAC's ultra-sensitive X-ray beams, which discovered traces of pigment-related metals and organic sulfur compounds that could only have come from the extinct dino-birds themselves. The results go beyond the feathers, giving clues into the animal's health, diet and even mating rituals -- which we certainly wouldn't want to get in the middle of, judging by the image above. Check the video below for more.

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Posted by Chris Holman at 4:39 PM 0 comments
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Anki Drive isn't just a car racing game, it's an iOS-based robotics platform

Anki Drive isn't just a car racing game, it's an iOS-based robotics platform data = {blogUrl: "www.engadget.com",v: 315};when = {jquery: lab.scriptBs("jquery"),plugins: lab.scriptBs("plugins"),eng: lab.scriptBs("eng")}; var s265prop9 = ('20622981' !== '') ? 'bsd:20622981' : ''; var postID = '20622981'; var modalMNo = '93319229', modalVideoMNo = '93320648', modalGalleryMNo = '93304207'; when.eng("eng.omni.init", {pfxID:"weg",pageName:document.title,server:"acp-ld39.websys.aol.com",channel:"us.engadget", s_account: "aolwbengadget,aolsvc", short_url: "",pageType:"",linkInternalFilters:"javascript:,",prop1:"article",prop2:"gaming",prop9:s265prop9,prop12:document.location,prop17:"",prop18:"",prop19:"",prop20:"", prop22:"myriam-joire", prop54:"blogsmith",mmxgo: true }); adSendTerms('1')adSetMOAT('1');adSetAdURL('/_uac/adpagem.html');lab._script("http://o.aolcdn.com/os/ads/adhesion/js/adhads-min.js").wait(function(){var floatingAd = new AdhesiveAd("348-14-15-14d",{hideOnSwipe:true});}); onBreak({980: function () { adSetType("F");htmlAdWH("93319229", "LB", "LB"); adSetType("");}}); EngadgetMenu NewsReviews Features Galleries VideosEventsPodcasts Engadget ShowTopics Buyers Guides Sagas Store HD Mobile Alt Announcements Cameras Cellphones Desktops Displays Gaming GPS Handhelds Home Entertainment Household Internet Laptops Meta Misc Networking Peripherals Podcasts Robots Portable Audio/Video Science Software Storage Tablets Transportation Wearables Wireless Acer Amazon AMD Apple ASUS AT&T Blackberry Canon Dell Facebook Google HP HTC Intel Lenovo LG Microsoft Nikon Nintendo Nokia NVIDIA Samsung Sony Sprint T-Mobile Verizon About UsSubscribeLike Engadget@engadgettip uswhen.eng("eng.nav.init")when.eng("eng.tips.init") onBreak({980: function () {htmlAdWH("93308280", "215", "35",'AJAX','ajaxsponsor');}});Anki Drive isn't just a car racing game, it's an iOS-based robotics platform MobileBypostedJun 15th, 2013 at 2:06 PM 0

Anki Drive isn't a just car racing game, it's an iOSbased robotics platform

When Anki Drive was demoed live on stage during Apple's WWDC, we saw a modern take on classic slot cars using iOS devices and Bluetooth-equipped toy vehicles -- basically a racing video game rendered with real world objects. But there's actually a lot more to it than that. Earlier this week, we talked briefly with Boris Sofman -- Anki's CEO and cofounder -- about the product and the startup's history and ambitions. While playing the game and taking pictures was off limits, we got the opportunity to examine the cars up close. Read on after the break. WWDC 2013: Anki Drive App See all photos 5 Photos

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Sofman and his team started working on the technology behind their product five years ago white studying robotics at Carnegie-Mellon university in Pittsburg. Operating in secrecy, Anki successfully raised $50 million in funding and, in February 2012, it received the support of VC firm Andreessen Horowitz. The company wants to revolutionize consumer robotics -- a lofty goal for sure. See, Anki Drive isn't just a car racing game, it's an iOS-based robotics platform.

There are three parts to Anki Drive. First there's the mat on which the racetrack is printed. It contains positional information optically encoded on its surface so that each car knows its exact position and speed. The cars feature two motors (one for each rear wheel), a small camera (pointing downwards), a Bluetooth 4.0 LE radio, a 50MHz microprocessor, a power button, a status LED and a rechargeable battery. Build quality was excellent on the prototypes we handled and we noticed some interesting details, like the rubber-coated rear wheels and additional weights built into the chassis for better grip. There are also battery charging contacts on the bottom of each car. Finally, there's the Anki Drive app, which runs on iPhone or iPod touch and functions as the game's AI and controller (if you want to drive yourself).

Here's how it works. Each car "reads" the positional information that's optically encoded on the mat's surface using the camera. There's enough data there for the cars to drive around the racetrack autonomously by continuously adjusting the speed of their motors. All of this happens up to 500 times per second thanks to the built-in microprocessor, and results in extremely fluid motion. The cars report their position and speed to the Anki Drive app via Bluetooth, and the AI calculates and sends new trajectories to each car several times per second based on the game's rules and the player's input. As such, the computational heavy lifting is handled by the iOS device, which makes perfect sense.

Anki Drive is expected to ship in time for the holidays for about $200, but it's unclear how many cars will be included at that price. In the meantime, the app's available as a free download from the App Store, even thought it's mostly just a product showcase. While the company doesn't have immediate plans to support other platforms, it's open to exploring alternatives in the future. Sofman assured us that we'd be getting some proper hands-on time with Anki Drive soon, so stay tuned.

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Posted by Chris Holman at 1:32 PM 0 comments
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Mozilla Science Lab encourages scientists to share ideas over open web

Mozilla Science Lab encourages scientists to share ideas over open web data = {blogUrl: "www.engadget.com",v: 315};when = {jquery: lab.scriptBs("jquery"),plugins: lab.scriptBs("plugins"),eng: lab.scriptBs("eng")}; var s265prop9 = ('20622582' !== '') ? 'bsd:20622582' : ''; var postID = '20622582'; var modalMNo = '93319231', modalVideoMNo = '93320648', modalGalleryMNo = '93304207'; when.eng("eng.omni.init", {pfxID:"weg",pageName:document.title,server:"acp-ld39.websys.aol.com",channel:"us.engadget", s_account: "aolwbengadget,aolsvc", short_url: "",pageType:"",linkInternalFilters:"javascript:,",prop1:"article",prop2:"alt",prop9:s265prop9,prop12:document.location,prop17:"",prop18:"",prop19:"",prop20:"", prop22:"nicole-lee", prop54:"blogsmith",mmxgo: true }); adSendTerms('1')adSetMOAT('1');adSetAdURL('/_uac/adpagem.html');lab._script("http://o.aolcdn.com/os/ads/adhesion/js/adhads-min.js").wait(function(){var floatingAd = new AdhesiveAd("348-14-15-13c",{hideOnSwipe:true});}); onBreak({980: function () { adSetType("F");htmlAdWH("93319231", "LB", "LB"); adSetType("");}}); EngadgetMenu NewsReviews Features Galleries VideosEventsPodcasts Engadget ShowTopics Buyers Guides Sagas Store HD Mobile Alt Announcements Cameras Cellphones Desktops Displays Gaming GPS Handhelds Home Entertainment Household Internet Laptops Meta Misc Networking Peripherals Podcasts Robots Portable Audio/Video Science Software Storage Tablets Transportation Wearables Wireless Acer Amazon AMD Apple ASUS AT&T Blackberry Canon Dell Facebook Google HP HTC Intel Lenovo LG Microsoft Nikon Nintendo Nokia NVIDIA Samsung Sony Sprint T-Mobile Verizon About UsSubscribeLike Engadget@engadgettip uswhen.eng("eng.nav.init")when.eng("eng.tips.init") onBreak({980: function () {htmlAdWH("93310027", "215", "35",'AJAX','ajaxsponsor');}});Mozilla Science Lab encourages scientists to share ideas over open web AltBypostedJun 15th, 2013 at 3:32 AM 0

DNP Mozilla Science Lab encourages scientists to use the open web

Even though scientists created this glorious internet you see before you, current scientific practice is still based more on publishing academic papers than sharing ideas online. As one of the more prominent proponents of the open web, Mozilla stepped in to offer a solution with a new open science initiative called Science Lab. It's designed to bridge the gap between the open web community and researchers so that they can share ideas, tools and best practices on how the web can be used to solve problems and improve research techniques. Led by Kaitlin Thaney, a long-time open science advocate, the Lab will initially focus on bringing digital literacy to the scientific community with the help of Software Carpentry, a program that teaches basic computer skills to researchers. From there, the group hopes to foster a global conversation on how to encourage the use of the web in science. It's great to see that the internet has a lot more to offer the field than just Foursquare check-ins.

[Image credit: Håkan Dahlström, Flickr]

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Posted by Chris Holman at 10:00 AM 0 comments
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Google's Project Loon proposes internet distributed by hot air balloon (video)

Google's Project Loon proposes internet distributed by hot air balloon (video) data = {blogUrl: "www.engadget.com",v: 315};when = {jquery: lab.scriptBs("jquery"),plugins: lab.scriptBs("plugins"),eng: lab.scriptBs("eng")}; var s265prop9 = ('20622955' !== '') ? 'bsd:20622955' : ''; var postID = '20622955'; var modalMNo = '93319229', modalVideoMNo = '93320648', modalGalleryMNo = '93304207'; when.eng("eng.omni.init", {pfxID:"weg",pageName:document.title,server:"acp-ld39.websys.aol.com",channel:"us.engadget", s_account: "aolwbengadget,aolsvc", short_url: "",pageType:"",linkInternalFilters:"javascript:,",prop1:"article",prop2:"internet",prop9:s265prop9,prop12:document.location,prop17:"",prop18:"",prop19:"",prop20:"", prop22:"richard-lawler", prop54:"blogsmith",mmxgo: true }); adSendTerms('1')adSetMOAT('1');adSetAdURL('/_uac/adpagem.html');lab._script("http://o.aolcdn.com/os/ads/adhesion/js/adhads-min.js").wait(function(){var floatingAd = new AdhesiveAd("348-14-15-14d",{hideOnSwipe:true});}); onBreak({980: function () { adSetType("F");htmlAdWH("93319229", "LB", "LB"); adSetType("");}}); EngadgetMenu NewsReviews Features Galleries VideosEventsPodcasts Engadget ShowTopics Buyers Guides Sagas Store HD Mobile Alt Announcements Cameras Cellphones Desktops Displays Gaming GPS Handhelds Home Entertainment Household Internet Laptops Meta Misc Networking Peripherals Podcasts Robots Portable Audio/Video Science Software Storage Tablets Transportation Wearables Wireless Acer Amazon AMD Apple ASUS AT&T Blackberry Canon Dell Facebook Google HP HTC Intel Lenovo LG Microsoft Nikon Nintendo Nokia NVIDIA Samsung Sony Sprint T-Mobile Verizon About UsSubscribeLike Engadget@engadgettip uswhen.eng("eng.nav.init")when.eng("eng.tips.init") onBreak({980: function () {htmlAdWH("93308280", "215", "35",'AJAX','ajaxsponsor');}});Google's Project Loon proposes internet distributed by hot air balloon (video)BypostedJun 14th, 2013 at 11:36 PM 0

Google's Project Loon proposes internet distributed by hot air balloon

No, we're not joking. Google is seriously proposing hot air ballon-powered internet access, and has already launched a pilot project in New Zealand with 50 testers trying to connect via a helium-filled, solar powered balloon. One of the Google[x] moonshot projects, there are a couple of videos embedded after the break explaining the issue, and the technology Google wants to use to address it. Project Loon's playful logo reflects the custom designed antennas users will use to receive their signal from balloons floating twice as high as commercial airplanes fly. The signal goes from ground based antennas, up to the balloon, which use their high-altitude placement to broadcast much further than other methods. In the future, the company envisions cell phone users connecting to the balloons to extend service where none exists today.

According to Google, in "more than half" of the countries in the southern hemisphere and for two out of three people on earth, internet access is far too expensive. It's trying to set up pilot projects in other countries on the same latitude as New Zealand, so interested 40th parallel south residents should forward this info to the appropriate officials immediately. Meanwhile, curious Kiwis can sign up to take part in the project on its website, or attend the Festival of Flight in Christchurch on Sunday to meet the team and learn more about it.

Update: Check out another video of the launch of the first balloons embedded after the break, shot via Google Glass by Trey Ratcliff and see even more photos on his site Stuck in Customs.


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Posted by Chris Holman at 6:15 AM 0 comments
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Facebook reveals government data request numbers, is first to include national security stats

Facebook reveals government data request numbers, is first to include national security stats data = {blogUrl: "www.engadget.com",v: 315};when = {jquery: lab.scriptBs("jquery"),plugins: lab.scriptBs("plugins"),eng: lab.scriptBs("eng")}; var s265prop9 = ('20622903' !== '') ? 'bsd:20622903' : ''; var postID = '20622903'; var modalMNo = '93325862', modalVideoMNo = '93320648', modalGalleryMNo = '93304207'; when.eng("eng.omni.init", {pfxID:"weg",pageName:document.title,server:"acp-ld39.websys.aol.com",channel:"us.engadget", s_account: "aolwbengadget,aolsvc", short_url: "",pageType:"",linkInternalFilters:"javascript:,",prop1:"article",prop2:"microsoft",prop9:s265prop9,prop12:document.location,prop17:"",prop18:"",prop19:"",prop20:"", prop22:"richard-lawler", prop54:"blogsmith",mmxgo: true }); adSendTerms('1')adSetMOAT('1');adSetAdURL('/_uac/adpagem.html');lab._script("http://o.aolcdn.com/os/ads/adhesion/js/adhads-min.js").wait(function(){var floatingAd = new AdhesiveAd("348-14-15-14c",{hideOnSwipe:true});}); onBreak({980: function () { adSetType("F");htmlAdWH("93325862", "LB", "LB"); adSetType("");}}); EngadgetMenu NewsReviews Features Galleries VideosEventsPodcasts Engadget ShowTopics Buyers Guides Sagas Store HD Mobile Alt Announcements Cameras Cellphones Desktops Displays Gaming GPS Handhelds Home Entertainment Household Internet Laptops Meta Misc Networking Peripherals Podcasts Robots Portable Audio/Video Science Software Storage Tablets Transportation Wearables Wireless Acer Amazon AMD Apple ASUS AT&T Blackberry Canon Dell Facebook Google HP HTC Intel Lenovo LG Microsoft Nikon Nintendo Nokia NVIDIA Samsung Sony Sprint T-Mobile Verizon About UsSubscribeLike Engadget@engadgettip uswhen.eng("eng.nav.init")when.eng("eng.tips.init") onBreak({980: function () {htmlAdWH("93325870", "215", "35",'AJAX','ajaxsponsor');}});Facebook reveals government data request numbers, is first to include national security statsBypostedJun 14th, 2013 at 9:17 PM 0

Facebook reveals government data request numbers, is first to include national security stats

Facebook lawyer Ted Ullyot revealed in a post tonight precisely how many user-data requests it receives from government entities, and that it's negotiated the ability to include national security-related (FISA and National Security Letters) inquiries in the report. Until now, the companies that receive such requests, whether through the recently uncovered PRISM program or not, have not been able to say anything about them, or report how many there are. Still, the stats it's able to release aren't specific, and include all requests from the last six months in a range, said to be between 9,000 and 10,000, covering between 18,000 and 19,000 accounts. We still have no official reports on what those inquiries cover, how wide reaching a single one can be or what information has been passed along. Facebook however, is quick to point out that these cover "only a tiny fraction of one percent" of its 1.1 billion active user accounts.

Along with Microsoft and Google, Facebook has publicly petitioned the government to let it be more transparent about the size and scope of the requests it receives, and Reuters reports tonight that "several" internet companies have struck an agreement to do so. Expect more reports to arrive soon in similar formats, however Ullyot states Facebook will continue to push the government to be "as transparent as possible."

For the six months ending December 31, 2012, the total number of user-data requests Facebook received from any and all government entities in the U.S. (including local, state, and federal, and including criminal and national security-related requests) – was between 9,000 and 10,000. These requests run the gamut – from things like a local sheriff trying to find a missing child, to a federal marshal tracking a fugitive, to a police department investigating an assault, to a national security official investigating a terrorist threat. The total number of Facebook user accounts for which data was requested pursuant to the entirety of those 9-10 thousand requests was between 18,000 and 19,000 accounts.

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Posted by Chris Holman at 2:44 AM 0 comments
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