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Walyou

MakerBot Buys Layer By Layer to Make 3D Printing Even Better
Nokia claim to be “up to something”, tease black box
Fan-Made Castlevania Board Game Created By Redditor
Sony takes on cable companies with PlayStation Vue

MakerBot Buys Layer By Layer to Make 3D Printing Even Better

Posted: 17 Nov 2014 09:26 AM PST

3D printing has gone a long way, and it could easily get even better if the brilliant minds behind this industry teamed up. MakerBot products will definitely see a few improvements in the near future, now that the company has acquired startup software company Layer by Layer.

Each merger or acquisition makes the involved parties or the resulting entity stronger than ever before in their respective industry, in a similar way the Planeteers could summon Captain Planet by combining their powers. 3D printing has been a really hot topic in the past few weeks, with HP launching a revolutionary printer, and more recently with the acquisition of Layer By Layer by the maker of the Replicator.

Layer By Layer is a fairly new company, being founded only two years ago. After the acquisition by MakerBot, the startup will be dissolved, and some of the team members will join the buyer. As Layer By Layer was specialized in developing software, it’s this side of things its team members will take care of, remaining for MakerBot to make sure that the hardware they’re making is working perfectly.

“We’re excited to announce the acquisition of Layer By Layer and move forward with the projects we have been working on with the Layer By Layer team. We see this as a major step forward in being able to support not only our licensed content partners with a secure digital rights management system, but other content as well. The team has been working on several really interesting projects and we are excited to implement added features and benefits to the MakerBot 3D Ecosystem,” pointed out Jenny Lawton, acting CEO of MakerBot.

“Since we started Layer By Layer almost two years ago, it has been our goal to push 3D printing forward by building a complete and seamless user experience from finding something you want to print, to actually printing it. We have always strived to make 3D printing a more accessible technology by reducing the barrier to entry with innovations in design and computer science. So, as you probably can tell, we’re incredibly excited to now be working at MakerBot, where we’ll continue to innovate and explore within 3D printing,” added Max Friefeld, co-founder of Layer By Layer.

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Nokia claim to be “up to something”, tease black box

Posted: 17 Nov 2014 09:00 AM PST

Since being acquired by Microsoft, Nokia’s name was dropped from many models such as the Lumia 535. That doesn’t mean Nokia isn’t producing hardware anymore, though.

Nokia still seem to have something to offer to the world, even after their acquisition and then re-branding by the Microsoft team. Nokia might no longer have the handset division which made it a household name all around the world, but they still do not seem ready to abandon the hardware side of things just yet, as they posted a tease for whatever they have coming up next on their Twitter account.

All we can infer from the picture is that it either is or comes in a mysterious, unidentified black box. Furthermore, the accompanying text of 'guess what? We're up to something' doesn’t add too much information, so speculating is hard. Nokia's team had been using their tweeter account to speak of a 'reinvented Nokia' and a 'fresh start', while they also mentioned the possibility of entering the wearables' market, so that could be what this new project is all about.

What is a fact is that Nokia have a scheduled talk at Slush, a tech conference focused on new technologies titled 'What's next, Nokia?'. It’s pretty clear, Nokia will unveil something, and that something is definitely a hardware product. Now, whether it is a set-top box for TV, a smartwatch or what, remains to be seen. What matters is that the Finnish guys are not yet down for the count.

Via Techpp

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Fan-Made Castlevania Board Game Created By Redditor

Posted: 17 Nov 2014 05:00 AM PST

Castlevania Board Game by XsimonbelmontX image 1

Vampire hunters a like will love this fan-made board game devoted to the popular monster-slaying video game series from Konami.

As a Castlevania die-hard, I would probably do anything to play this fan-made, board game version of the classic Konami action-platformer. Redditor XsimonbelmontX has done his best in recreating the monster-fest into a working table-top game that features the recognizable hallmarks from every Castlevania entry.

From the start, you and your compadres can choose from up to 11 heroes/heroines from the Castlevania universe, from legendary vampire-hunter Simon Belmont to son-of-Dracula Alucard, as you make your way through Count Dracula's famous mansion.

Along the way players must all work together, leveling up their character by defeating monsters or gather up distinct power-ups, collecting the five body parts of Dracula scattered throughout the castle (much like in Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest), and then finally summoning the lord of darkness to then defeat him and thus win the game.

Of course the game itself is only one of the main draws, because the amount of Castlevania love in every facet of this board game is something else.

The board itself is basically the level layout of the original NES game, 8-bit pixely and all; the play cards have art and descriptions from every Castlevania title up to date. And XsimonbelmontX even created snazzy suitcase to store the game up once your done! In fact, it looks like a suitcase right out of a Hammer Flim’s production of a Dracula movie.

You can find more pictures of this Castlevania board game from XsimonbelmontX’s own imgur account. It’s a shame only he and his friends will able to whip their way through Dracula’s castle in this inspiring creation. I’m sure as the night is a horrible time to have a curse that many Castlvania fans, retro gaming enthusiasts, and even board game collectors would love to own such a terrific board.

Source: Reddit

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Sony takes on cable companies with PlayStation Vue

Posted: 17 Nov 2014 04:00 AM PST

Sony gets ready to jump into an untapped market for them, by articulating TV services and all the power of the PlayStation brand. This is Sony’s on-demand TV offering.

When the Xbox One launched, it seemed that all they could do was repeat “TV” in every single phrase, as if the console was built around it. Yet, it is now their honorable competition, Sony, who are announcing their plans to launch an internet-based TV service, starting with a small, private beta in New York city which will launch in early 2015.

As of now, the service is being referred as PlayStation Vue, and provide on-demand television as well as features like cloud recording and a practical UI that articulates well with the PlayStation experience. Reportedly, many major broadcasters (CBS, Fox and NBC amongst others) are already on board, so they are off to a good start. Furthermore, there is also a group of cable networks that are also working with Sony, namely Syfy, Fox Sports, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, and MTV amongst many, many others. The big absentees from this project are Disney-owned channels, HBO (no surprise here, HBO is getting ready to launch their own service and target users directly, cutting every middle-man), and ESPN.

The interesting thing about PlayStation Vue is that Sony’s plan doesn’t just end on their video game consoles; while this service will be available on both PS3 and PS4s around the world, Sony is also targeting Apple’s massive userbase with an iPad app, with more devices coming soon. Also, it would be silly of them to not include Sony’s line of Smart TVs and their PlayStation TV and Vita as devices too.

While this all sounds wonderful and very interesting, the service is not going to be commercially available for at least a couple more months, and the pricing remains to be disclosed. Still, gamers seemed pretty unhappy about their PlayStation Now price ranges where in some cases renting and streaming a game was more expensive than actually buying it. If PlayStation Vue is going to succeed, it has got to be because Sony revised some of their pricing policies.

Via Giga Om

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