3d illusion arts: Walyou

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What If The Donkey Kong Barrels Actually Existed?
Stratasys’ Latest 3D Printer Uses Multiple Materials, Prints in Color
Chewbacca Seatbelts – Turn Your Car Into The Millenium Falcon
Google and Samsung Sign Global Patent Cross-Licensing Agreement
AT&T To Take Over Vodafone

What If The Donkey Kong Barrels Actually Existed?

Posted: 27 Jan 2014 06:00 AM PST

We can’t wait to play the new Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze on the Wii U, but in the meanwhile, we have the physics of the barrels to keep us entertained!

In a cute little project they’re calling “Gorilla Wayfare”, YouTube superstars Freddie Wong of Rocket Jump and Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin' show us a video of what would the barrels seen in the upcoming Wii U title Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze act like if they were, you know, real. See the result of this collaboration right below these lines!

Source: Laughing Squid

Stratasys’ Latest 3D Printer Uses Multiple Materials, Prints in Color

Posted: 27 Jan 2014 05:30 AM PST

Stratasys Multi-Material Color 3D Printer 2

Makerbot’s owner has just made 3D printing a lot more interesting, as its latest product not only prints in color, but also uses different materials of different textures, thus making separate print runs and painting completely unnecessary.

3D printing has come a long way since it became mainstream a couple of years ago. Since initially the only materials that could be used were threads of polymers, someone must have gotten really frustrated at some point and decided to diversify things just a little bit. Nowadays, bio-printing and even 3D printing using liquid metals is possible, not to mention that there’s the possibility of adding a touch of color to the 3D printed creations. Stratasys, a company that became really popular after buying MakerBot last year, as well as Israeli multi-material specialist Objet back in April 2012, has launched Objet500 Connex3 Color Mutli-material 3D Printer, a triple-jetting device that’s meant to save manufacturers and designers a lot of time. As Stratasys marketing manager Bruce Bradshaw stated in an interview with the BBC, “This will help industrial designers reduce the time it takes to bring prototypes to market by 50%.”

When it comes to the colors produced by this 3D printer, the Objet500 Connex3 isn’t much different from its inkjet counterparts. Even though only 3 colors are used by the device, respectively cyan, magenta and yellow, the combinations between these are countless. In terms of materials, Objet500 Connex3 works with rubber and plastic, and can mix them in different proportions, thus creating products of various flexibility and rigidity, transparency and opacity.

Convenience rarely comes cheap, so if you are a designer or a manufacturer who thinks that the Objet500 Connex3 Color Mutli-material 3D Printer could help your business, prepare to shell out $330,000.

Duncan Wood, publisher of specialist 3D printing magazine TCT, admitted that “This is groundbreaking stuff. Being able to produce single products incorporating materials of different rigidity and color has been the holy grail of 3D printing to date. This is industrial-grade technology that will afford designers a level of creativity they’ve never had before.”

There’s no denying that, but is the world ready for such expensive high-end 3D printers? The technology is still relatively new, so all that R&D needs to be paid out somehow, but the price still feels incredibly steep.

If you liked this post, please check 3D printing with liquid metals and the 3D printed organs that will be made by Organovo in 2014.

Chewbacca Seatbelts – Turn Your Car Into The Millenium Falcon

Posted: 27 Jan 2014 05:00 AM PST

Whether you’re a human or a wookie, you’ll want to put safety first and buckle up as soon as you get in a car or spaceship.

Because you need to protect the people you love, gear up your car with the geekiest seatbelt in the world, themed after Han Solo’s beloved partner Chewie: the Wookie Seatbelt from Etsy seller The Common Room. The bandolier sells for $21.99(USD) and measures about 19 inches-long, which means it fits most standard seat belts (yes, you just put this over the one already there, it’s not a replacement!).

Source: Technabob

See more Star Wars stories at DIY Death Star Ornaments: Have A Dark Side Christmas! and 10 Awesome Stormtrooper Helmet Makeovers.

Google and Samsung Sign Global Patent Cross-Licensing Agreement

Posted: 27 Jan 2014 04:30 AM PST

Google - Samsung Patent Cross-Licensing Agreement

The two companies have strengthened their relationship by signing a deal that enables each of them to use the patents licensed to the other.

Samsung and Google have been strong allies ever since the South Korean company decided to use Android, the search giant’s mobile operating system, in most of its devices. A few Nexus smartphones and tablets later, they are still working together to bring the world some of the best devices ever. Still, not few were the occasions when tech rivals such as Apple accused them of implementing technologies that did not belong to them. In most cases, such allegations have been disputed in a court of law, and the ones to lose the lawsuit always ended up paying hard cash for this. As you know, results differed from one country to another, so there’s no definitive answer to the problem, but protecting the patents in the way Google and Samsung have recently did is certainly a viable solution.

Allen Lo, deputy general counsel for patents at Google, pointed out that “By working together on agreements like this, companies can reduce the potential for litigation and focus instead on innovation.”

On top of that, Seungho Ahn, head of Samsung’s Intellectual Property Center, stated that “Samsung and Google are showing the rest of the industry that there is more to gain from co-operating than engaging in unnecessary patent disputes.”

The agreement that the two tech giants have reached will allow to use each other’s patents for the next 10 years. This measure, along with the other deals Samsung is making with other tech companies, should keep lawsuits at bay for the foreseeable future.

Just to see how patent infringements can affect technological progress, in October 2013, a consortium of tech companies that included Apple, Microsoft, BlackBerry Ltd., Sony Corp. and Ericsson filed a lawsuit against Samsung, Google, and other manufacturers of Android devices, accusing all of them of using certain features without a license. Luckily for Samsung, Ericsson announced this morning that it decided to end its patent dispute and furthermore, that a cross-licensing deal has also been signed between the Swedish telecommunications company and the South Korean manufacturer.

Intellectual property theft should be discouraged at all costs, but if more companies could reach such cross-licensing agreements, progress in the tech industry wouldn’t hinder that much and that often.

If you liked this post, please check the Samsung-illycaffè deal and the Sparq acquisition by Yahoo.

AT&T To Take Over Vodafone

Posted: 27 Jan 2014 04:00 AM PST

One of the largest mobile service providers in Europe, Vodafone, might soon become another company under the umbrella of AT&T in a $60 billion USD operation.

In what might be known as one of the biggest and most significant mergers when it comes to mobiles, Vodafone and AT&T might soon become the same company. The CEO of AT&T, Randall Stevenson, is already in the process of dealing with EU regulators in order to make the deal happen, and looking for the required capital. This would make AT&T a huge provider that extended to other countries such as Spain, Germany, and the UK amongst others.

What does this mean for customers, though? Well, not much, really, except they’d be in the hands of an even bigger giant.

Source: Android Central