Hasta La Gadget!

If you’re shopping for a gamer this holiday season, we’re sure they’re expecting an Xbox One, PlayStation 4 or a Wii U to be given to them for whatever holiday they recognize, but one console we’re sure isn’t on many wish lists this holiday season is the Android-powered Ouya. Ouya wants to make themselves known a little bit better this holiday season, which is why they will be rolling out demo kiosks across Targer retailers nationwide this month.

The Ouya was previously available at a number of GameStop, Target , Best Buy and GAME, but this is the first time the company is going full chain by allowing Target to carry its console at all of its 1,800 stores. Now that Ouya is going to be available on a nationwide level, the company is redesigning the box art of its console a bit in order to “highlight and promote more games and new content.”

Starting next month, Target will begin promoting the Ouya through a number of in-store video trailers within its electronics department as well as running in-store promotions that would give customers a $10 game card with their purchase of the system. In December, Target will further promote Ouya by putting in customized Ouya shelf displays as well as advertise it within its circular.

Ouya Rolling Out Nationwide Through Target With Demo Kiosks original content from Ubergizmo.

Microsoft’s Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 were released across 21 countries just a few days ago, which means those who have been wanting to buy a Surface Pro at a discounted price can start heading to the Microsoft Store as the company has just announced the last-generation tablet has received some price cuts.  (more…)

Microsoft Surface Pro Receives Another $100 Price Cut original content from Ubergizmo.

Formlabs, an MIT Media Labs spin-out and maker of the high resolution Form 1 3D printer – which came up on Kickstarter (where it pulled in nearly $3 million in crowdfunding) – has closed a $19 million Series A, led by DFJ Growth. Pitango Venture Capital and Innovation Endeavors also participated in the round, along with “many returning angel investors”.

The funding round gives Formlabs considerable runway to keep building out a business, a few months after rival desktop 3D printer maker Makerbot was acquired by 3D industrial printing and manufacturing company Stratasys for $403 million. Makerbot now operates as a subsidiary of Stratasys.

Formlabs, which was founded in 2011, said it will be using the funding to expand its R&D, grow its global customer support and servicing, and develop new materials to print with. Software development is another focus: Formlabs said today it plans to launch version 1.0 of its PreForm 3D model-to-3D-print software soon.

Expansion is also on the cards for its own production facility, with the 3D printer maker in the midst of moving into an 11,000 square­foot facility in Somerville, Massachusetts.

Formlabs previously raised $1.8 million in seed funding, before taking its prototype to Kickstarter and pulling in enough cash to go into production. One year after its Kickstarter campaign, it said it has shipped more than 900 of its 3D printers to backers around the world, and is approaching fulfillment of all the original Kickstarter campaign rewards.

As interest in additive manufacturing builds, more startups are pushing in to attack the 3D printer space from various different angles and price-points. Many of these newcomers taking their printer prototypes to crowdfunding sites are looking to offer a cheaper desktop 3D printer, and/or simplify the 3D print experience, to make it more consumer friendly.

At present Formlabs is unashamedly high end with its pricing – costing more than Makerbot’s Replicator ($2,199) for instance. The $3,299 Form 1′s relatively high price-tag (for a desktop 3D printer) is justified by Formlabs’ focus on high resolution printing.

The Form 1 works by shining a laser onto a metal surface through a layer of resin, using a process called photopolymerization. This results in higher print precision, meaning 3D printed objects can have finer detail.

While Formlabs’ resin-based approach is not cheap, it is serving what is likely to be a growing demand for high quality 3D prints as more lower cost machines enter the market, littering it with lower resolution and therefore poorer quality 3D prints.

Asked if it plans to expand into cheaper tiered segments of the desktop 3D printer market in future, the company told TechCrunch: “We’re focusing on making the Form 1 the best possible desktop printer out there, right now. We’ll definitely be exploring more of the market as we grow, but we’re keeping our focus on what we do best right now. I wouldn’t rule anything out.”

Reach a certain level of fame in Europe and you’ve got two choices: rest on your laurels, or risk it all for a shot at America. It’s one transatlantic journey that few careers survive, but the latest to try is Spanish muni-fi outfit Fon. Buy one of the company’s $60 WiFi hotspots and it’ll portion …

So you know how you’re cooking, and then you realize that you’ve got way too much (or way too little) of the ingredients you need to prepare the number of servings you had in mind? It’s annoying, not to mention potentially disastrous, if you happen to be cooking for some important people (like your in-laws, perhaps.)

There to save the day is Sharp’s Chop-Syc interactive digital cutting board.

It was the winning design submitted by Siobhán Andrews to Sharp Labs’ #GetItDownOnPaper competition. As the winner, Andrews got the rare opportunity to see her design turn into a reality after her two-month internship at Sharp.

Chop-Syc lets users check out recipes on the board itself as they cut and prepare ingredients. It has measurement tools and diagrams that will guide the user on how much of an uncooked ingredient is needed for a particular portion. Aside from that, Chop-Syc also has a built-in scale that can be used to weigh ingredients, so it’s basically an all-around multi-purpose device.

Chop-Syc remains a prototype for now, but who knows? You might be able to actually buy it one day.

[via The Verge via Dvice]