Hasta La Gadget!

You might be surprised to hear that many current aircraft already have the ability to print documents at 30,000 feet. Long-haul airliners like the Boeing Dreamliner and Airbus A340 ship with a ToughWriter flight deck printer installed and ready to go, but the device has been limited to black and white output, which can be a bit restrictive when it comes to spitting out charts and weather information. Astro-Med, the company behind the cockpit printer currently churning out reports in thousands of commercial, business and military planes, has a spiffy new model on the way. We spotted an early prototype on display at the Paris Air Show this week, and while it’s still a ways off from being cockpit-ready, the device works quite well, printing to ZINK paper at about 30 seconds per page, compared to 5 seconds for the monochrome version.

Unlike the printers we’re accustomed to using on the ground, a ToughWriter must be installed before an aircraft is certified, so it’s really something you need to factor in before the FAA signs off on your plane. In other words, don’t expect to simply swap in this new color model once it hits the market. It’s also an expensive acquisition — it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect pricing in the $25,000 range, though that detail has yet to be announced. The version we saw in Paris is very much a work in progress — it far exceeds the maximum size allowed, and it’s heavier than the targeted 10 pounds, too. It does print quite nicely, though, and once engineers manage to squeeze the printer into a smaller housing, it’ll likely include AirPrint so pilots can print from their iPads, and possibly Android wireless support, too. Astro-Med reps weren’t able to tell us when the color ToughWriter will take to the skies, and considering the certification involved, it could be a few years out. Catch it in action in the gallery below.

Filed under: Peripherals, Transportation

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Two different groups have announced their own unique kind of 3D printing material today, one of them from Materialise, the other from Shapeways. While the Materialise material is a bit more of a bendable material the company suggests could be made into such objects as purses and flexible piggy banks, Shapeways material is much more of a “squishy” sort of situation. While the difference between the two may seen slight to those who’ve not had the chance to experience either, we can’t stop our brains from pouring out the possibilities – squishy, squishy possibilities.

Shapeways Elasto Plastic material

The Shapeways company is one that generally has users create and order models – they have you send in a model or create one with their tools, they print it, and you get it shipped to you. Creators of these objects can also sell their items through Shapeways Shops.

With the release of this Elasto Plastic material, Shapeways is working with “makers” – people who design 3D objects for 3D printing – to test in “one big, global 3D Printing R&D team.” Elasto Plastic is being shown and experimented here on purely pre-release terms, noting that they’re not at a final point for properties, this including both finish and color.

The material presents a unique new platform where creators of 3D objects can get a bit more wobbly with their experiments.

“The new, improved Elasto Plastic is a great option for Makers as it is an incredibly durable material with a lot of really interesting properties such as high impact resistance, flexibility and compression (depending on the geometry), along with a high level of static friction because of the surface texture. Though not strictly water-tight, it can hold liquids, but it does not like high temperatures or fire … and it is not so good for very small things.” – Shapeways

How about a little set of squishy toys for the ol’ Pokemon collection? Have a peek at Shapways’ video for this material and see what you make of it.

Materialise Rubber-Like Material [TPU 92A-1]

The “Rubber-Like” material from Materialise being shown this week was originally created for a dress. This dress was shown off earlier this year by Iris van Herpen while the material was, as Materialise calls it: “the first fully-functional flexible material for 3D printing.” This material is being re-shown this week because it will here, for the first time, be offered for testing by the public.

Like the Shapeways material above, this material is part of Materialise’s own 3D printing service, and wont be available for purchase outside of their setup. This material works for shock absorption, rigid-yet-bendable applications, and of course, creating a bouncy ball of sorts. The company has made it clear that this material is not as strong as rubber, but has many similar properties.

VIA: TechCrunch
SOURCE: 3D Printing Industry

3D printing gets squishy with new materials from Materialise and Shapeways is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

While 3D printers having been for sale for quite a while now, it seems they’re gaining enough popularity to begin selling in major retail stores. Office supplies retail chain Staples has announced that they will begin selling the Cube 3D Printer at its stores, becoming the first major US retail store to sell 3D printers.

The Cube is available now on Staples.com, and will eventually be available in a select number of Staples store by the end of June. The Cube costs $1,300, which is quite a bit less than MakerBot’s offerings, which usually start at around $2,000. The printer is able to print objects that are up to 5.5-inches wide and tall.

The Cube features WiFi and is compatible with both Mac and Windows. Plus, the printer comes with 25 free 3D templates to get you off to a quick start, with more templates available online. Staples is also selling ABS and PLA plastic cartridge refills, CubeSticks, and replacement Cube Print Pads. We heard late last year that Staples would be starting its own 3D-printing service, so perhaps this is the first baby step into that realm.

The 3D-printing community hasn’t gone quite mainstream yet, as it’s still very much a niche hobby at this point, but with the beginning of selling 3D printers in major retail chains, the awareness for 3D printing may go up, encouraging more people to get into the hobby and create an even larger community around it.

Staples becomes first US retailer to sell 3D printers is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Canon has introduced two new laser multi-fuction printers (MFPs), the imageCLASS MF8280Cw and the MF8580Cdw. Both color printers follow on the heels of successful predecessors, building on the previous models’ specs and offering a few modern-day features sure to appeal to a tech-savvy crowd. Both models will be available in April starting at $499 and $599, respectively.

The imageCLASS MF8280Cw offers a printing speed of 14-pages per minute for both color and black-and-white prints. The printer takes advantage of both Pure Black and Auto Graduation Adjustment technologies for producing consistent and accurate prints. There’s a 150-sheet cassette, a 50-sheet auto document feeder, as well as a single-sheet tray that serves multiple purposes.

The slightly more robust imageCLASS MF8580Cdw offers a printing rate of 21-pages per minutes for both color and black-and-white prints. Prints can be made remotely, and can be done via out-of-the-box duplex printing. There’s support for two-sided faxing, scanning, and copying, which can be performed via the printer’s seven-line display. The MF8580Cdw allows scans to be faxed and emailed directly from the printer. There’s a 250-sheet front cassette, 50-sheet duplex, 50-sheet multi-purpose tray, as well as an extended capacity 250-sheet cassette that is optional.

Both printers are compatible with Google Cloud Print, as well as Canon’s iOS app “Canon Mobile Printing.”

Canon’s Vice President and General Manager of its Business Imaging Solutions Group Sam Yoshida said, “To remain competitive in this market, home and office users need workhorse products that produce professional quality output at affordable prices. The new Color imageCLASS laser multifunction printers are high-performance machines that include necessary functions such as wireless connectivity to help create an efficient work environment.”

[via Canon]

Canon rolls out two imageCLASS printers, offers Google Cloud Print support is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This is not something that happens every week: an inkjet printer enters to Guinness World Records as it can consistently reach a print speed of 70 pages per minute (ppm), which makes it the world fastest desktop printer apparently (just slightly faster than Memjet). HP is capable of reaching those speed because they use a technology called Page-wide, which reduced the amount of motion that need to happen during the printing process. With Page-wide, HP can print a page in a single pass, while regular Inkjet printers have to perform a classic back and forth motion for each printed line. You can visualize it as being an Inkjet printer as wide as the page itself, so there is no need for motion. Page-wide was introduced in October 2012, and the HP Office Pro X Printer is the first product to use it. If you want to learn more about the HP Page-Wide Technology, read this white paper.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Dell UltraSharp U3014 30-inch Monitor Released, Adobe Lowers Prices In Australia After Government Probe,