Walyou

Minimalistic Tiko 3D Printer Costing $179 Hits Kickstarter

Posted: 08 Apr 2015 01:41 PM PDT

Can a 3D printer simultaneously be safe, easy to use, sturdy, accurate, flexible and smart? Tiko promises to deliver on all fronts, and all that at an unbeatable price.

The 3D printer made by Tiko 3D made its first appearance at SXSW, where its manufacturer emphasized that it would carry a price tag of $179. A couple of weeks later, Tiko 3D turned to a crowdfunding platform to raise the funds necessary for mass production, and so far, backers have pledged several times the funding goal, proving that they are confident in Tiko’s 3D printing capabilities.

Tiko is entirely cloud-controlled, meaning that there are no USB or card ports to insert the files to be printed. The unibody design – certainly one of the main attraction points of this device, is fairly simple, including a printbed, an accelerometer that helps with the calibration of the printer, a chip and “carefully designed vents that are a part of the liquefier/end effector, which optimize convection and heat management to reach our thermal performance requirements,” as Tiko 3D CEO Matt Gajkowski explained in an interview with 3D Printing Industry. “Indeed we have faced some skepticism about the price point, and we feel it’s worthwhile to note that Tiko 3D printer on the market, and that is exactly what has made it so affordable.”

For a printer costing $179 (which is one of the smallest prices on the market for a product of its kind), Tiko is more than sturdy. On top of that, it is very safe, as its printing components retract and the device turns itself off when the incorporated accelerometer detects that the printer has been moved while in function. Precision and flexibility are yet another characteristics of Tiko, and if you add to that the ability to operate it wirelessly, you can definitely conclude that this is like no other 3D printer.

As mentioned before, Tiko is the subject of a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, and calling this project a success would be a major understatement. The company started this project with a funding goal of $100,000, and at the time of writing, backers had pledged $1,272,737, more than 12 times what this 3D printer needed to turn from a concept into a real product. By April 30, when the campaign ends, I assume that this sum will be much higher, and Kicktraq claims that the project trends towards $4,071,043. At the current price, it’s easy to guess why this 3D printer is so successful.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the Edible Growth 3D printer for intricately designed snacks, or the New Matter MOD-t 3D printer.

Popcorn Time sneaks in into iOS devices – no jailbreak required

Posted: 08 Apr 2015 12:15 PM PDT

Popcorn Time, the popular and technically legal (the best kind of legal) streaming app will arrive soon to iOS devices – without requiring a jailbreak beforehand.

Popcorn Time is a streaming app with several movies and TV shows available for phones and tablets that doesn’t require a web interface in the middle. The idea might not sound exactly new, but it turns out it is, as the technical concept is radically different:Popcorn Time uses torrents from P2P networks, and does streaming without having to rely on a central server. Popcorn Time themselves do not pirate anything, they just give access and streaming capabilities for torrents from a variety of devices, which is perfectly legal.

And legal as it may be, getting such an app into the Apple Store (the infamous “walled garden") is an impossible task – yet this didn’t stop the Popcorn Time from creating a version that won’t require a jailbreak beforehand. This doesn’t mean Popcorn Time will be available in the App Store, but instead means that they will use a personalized installers that users will be able to run from their web, and install using airplane mode – this is pure creativity from the programmers, not Apple giving up.

Beyond what this represents for Popcorn Time, this will open the floodgates for a new generation of apps that might arrive on iOS devices without having to get through Apple’s coercive terms and controls – it has the potential to change the iOS ecosystem forever, and we’re sure this has got to scare the Cupertino guys. We will see how they react in time.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories at Apple & Beats prepare streaming service and Microsoft 'Arcadia' Could Bring Game Streaming to Windows.