Hasta La Gadget!

Technology and engineering occupations comprise six of the top ten categories of jobs in demand in the United Kingdom, according to CareerBuilder and Economic Modeling Specialists.
With the competition for educated employees in the specialized field of
IT, those that have completed a university level computer science
degree will have a greater opportunity to secure a highly rewarding and
lucrative career, post graduation.

As expected, 3D printing technology is getting more and more accessible. While there are numerous printers on the market in the $1000-$2000 price range, there are only a couple which dip significantly below that pricepoint. While I broke down and ordered a bargain-priced Buccaneer for myself – that project has already closed on Kickstarter. In the mean time, you might want to check out Zim, a new 3D printer with prices starting at $599(USD).

Made by Zeepro, the Zim 3D printer is designed to be a compact, easy-to-use device, capable of producing models up to 5.9″ x 5.9″ x 5.9″ This is substantially larger than the printing area on the Buccaneer and the Cubify Cube. Its makers claim a speedy 110 mm/s print time, which bests even the Makerbot Replicator 2X.  But the Zim has got another trick up its sleeve. The printer will be available in a dual-head configuration – which I presume will be sold at the higher $899 price mentioned in their press release.

This will allow it to print objects with two different colors at the same time. You can also use the second print head to output water-soluble PVA plastic, so you can make support structures for 3D objects which can be easily removed in water.

The Zim will interface easily with smartphones, tablets or PCs via Wi-Fi or Ethernet, and it’s also got a small camera built in so you can monitor your 3D print jobs remotely.

Here’s a quick rundown comparing specs between the Zim and its closest competitors:

Only time will tell if Zeepro can deliver on its promises, but the Zim sounds impressive for the price.

Zeepro plans on opening up its Kickstarter campaign this Friday, September 13th. You’ll want to bookmark their website and set a reminder if you’re interested in pledging.

[via 3Ders]

Wireless chargers already exist, but I’m not a big fan of the current setup because it’s not convenient at all. Sure, you don’t have to plug anything to your device, but today’s inductive chargers require that the device being charged remain in contact with the charging dock or platform. That leaves your device more tethered than if you used a charging cable. But what if wireless charging worked like Wi-Fi? That’s what a company called Ossia is working on.

Founded by physicist Hatem Zeine, Ossia is working on a wireless charging technology that it calls Cota. Like today’s inductive charging systems, Cota requires a power transmitter as well as a receiver on the device to be charged. Zeine claims that the receiver can be made small enough to fit inside gadgets and even AAA batteries. Best of all – and this is the trillion dollar claim of Ossia – the Cota transmitter can supposedly power devices up to 30 ft. away. Furthermore, Zeine claims that Cota is as harmless as Wi-Fi, it works through walls and it can charge multiple devices at once. In other words, it’s just like having a Wi-Fi router except this one sends electricity. You can skip to around 2:30 in the video below to see Zeine demonstrate Cota:

Wow. If Cota takes off, future mobile devices won’t need high capacity batteries, because we’ll be able to charge them all the time. Just imagine how convenient that would be.

[via TechCrunch via Engadget]

There’s no doubt that wearable technologies are picking up speed, and aiming to be in the forefront of the emerging industry is Intel, which is now working on a line of microchips called Intel Quark. These small chips are designed for wearable devices like smartwatches and bracelets, with another variety being designed for ingestible applications, […]

The iPhone 5C and 5S were announced today by Apple, providing a number of new features such as the A7 processor, fingerprint scanner, a better camera and the latest iOS 7.